while making my royal icing it seemed to not want to stick together. I did not want to add more water and have it be too thin so i just turned up my mixer. a couple minutes latter i noticed that it formed into a dough like texture. I can pick it up and mold it and it doesn't stick to my fingers. Did I do something wrong?
As long as the icing hasn't crusted, you can still add water. You definitely did not add enough. When you first mix the icing, it should look almost like the consistency of an egg white. As you beat it, it thickens and becomes fluffy. You can always add more powdered sugar at the end if you need it stiffer (for roses, etc.)
thanks I added more water and it was fine. Perfect consistency for my petunias actually lol. I used the 1lb powder sugar to 3 tbl meringue powder then eye balled the water. I used my beater blade instead of the whisk attachment in my kitchen aid, would that make a difference?
thanks I added more water and it was fine. Perfect consistency for my petunias actually lol. I used the 1lb powder sugar to 3 tbl meringue powder then eye balled the water. I used my beater blade instead of the whisk attachment in my kitchen aid, would that make a difference?
Yes it does make difference 
I use the wisk only for the wipping cream, because the royal icing you want a smooth royal icing not fluffy, with the whisk you are incorporating air to the mixture, I do not know how explain it but anyway do not use the whisk for you butter cream or icing and you going to have better results, maybe somebody else can help me to explain it better. 
Thank You I hope this can help you
I'm sorry to disagree, but I've been making royal icing on average of 2x per month for the last 10 years and alternate between the whisk and the beater paddle with no discernible difference. The whisk is designed to incorporate air, such as when whipping cream and making a meringue, but royal icing is so thick and smooth that I've never had it add air.
I have found that the magic ratio for royal icing is 1 lb pwd sugar to 3 Tbsp meringue powder to 5 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon water.
I'm sorry to disagree, but I've been making royal icing on average of 2x per month for the last 10 years and alternate between the whisk and the beater paddle with no discernible difference. The whisk is designed to incorporate air, such as when whipping cream and making a meringue, but royal icing is so thick and smooth that I've never had it add air.
I have found that the magic ratio for royal icing is 1 lb pwd sugar to 3 Tbsp meringue powder to 5 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon water.
I've made royal icing twice with a different recipe, but only for sugar cookies. I'm getting ready to make my first cake decorations with it this weekend- snowflakes that will be piped onto a Silpat and glued onto BC when dry. Will your recipe make the right consistency for that type of application? And, since I'm only making a small batch, does hand mixing work OK for your recipe?
The amount of sugar:meringue powder:water in that recipe produces an ideal consistency for piping royal icing flowers in our high-humidity climate. You may find that you need to add a wee bit more water to make it easier to pipe your snowflakes.
If you are making a 1 lb batch, a hand mixer will work just fine. Just make sure to mix for 7 minutes on medium speed.
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