I'm kind of frantic right now and hoping someone can PLEASE tell me what is going wrong with my cookies and how I can fix the problem. I attached photos below. I have an order for 240 of these cookies!!! They are covered with RBC and then I have added a royal icing letter on them (the grey background and letter is designed to look like the logo on the customer's business card ).

As photo #1 shows, I have outlined each letter in royal icing. I then "flooded" the interior of the letter with thinned royal icing (photo 2). I put the thinned royal inside of a plastic bottle that has a #2 tip on it, and applied it inside the outline in that manner. As the thinned icing is drying, it is creating a "dimple" in each of the cookie (photo 3). This dimple is happening in the exact same spot on each cookie. If I add more royal icing to the hole to try to fix it, you can see that I have "repaired" it.

This order is due tomorrow morning!!!!! I still have to finish and individually wrap each cookie, so I don't have much time. Please help me figure out why this is happening. Also, how can I fix the cookies (about 30) that this has happened to already?

Thank you in advance!
Michele

I have had this also and it is caused by a air pocket.Chances are you are icing the cookies the exact same way and direction.I start at one end and slowly fill in until the other end.I would take a skewer or pin and gently swirl the icing in that spot right after you fill it in...change up the way you are icing...dtart in the middle and move out to the ends...start at the ends and move towards the middle etc..

Thank you, I will try swirling it around a bit. I also thought it might be happening in that location on the cookie because I was starting and stopping in the same spot. I did try starting from a different point on the cookie and it still happened.

Do you know how I can fix the ones that are already dimpled?

You can fix them by adding a bit more icing but like you mentioned...you will see it.It has to be done right away after you flood.

Can you add a sugar flower there?

No, I wish I could. These cookies are designed to represent the logo on a man's business card....I made a few samples, which he loved, so I cannot stray from the design. He probably wouldn't be happy about me adding a flower Thanks for responding, though!

I am so sorry this happened! I am no expert, but here is a 'why' from what I think. Your flooding RI is too thin. As it dries and the water evaporates, you don't have enough substance to support it. I might be wrong, but this is often the case for me. Also, I have this happen on daisy petals as they are thin. You can see on others as well as that often happens. It has to do with the shape.

All that aside, all I can (sigh!) unfortunately recommend is to go ahead and fill it, making sure you first layer is totally dry. Use a thicker RI and after filling it (making sure to get the tip down in the hole so you know you won't have an air pocket), use your finger to try to make it meld as much as possible. I have pulled this off before, but it might be tricky as mine was just in one part off to the side, not centrally located.

Wish I had better advice and, again, sorry this happened to you!

I've had this happened to me to and would love to figure out why. Mine actually happened in an outline with thicker RI.

It can also happen if you RI is not fresh.

do you notice how when you did the outline you've got two globs there on either side of the "e"?? I'm wondering if when you're flooding if the royal isn't getting all the way onto the cookie and is just adhering to those raised blobs where you started and stopped when doing the outline, causing an air pocket to form and then pop upon settling?

Thanks for everyone's responses. The cookies are finished and have been picked up. What a colossal pain those were!!!!!! That is exactly why I don't like to use royal icing for more than details on my cookies I have so many "cookie heroes" on this site, first and foremost TracyLH, and I always have marveled at how they get their royal icing so completely flawless--no bubbles, no air pockets.... Once I discovered how to cover my cookies in RBC I was in love because I didn't have to get frustrated by all of the potential problems of royal icing.

Anyway, the cookies took FOREVER!!! I ended up doing repairs as best as I could on the air pockets. I used a thicker royal (like Tracy suggested) to fill in the pocket and then used a damp artist brush to feather out the repair. You can image how long that took for over 200 cookies. Not all of them are perfect and I don't think the client expected them to be absolutely flawless. (He is a friend whom I gave a SUBSTANTIAL discount to. When I think about how little I charged for each one I just sigh....). I attached a photo below of one of the finished ones. I edited out some of the info on the customer's business card for privacy.

I believe that both Tracy and KHalstead were both right. My icing was fresh, so that wasn't the problem, but I suspect it probably was too thin. That's where my inexperience with royal icing probably did me in. I also think KHalstead was probably right about the icing settling in the recess caused by the outline in the shape and causing an air pocket.

Thanks again for your help!
Michele

The cookie looks great! You should feel very proud of your accomplishment

You did a GREAT job on your recovery! I had to do a repair like that before and I was aghast, but it was only noticeable to me in the long run. You always have to watch when flooding with RI in thin areas. The times that I have forgotten that caveat are ones I paid for. You got it - try thicker RI next time. Another thing I do in areas like that is to not put it on too thick and intentionally do it thinner.

Oh, thanks for the kind words. It was very much appreciated.

Again, great job!!

O boy do i know what you mean! These little cave in's use to happen to me on and off even when i used fresh and thicker royal icing...drove me nuts! I use to leave it or fix it with more RI but yeh you could still tell but they were only for family so it didn't really matter.

I though it might have something to do with air bubbles like maybe they popped underneath the thin layer on top and when they did it caved in?

My last few batchs luckily havn't had them *touch wood*!!!!!! but i think that is because i managed to have less air bubbles in my icing.

Anyway that's my 2 cents, dunno if it's right lol

Oh and your cookies turned out very nice Michele25!......and good job on piping the letter!

I know you're already done with the cookies but here's something you might try for the future...

It's definitely an air bubble problem that happens more in narrower areas vs. larger areas. When I'm flooding the smaller areas I slow everything down a bit to ensure I'm not flooding so fast that I "capture" air bubbles underneath the icing at the starting/stopping point where my "final" icing connects with the "beginning" icing.

But here's the best way I've learned to deal with this. Say, for example, that I am doing the "e" in your cookie pictures. I would start flooding the "e" but instead of connecting the final icing to the beginning icing at the very end, I stop just before that point so I actually leave a small part of the cookie un-iced...about the size of a b-b. The icing will then flow together all by itself pushing out any air that's lurking there leaving you with no air bubble trapped underneath.

Doing this has tremendously cut down on those types of cave-ins from air bubbles. I hope this helps someone out there!!

Thanks so much, bakinccc!!! You are definitely another of my "cookie heroes" and I really admire your work! That was a good suggestion about letting the icing flow by itself into the last bit of space, and I will keep it in mind for other times I need to use royal. For all I know I may need to do those "e" cookies for my friend again sometime (AHHHHHHHH!!!! Just me screaming! - LOL!)

Thanks again!
Michele

It looks awesome. Next time will be easier.

I've had this happen to me too!!! Mostly the smaller areas. Daisies are really bad. And I just use one swoop of icing on those. But I use a karo syrup glaze instead of royal icing... It must be the air bubbles getting trapped and then rising as it dries... I still haven't quite figured out how to remedy it. I do try to swirl it around with a toothpick before it dries and sometimes it helps, sometimes not.

this happen to me last week. I was doing the girls scout daisy with 10 petals each a different color. and sure enough when they were drying they developed these holes. tried filling but same thing it showed. so i ended up brushing them with karo syrup and sprinkling the matching colored sugar on each petal. what a job that was good thing i only had to do 24. Inalso think that it is trapped air in small spaces. it doesn't happen on larger areas.

I agree. I've never had it happen on large surfaces, but seems to happen often on my outlines.