Having trouble making royal icing. For some reason it always has like a shine to it. When I try to make flowers it seems to melt. I have tried making the consistancy stiff and even that hasn't helped. I tried using Wilton's meringue to make it. Can someone help me figure out what I am doing wrong? Getting very frustrated because I know this should be easy.

I understand you are supposed to let it mix until the shine disappears. So maybe you are not letting it go long enough. I learned 10 minutes.

If the flowers are melting, then it could be too thin too. YOu would be surprised how quickly it can break down with even a drop more of water than needed.

HTH

Does it feel thick then melt when you pipe it? If so that plus the shine sounds like to me that you haven't mixed it long enough. In a stand mixer 7 mins is usually good, with a hand held you need to mix it at least 10 mins.

If it is undermixed it will feel thicker but will not hold any shape at all.

Thank you for reading my post. Iwill try mixing it longer and see what happens. Thanks to all my CC friends!

also make sure that your untensils are fat free, if any fat come into contact with RI it will break it down. The best is to use metal and glass utensils thats been washed in VERY hot water