I am trying royal icing and I'm not sure that it has turned out. I tried it once before with my hand mixer and it was a disaster. Since I have the KA now I decided to try it again tonigh. Well it is like glue and I'm wondering if I over mixed it?
Some time ago on a thread someone had posted a little "icing check tip" to use when you want to check an icing consistency. It had something to do with a spoon and how the peaks went when the spoon was lifted out. Now with this royal frosting I made tonight....I'm lucky to get the spoon out! Seriously!!! It came out of the bowl....after a great deal of fighting....in a large ball. Is there any hope to use this frosting? What did I do wrong? Is it supposed to be this thick and then you adjust it with water to what you are going to use it for? That's where the little spoon trick would come in handy. I also remember reading somewhere about a shine with royal??
So for us beginners can someone who has more knowledge tell us what the various consistencies mean and in what type of icing (BC & royal) in everyday terms. Not just stiff, medium, runny, but how you know you have those consistencies.
Any advice would be much appreciated

I do know that it should peak, and depending on how fast the peak falls depends on what it's good for.

I do know that if it peaks and pretty much well stays up, slowly falling over, it's good to make roses out of.

I don't know how to help your royal icing out, but I was told that you know it's been beat enough if it looks like marshmallow fluff (that stuff you buy in a jar).