I just pepared RI using meringue powder....Mine didn't turned out ok, it has the consistency of a paste. I need to make another batch for my class on Sunday. Wondering what I have done wrong. I followed the instruction on the Wilton Book. Mix the Meringue powder with the icing sugar,mix on low speed then add lukewarm water. It is pretty simple but something went wrong...
My instructor told us to mix the MP & water first before adding the sugar. Is that where the problem lies?
What could it be? I need to prepare a new batch but I would want to know your thoughts what went wrong...
vanz
Are you sure it's not okay? Stiff royal icing is kind of like paste...It doesnt at all feel like buttercream. Did your instructor show you some before you had to make it?
I used this recipe from here on CC.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1983-1-Royal-Icing-for-Decorated-Cookies.html
You may just need to add a tiny bit more water to it.
If it is dry and crumbly like then you could add a tiny bit of water at a time.
While I'm trying to make a crysanthemum I couldn't get the right consistency. We practice it with BC at our class but I have to make it with RI for the cake. It's too soft and still shiny. Is it because I used meringue powder that I bought in bulk, not the Wilton one? My instructor said it is not as good as the Wilton but since I have it already I tried using it with some cream of tartar.
It could definitely be the meringue powder. The meringue used for icings also has a couple of other ingredients in it.
There are other brands of meringue for cake decorating, but the stuff that you get at a regular gorcery store is not the same.
You can add corn starch to RI to stiffen it up, but the consistency still might not be right if you don't use the right powder.
could it also possibly be that any of your utensils could have come into contact with anything greasy as I was told that it could cause royal icing to "not hold its shape"?
Amy beth I've just seen your signiture....
I was making cake balls in my sleep 
They were last topic I looked at last night before bed...THEY WERE STRANGE LOOKING things mind you. 
It's too soft and still shiny. Is it because I used that I bought in bulk, not the Wilton one?
If it is still shinny you need to continue mixing it. When it is ready it should be matte. But from the amount of time you mixed it it should have been ready.
Also I haven't had experince with it as I have always used the Wilton MP, but I have heard of others that have tried different brands and did not have good luck with them. So it could also have something to do with that, and what is in the MP, because it is more than just egg whites.
If your royal comes in contact with grease while making it it will remain soupy and never thicken up.
start by washing everything that you're going to use to make the RI with a little vinegar or lemon juice and salt for abrasive....run every through water and do not let any grease come into contact with your RI...check the neck of your KA also..somethings we beat stuff up in there..and use the Wilton Meringue powder...
hth
Amy beth I've just seen your signiture....
I was making cake balls in my sleep They were last topic I looked at last night before bed...THEY WERE STRANGE LOOKING things mind you.
I really do decorate in my dreams. Some times it drives me crazy. When I get really stressed out I dream about a cake that I just can't get to work.
Sometimes I come up with really weird designs in my dreams and I wake up and realize how strange they were. I just think about cake too much. lol
Thats exactly what happend to me last night, as I said I was looking at the forum on cake balls and was pondering on the idea of white balls and incorpoating them on a christmas cake as snowballs....but in my wweird dream it wasnt a lovely christmas scene...... 
oh no...a mixed up scary undescribable dream.... 
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