Has anyone noticed that you never see royal icing recipes containing both corn syrup and meringue powder? Does anyone know why? I like having the stabliizer in the icing but I like the shiney effect of the corn syrup too. I would like to have a recipe that is both shiney and will last.

For a shiny icing, try Toba's Glace. It's basically just equal parts milk (or water) and cornsyrup mixed into powdered sugar. It won't have the staying power of royal, but it's easy to work with and gives a nice, firm finish without getting crunchy hard.

I got the Wilton Cookie tree kit years ago and the recipe book has the recipe for RI using meringue powder, at the bottom, it says as a tip to use 1T corn syrup to 1c RI to make it have a "snowy" effect and help stick to the cookies better. I always to my RI that way- not quite sure what a "snowy" effect is anymore, but it's not shiny-shiny.

The only recipe I have is for Wilton royal icing. I have purchased a ready made royal icing that was called picture icing. I think it was from a company called CK. I've never heard of adding corn syrup to the recipe. Would it make a difference how much would you add to the Wilton recipe for just strength? Has anyone tried both cornstarch and corn syrup yet? Anyone know why it seems to be such trial and error to get the consistency just right or how long can it be stored? I love this site. I can't get enough of talking about cakes.

Can I add Crisco (shortening) to make my royal icing shiny? I am making 100 cookies for a fundraiser and I do not want to mess up the cookies.

I don't think Crisco would work. I've always been told that any grease will react badly with the RI and it won't set up at all. Some people go as far as to rinse out their mixer bowls with a vinegar solution to make sure there is no grease left behind before making RI.

Never EVER let any grease touch the royal icing- it will break down and become mush. I've never tried rinsing my equipment in vinegar, just washing in hot soapy water as usual.

I've never heard of corn starch being added to RI, so I can't comment on that one.

The reason it's so hit or miss with the consistency of RI is the humidity- powdered sugar is very touchy when it comes to any moisture, so on high humidity days, the extra water in the air means less water into the recipe.

I don't know for sure how long you can store RI once it's made. I wouldn't use it for human consumption after a day or so if it has real egg whites in it. If it's made with merinque powder, I assume it will last longer, just re-beat after a few days to make sure things are all consistent... If it's not going to be eaten, like with a panoramic egg, then I'm pretty sure it can be used a week or so later... just make sure you re-beat it or it gets runny and won't pipe well.

Thanks KrazyKat_14 That makes sense about the humidity. Oops. I meant meringue powder and corn syrup. Not cornstarch and corn syrup. My teacher was REALLY strict about us not using any shortening or any other kind of oil with it or on anything that was going to be used in conjunctionwith it. (Beaters, bowls, etc.) And to not use re-usable plastic type pastry bags because if they had had buttercream type icings in them, it could affect the royal icing. I also found out you cant freeze it (I did it. Doesn't work. Its useless later.) My recipe uses meringue powder not egg whites. I'm going to try the corn syrup as soon as I can. In the past I've had a lot of breakage. I was beginning to think I was just too much of a klutz! With the corn syrup will it harden up for the usual decorations or is it more like flood sugar on cookies? Thanks MichelleM77 I may try the vinegar idea, just as an added help. It sounds less aggressive than bleach. Thanks again.

I did a mixture of vinegar and hot water, but to tell you the truth I only did this one time after I made buttercream and I haven't done it since then, but I don't make BC that often, so not sure if it's a necessary or something for extra protection against bad RI.

I tried mixing some corn syrup into my royal icing for the first time this week. I didn't put very much in, but I'm not sure I see a difference...if there is any difference in the shine/matte finish, it's pretty negligible...

Hi all,
I add 1 full tbls of corn syrup to Antonias icing. I have no problems with it. I read it here on CC awhile ago, so of course I don't remember who it was, sorry! I have made it without also, I don't use it when I want a matte look on my RI.
Just my 2cents HTH

Bye

I always put the corn syrup in my RI- it's just standard for me anymore. I feel it helps the icing adhere better to whatever I'm doing- whether it's cookies or eggs- the corn syrup really helps when I'm going gingerbread houses because if there's any flour left on the cookie, the RI doesn't want to stick very well. For a cookie already covered with a flood icing, RI without corn syrup worked fine.

And yes, it's hard as a rock, with or without the corn syrup. I've got panoramic eggs from last year that are still hard as a rock...

I use a Royal icing like recipe that I had to pull together mixing a couple recipe's together to get the right taste and hardness I wanted. I always use cornsyrup with merinque powder, I don't get a shine out of it but I like the texture and taste.

I start as if I'm making antonia's icing but instead of thinning it with water I add cornsyrup. I work in such a large quantity that amounts would be off but I think the original (I could be wrong but it's in the recipe section under antonia74) 5tbs merinque powder (which I add less since cornsyrup helps it harden too) 1tps cream of tartar, 7-8c powdered sugar, 1/2-1 cup warm water, cornsyrup to desired thin/thickness

I always add corn syrup to my icing. I use kind of a combo of Royal Icing and Alice's Cookie icing, but also add corn syrup. It does make it shinier.

I use royal icing with corn syrup. I liked different things about toba's and royal and came up with my own combo.

2 lbs. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. meringue powder
2 tbsp. corn syrup
1/2 to 1 cup water

I love this recipe the best. Yummy!

cookingfor - does your royal icing dry rock hard like regular icing?  Or does it dry hard enough to stack the cookies but still soft when you bite into the cookie? 

Thanks.

it dries hard enough to stack after a few hours but is still soft enough to enjoy. When mixing, it should be the consistency of Elmer's glue.