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I have a love/hate relationship with royal icing. When I first started making gingerbread houses, I thought that royal icing was my only option for gluing. I’ve since discovered tylose powder and the amazingness of tylose glue. Thus, I’ve parted ways with royal icing for the most part.
Every so often, I come across a project that requires me to use royal icing, for lack of a better option. Like my Sugar Pearl Sprinkle Sheep. I used to use this recipe, that I wrote a blog post about back in the day. It’s still a decent option for anyone looking to cement those walls together on their gingerbread houses, but I’ve since come to enjoy using a different recipe instead. Mainly because I ran out of cream of tartar one day, and instead of driving five minutes to the grocery store for more, I tried something new.
Royal Icing Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder
1/4 Cup Water
4 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions:
Mix the meringue powder and water together in a bowl. You can use a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.
If the mixture is too thick, add water. If it’s too thin, add more confectioner’s sugar. A stiff consistency is best for anything that you want to hold its shape and look detailed. The more water you add, the thinner and more fluid the icing becomes. Adding water will get it to a “flooding” consistency.
That’s all folks. Check out my Tylose Glue post for another edible glue option.
Other Cake Decorating and Gingerbread Posts:
Construction Grade Gingerbread Recipe (for building, not eating)
Gingerbread Recipe (for eating and building)
Reindeer Playing Poker – National Gingerbread House Competition 3rd Place Winner
Santa’s Gingerbread Mountain Chalet
Cardinal Family Christmas – Gingerbread Birdhouse
Gingerbread House Construction Tips
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