Royal Icing
A quick and easy royal icing for a 20cm Christmas Cake. It's best made in a stand mixer if you have it.
Servings: 1 20cm cake
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites
- 500 g icing sugar, see Notes
- 1 teaspoon glycerine (5ml)
Equipment
Instructions
- Put the egg whites in a large bowl and beat briefly to break them down2 large egg whites
- Add the icing sugar a tablespoonful at a time and beat thoroughly in between (or leave the mixer on if using). Stop when you get to a mixture that holds its shape and forms soft peaks.You may not need all the icing sugar. It will depend on the size of your eggs500 g icing sugar,
- Add the glycerine and beat for 5 minutes to get a good shine1 teaspoon glycerine
- Tip or spoon the icing onto your marzipanned cake and spread more or less evenly over the top and sides with a palette knife. If you want a snow effect, put the flat blade of the knife on the icing and pull off quickly. (It's a bit like dabbing at the icing)
- Decorate with whatever you like - or whatever the supermarket has the week before Christmas
Notes
Everyday Cooks tips:
- Use the freshest eggs that you have as they aren't cooked. The sugar preserves them, but I like to start with freshest possible
- You don't need to sieve the icing sugar if you open a fresh pack that is in date and hasn't got damp (if it's in a box it will be fine). If you're using icing sugar from an opened bag you will need to sieve it
- Glycerine keeps the icing soft but, if you're making royal icing for a tiered cake, leave it out as the icing will need to support the weight of the other cake(s).