I have been dealing with royal icing for a while now. It has always been my go-to icing for sugar cookies. I feel like I keep the meringue powder people in business myself.Until now.
Here's the story...got an expedited order for some Longhorn cookies last month. The sweet lady who ordered them is a repeat customer and more than a pleasure to deal with. She was shopping and found this cute longhorn cookie cutter and bought one for me! She figured I didn't already have one (which I did not) and was going to order some cookies for a big game the Texas Longhorns were playing last month. Time was of the essence, so I had to receive the cutter, make and ship them to get to her in all under a week. I wouldn't normally do cookies on such short notice, but like I said, she is a great lady...and she bought me a cookie cutter...the way to my heart ;)As soon as the cutter arrived I went to work; I made the cookies and the royal icing and iced the cookies all in a matter of a few hours. I wanted them to dry overnight so I could ship them out the next day...it worked out perfect, until the next morning when I came out to check on my sweet longhorns.
Uhhhh, they were still wet. Not tacky even, just wet. So I busted out the fans: ceiling, oscillating and even paper fans my kids made, I was desperate.
OK, no need to stress, I will get the fans on them and UPS is open until 7pm...there was still time.
Cut to 7 pm - SLIGHTLY less wet.
Are you kidding me? I went back over my steps making the royal icing, thinking what I could have done wrong. I honestly had NO IDEA. Royal icing is meringue powder, water and powdered sugar. If you add too much water, you would know because your icing would be too runny. It's sort of fool proof. Of course I am the exception to the rule...of course.
Alright, another overnight and they will be dry, I will just have to 2-day them.
Next morning, wake up and discover the longhorns, still under fan (now for 24 hours) STILL tacky. Not only tacky, but the icing was drying in an unusual way...the texture of the icing looked like leather...how weird.
With no time to mess around I re-baked the cookies and made a glaze icing, instead of the royal, iced the new cookies, put them under the fans and prayed.Glaze icing, for me, is powdered sugar, corn syrup and a little milk. It is easier and, in my opinion, tastier than its royal counterpart. I don't usually use it though because it is stickier than royal and when shipping you don't want any stickiness, also royal dries to a perfectly smooth matte finish while glaze retains some shine. Personal preference, I guess.
These cookies were dry by the next morning, so I wrapped them up and shipped them out on Wednesday to be there Friday.
They ended up arriving on-time, thank you USPS Expedited shipping and she got them in time for the big game, which the Longhorns won, btw.So, what happened with my royal icing? The past 2 times I have used it for flooding I have experienced some drying issues. There is no humidity in my house this time of year with the heat running constantly, so I knew that wasn't the problem.
The cookies did, finally, dry after 3 nights under fans. I ended up taking the leathery-longhorns to my son's Tiger Scout meeting. I figured the kids wouldn't car what the icing looked like! I will admit the leathery finish on them was a neat texture...IF it was on purpose.
Not only did they look weird, the icing was crumbly and strange.
Over the holidays I only used the glaze icing to flood for fear that I would encounter another longhorn incident. The royal that I did make I used for piping and outlining, which worked great! My question to you is have you ever had this happen? Not drying, leathery outcome?Let me know that I am not alone!!!
41 comments:
That is sooo weird. I have never seen an outcome like that. But it does look pretty cool!
No, that hasn't happened to me yet. Do you think the meringue powder was "old"? Of course I'm sure it has a looooong shelf life! As you said, the leather look probably looks OK for a longhorn:) Well, hopefully you don't encounter such a problem again, and I'm glad it worked out well in the end! :) Happy New Year!
Yes! That has happened to me. I ended up starting completely over and was up until 4am fixing the problem! I figured that I didn't sift my powdered sugar before I threw it into the mixer. (I always sift now) I also wondered if I didn't let the icing sit after mixing in the color to let the air bubbles come to the surface... bizarre. Now I sift and and let it sit, and no more problems!
YES YES YES! I'm glad I'm not the only one. I made cookies to send to a friend and half of them came out like this. After 3 days they were still tacky and I could figure out why. I shipped them anyway and some of them looked like this and were flaky. I was/am so embarassed!
This time though I noticed the icing was really fluffy and thick when I added the right amount of ingredients. I added about 1 cup extra water (that's a lot of water) to the mix to get it thin enough to flood. I figured the extra water would just dry out. I don't know, maybe that's what i did wrong but like I said, only half of them dried like this. So frustrating!
Will you give me the measurements for your glaze icing? I'd like to try it out. thanks!
Hmmm, I've never seen that happen, but sounds like it's a common problem! Sheesh, baking really is a science. Anything slightly off can go haywire. Wonder if it's in the meringue powder... assuming it fluffed up nicely before adding the confectioner's? I use a pretty non-runny icing if flooding, too, b/c of the drying issue. I just spread it with the back of a spoon if it doesn't run to the edges itself. When at the store, we never flooded, only piped. You can see the lines (a negative), but they dry quicker for shipping (a positive).
i dont think the sifting would have anything to do with the icing not drying. i have never sifted my powdered sugar and i have never had this problem. i would think that it had something to do with the meringue powder. maybe it was old or something when you bought it from where ever you bought it from!
Yes, that has happened to me and it is SO frustrating!! I asked Bridget at Bake@350 for advice she said that I was probably putting too much water in the flood icing. So now I don't water it down as much and haven't had any problems since! Hope that helps, love your cookies!!!
It has not happened to me, but my guess would be you could have possibly whipped the water and meringue powder a little too long before adding the powdered sugar? Weird!
Oh, I was all stressed for you just reading this story!
My only thought beyond what was already mentioned--what did you use for coloring? I find if I use liquid coloring instead of gels or powders, the extra liquid can really mess up the finished product when you need an intense color.
Nice save, though!
It has happened to me!!!!!!! Not sure why either-I thought maybe I whipped it too long?? I had to put on anther layer of royal icing and cover with sprinkles to hide it all!
I've never had that happen, but I have had some other really odd things happen with royal icing. Once, one of my large orders developed craters in the drying process - I believe it was a humidity issue. I was feeling your pain for sure about getting them out on time.
Yes it has happened to me. I decided to try a short cut and thin the icing while still in the mixer. This only made the icing fluffier not thinner, so then I thinned it in a bowl, resulting in to much water and probablly to much air in the icing.
Mimi
Well they turned out great in the end! Hope the Rose Bowl goes better for the Longhorns, for my brother's sake at least! He'll be at the game cheering on his former school clad in burnt orange.
Thanks so much, Cookies and Cups, for your kind words about my blog! Growing up in a butcher shop, I learned all kinds of "useful" skills, it was tying my shoes and telling time I had trouble with.
I really enjoy your blog as well, I can't get over the melted snowmen cookies, they're really the cutest things I've ever seen!
That IS weird! They still look yummy, though. :-)
I second Leslie. No clue but they were VERY cool looking.
Sorry that I haven't been around. Hope your Christmas was a wonderful one and that 2010 brings no more cookie (or icing) troubles! :)
~ingrid
That is weird! I've been using royal icing for a while and never seen that happen before. Glad you were able to work it out in time. The cookies did turn out great, though!
Thanks everyone for the comments, it's nice to know I am not alone!!
Amanda - that was a thought of mine...do you think it's possible to whip it too long and that would mess it up? Really, I don't know what else I could have done.
I'm thinking it might be possible. After all, meringue powder is just dried egg white, so when adding the water to the meringue powder, you are essentially rehydrating the egg white, and whipping those too long can add too much air to them. When I make mine, whether I use meringue powder and water or real egg whites (I have done both) I just use a hand held wire whisk and whip them just enough to get them frothy. Then I dump in all the powdered sugar, turn the mixer on the lowest setting and let it mix for ten minutes.
I don't think adding too much water would be a problem, because all that is going to do is thin it out. The solution to that is just to add more powdered sugar to thicken it back up.
Did you whip the meringue powder and water past the frothy stage?
I love the Longhorns by the way :)
That has not happened to be, mostly because I use what you called 'glaze' icing for all my decorating. Its the first recipe I ever learned and sorta 'ruined' me on royal icing because it is so easy to use and tastes so very good! :)
Here is my recipe for the 'glaze' frosting for the one gal that asked... I would be curious to know if its the same as yours??? I have a hard time shipping cookies (so I just dont!) because they never fully dry to hard! :)
http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2009/10/sugar-cookie-frosting-recipe.html
Blessings-
Amanda
amanda #1 - I think that I must have whipped them past the frothy stage...I have made this icing for so long now, I might have done it and not realized, it's the only logical thing that I can think...yes, you are correct on the liquid...too much would just make it too thin, I don't think that would have anything to do with the weird drying.
Amanda #2 - Yes, that is what I use for the "glaze", minus the lemon juice. Can you explain to me what that does? I would have never thought to add it...is it for flavor or does it do something else to the icing. How interesting! Thanks!
YES! This has happened to me and I think I know why...well, a few reasons. (I'm going to do a new royal icing post on the blog in January going over some of it, but here's what I've learned.)
1. I always used to use the whisk attachment and beat the *ahem* crap out of it. Now...I use the PADDLE attachment and beat it *just* until it reaches a peak. It looks really glossy & fluffy.
2. I add less water than normal. If it's too runny, I stir in sifted powdered sugar. This makes it look a little funny (you can see the sugar bumps) when wet, but the smooth out when drying.
I've always been afraid to try the glaze, but your longhorns look so pretty with it and Amanda's cookies always look beautiful, too.
Hope that helps! I'm sure there's more yet to learn!
I'm with Bridget, paddle attachment all the way. :) I just use that hand whisk till frothy then add the paddle attachment on the lowest setting for ten minutes.
What a great troubleshooting session this turned into! :) Happy New Year ladies!
Yes, I use the whisk attachment, maybe this is the problem. I will switch to the paddle and not beat as long.
Thanks ladies, hope this has helped everyone as much as it helped me!
also, can't wait for your post bridget!!
Just wondering if after 10mins on the paddle everyone finds they need to add water to achieve proper piping/flooding consistency. If so, do u add it in mixer or by hand?
Yes, I've always found that I need more water. I add some in the mixer until the ribbons disappear after 5 seconds. Then I keep a little glass of water near me in case I need to thin any while I'm decorating. I mix my colors in ramekins, so I may add a few drops of water after the color has been added as well. :)
Yes, I always add water after the mixing. I mix colors separately also.
I can't wait to try this again, with the paddle.
http://www.sweetopia.net/2009/09/how-to-decorate-cookies-with-royal-icing-top-10-tips/
look what i found! hope that helps!
OMG...I am so glad to hear someone else has experienced this problem. Fans, bright lights, hair dryer...nothing got rid of the stickiness. I would really like to know what causes this. I so felt your pain reading your post.
By the way...I work with your friend Joni...I sit right next to hear. I would really like to email you sometime...have questions!!
Cindy,
Totally email me, would love to hear from you! Love that Joni, she's the best!
This happened to me MANY times driving me crazy, guessing what I did wrong... what worked for me is to use the paddle attachment and beat until just mixed... it looks silky and shiny... like a thick glue... I then divide in two, leaving one in the bowl to add more water for a thin consistency... again I beat it until just mixed... I have 2 containers in which I keep them from drying... hope this will help ;)
Thanks Bea!
It seems lie the consensus is the paddle attachment.
Thanks everyone!
This hasn't happened to me (yet), and doesn't mean it won't... However, I believe the reason this happens is over-mixing. A pastry chef told me only to mix the royal icing recipe until the mixture begins to shine - then STOP! Over-mixing breaks the meringue powder, (dried egg whites) down, which is why you have this "crackle" look. Kinda looks like the egg white on the side of a hot skillet, huh? Any way, I believe this is the answer. I quit using my whisk attachment and moved to my paddle and I do not mix for 6-12 minutes, as most royal icing recipes recommend.
I hope this helps - and by the way, who cares? Cookies with this, "problem" only look more interesting to me! :o)
Thanks duchess! (never thought I would ever be saying THAT ;)
I am now ready again to break out the meringue powder and not cry!!
No crying allowed!
Remember, there are no mistakes in baking, only tasty samples of future success!
You all are a bevy of information for someone who is just starting out in cookie decorating. Thanks for all the ideas!
I've had it happen twice. No idea why.
i have had this happen to me. it looked EXACTLY like this. i think it was from adding too much water, mixing too much and not letting it sit to let the air bubbles rise to the top. i remember i was in a hurry doing some cookies and it back fired on me. i had this same exact look. i know now i really need to take my time & follow all the steps...patience! ;)
Was the royal icing old or was it just made? Because when you store royal icing for too long and its humid where you live, it gets like that. That has happen to me before.
I know this may be inappropriate but I swear I saw the cookies fast and I thought they were ovaries :(
This happened to me just hours ago. I'm still looking at the cookies and I think I might cry. The cookie part is just perfect, the icing is garbage....what a waste. At least I know I'm not the only one to have a mishap with the evil royal icing.
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