Royal icing

Day 10 was the start of a new phase; Royal Icing. I have never made or worked with royal icing before, but basically it is egg whites, powdered sugar (suikerbakkerspoeder= powdered sugar with dried glucose) and a pinch of cream of tartar. It's been used a lot for decorating cakes and cookies. While working with royal icing it has the consistency of very thick yogurt. But after it dries out it gets really hard.  

We started with a masterclass on royal icing and were showed how to make it and what the right consistency is. From this basic mixture it is possible to make the icing more or less runny simply by adding water (or liquor) or more sugar. 

After receiving a lot of information we used the rest of the day playing around with royal icing. We used:
- 180 gr pasteurized refrigerated egg whites
- about 1 kilo shifted powdered sugar
- pinch of cream of tartar

To the egg whites we added 2/3 of the powdered sugar and the cream of tartar. On very slow speed using the flat beater we mixed everything together. Then after that spoon by spoon we added some more powdered sugar till the icing has the right consistency. The right consistency is when the icing on the beater forms a nice peak that is flexible enough to still move back and forth.    

We used several different piping tips making borders, flowers and anything we could think off. We also made some colored icing. 

I practiced a lot on flowers and leaves.

It was a bit of a slow day with lots of information and a bit of piping practice. It didn't feel like we did a lot, but I manage to make this. 

This day was purely to let us practice with icing and get the feeling of it.