Brittle royal icing

Royal Icing Recipes

Royal Icing Recipes

My royal icing is brittle and breaks for string and filigree pattern work. Is there not enough meringue powder?


Hi,so sorry it took me so long to get back to you. If you haven't already found the answer, try using a squeeze of lemon juice in place of the some of the water. This strengthens the royal icing.

This page has the full recipe and instructions with video as well. Royal Icing Recipe

Here are the ingredients used in the recipe on that page.
3 egg whites
1 pound confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
A squeeze of lemon juice

For stringwork you have to make sure that the icing is just perfect. It may take practice. It sounds like yours is dry. In which case I would add more lemon juice a drop at a time until you get the exact texture for piping strings. (stringwork is difficult to say the least).

Another way to make your decorative pieces stronger is by layering to make it thicker. This applies to separate decorations like snowflakes etc. Then make sure that the pieces are well dried and carefully peel them from the waxed paper. No matter how careful you will lose a few to breakage, so always make more than you need.

I hope that helps.

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