Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of egg whites for royal icing? ›

meringue powder for royal icing that is perfect for any. consistency from floods (aka filling the whole cooking.

Meringue powder can get expensive, and it's made with eggs, which we don't want. Use either xanthan gum or arrowroot powder instead of meringue powder to make royal icing without eggs. You only need a half teaspoon of either of these for the recipe, so one container will last you a very long time!

There are different versions of royal icing out there, but this is an easy one that comes together quickly with basic ingredients. This recipe uses milk instead of water, which gives it more flavor and just a tad of creaminess.

Too much water can make your icing running and it will flow right off the cookie. The way to make the icing a little stiffer is to add more powdered sugar back into it. You are going to need quite a bit of powdered sugar to change the icing consistency so be generous with it so you don't over mix the icing.

Egg white powder is dried egg whites aka powdered egg whites. No matter what you call it, this is one of our community's favorite substitutes for meringue powder. “I've used powdered egg whites for royal icing (that calls for meringue powder) just fine.

The most traditional way to make royal icing is with raw egg whites. Egg whites will create the most smooth, glossy finish on whatever you use the royal icing to decorate with. Royal icing made with meringue powder will have a more matte finish.

Our vegan confectionery company, meringueshop, is the source of our hand blended MERINGUE POWDER. The recipe begins with fresh, organic, vegan meringues, baked from scratch made from our housemade organic aquafaba.

Cream of tartar is a stabilizer and is sometimes used in making meringue to keep the eggs from collapsing. Some meringue powder already has cream of tartar in it to help in stabilizing meringue. So you can't use cream of tartar as a substitute for meringue powder, but it can be used to stabilize meringue recipes.

Using salt and acid (cream of tartar) balances the sugary sweetness. Silver rum adds a subtle flavor, without darkening the icing like vanilla. Creaming helps minimize the grit of powdered sugar.

What are the disadvantages of royal icing? ›

Disadvantages: Royal icing can crack. This makes it ill-suited for covering large surface areas (for instance an entire cake) or curved surfaces. Royal icing is rarely the most nuanced of flavors, with a somewhat bland (albeit sweet) flavor.

There are three main types of royal icing: stiff consistency, piping consistency, and flood consistency. They are used for different decorating techniques, although sometimes you can use different consistencies to achieve the same result.

The trick I use to make sure my icing is at the right consistency, is called the “10 second rule“. Drag a butter knife through the surface of your royal icing and count to 10. If the icing surface becomes smooth in anywhere between 5-10 seconds, then your icing is ready to use.

However, I know several cookiers in humid climates that swear it affects everything from drying time to color bleeding. Overbeating- I am guilty of this. If you over beat royal icing, it dries to a crunchy almost foamy texture and often appears porous.

Undermix, and your royal icing looks translucent and is structurally weak. Overwhip, and you're giving too much volume to the egg proteins via air, causing the structure to weaken in a different way. Overmixed icing usually looks porous when dry, and sometimes will not even fully dry and be soft/brittle.

Aquafaba

The liquid has a very similar consistency to that of raw egg whites, making it an excellent substitution for many recipes. You can use 3 tbsp (45 g) of aquafaba to replace 1 egg. Aquafaba works especially well in recipes that call for just egg whites, such as meringues, marshmallows, macaroons, or nougat.

1. Aquafaba. That's right, you can make an impressive egg white substitute using the water from a drained can of chickpeas. Simply set the chickpeas aside and whip the liquid until foamy or soft peaks start to form, just like you would with regular egg whites.

Aquafaba is one of the most common replacements for egg whites, especially in baked goods, and it's also one of the few replacements that can also be used to create meringues, marshmallows, and foams.