Icing Cookie Tutorial (Pioneer Woman)

I’d had a bunch of plain cookies made up for Bridget ahead of time (recipe link below) so she could focus primarily on the icing/decorating process during the class. Bridget uses two thicknesses of the same Royal Icing for her cookies (one thick, one thin); it begins with storebought meringue powder.

Benefits of meringue powder (as opposed to fresh egg whites):

1. You don’t have to worry about the raw egg factor. I don’t get concerned about raw eggs for myself, but if I’m going to serve others (or, in this case, give cookies to others) meringue powder is a better bet.

2. You’ll get a more consistent result. With meringue powder, you’re not having to battle the temperature of the eggs, etc. So you’ll be able to get (generally) the same basic result each time you make the icing.

To make the icing, you add the meringue powder to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Then you add water…

And mix it a bit until combined.

Next, add in sifted powdered sugar.

Here’s where Bridget asked me for a sifter and I handed her this fine mesh strainer, which I use for a sifter.

She was very nice and didn’t talk about how unwieldy and awkward it was.

After you add the powdered sugar, you add a little corn syrup, then turn on the mixer and let it go.

You don’t let it go for one minute. You don’t let it go for two minutes.

You actually let the mixer go for a good five to ten minutes—more if needed. You want to let it beat until stiff peaks form.

This, for instance, is not stiff enough. If you hold the paddle upside down and the icing moves or flops backward, it isn’t stiff enough.

Now, this. THIS is stiff enough. How gorgeous is this? The meringue powder makes it so glossy and nice.

This is the icing Bridget uses to outline and define the sections of a cookie.

We had plenty of disposable pastry bags on hand, and lots of decorative tips.

And lots of royal icing, colored various shades of holiday colors.

To color the icing, Bridget uses Americolor gel. Other brands, Bridget warns, can make the icing taste a little funky.

Funky icing. Grody.

Americolor it is.

Just add a little icing into a bowl and drop in some of the gel coloring.

Then stir it around, adding more color to the icing to get it to the depth you want.

Bridget colored some icing green, then spooned it into a bag. She recommends filling it less than halfway full, then attaching a twist tie here…

And here (up toward the top) if you want to walk away from it and come back later.

And away she goes!

Done!

Well…about halfway done.

Next up, now that the outline was completed, Bridget mixed up some flood icing.

Flood icing is used to fill in the outlined areas of a cookie. It moves a little more freely and easily and can be used to create some really wonderful effects (more in a minute).

All you have to do to make the flood icing is plop some regular royal icing into a bowl and add water in teeny tiny increments, stirring well after each addition. This (above) is way, way too thick.

The rule of thumb Bridget uses after mixing in each addition of water (and the additions are half a teaspoon at a time) is to raise up a ribbon of icing and drag it back and forth across the surface. If the ribbon sinks down into the rest of the icing within a count of “one thousand one, one thousand two,” it’s ready.

This (above) is still not ready.

This is ready!

A note about thinning the royal icing to make flood icing: there are no shortcuts, and this can not be sped along. You literally should only add water 1/2 to 1 teaspoon at a time (adding less and less each time), stirring after each addition, until the icing reached the proper consistency. As I watched this portion of Bridget’s demonstration, I commented that because I am impatient in the kitchen, I would be tempted to just slosh in a bunch of water and stir it around. And I would. But Bridget warned that doing so can really compromise the integrity of the flood icing.

Next up, the flood icing goes into a squirt bottle…

And you just fill in the spaces.

Use a toothpick to carefully move the royal icing around and evenly distribute it.

Note from Bridget: The icing should not be thin enough to ooze into place all by itself; if it’s thin enough to do this, it either won’t dry properly or will dry with unsightly pits.

Unsightly pits? Who the heck needs that pressure?

It’s coming together!

Meanwhile we mixed some red flood icing on the sidelines (I was very, very careful not to slosh…but it was difficult) and Bridget squeezed it into the middle section.

And then…this lovely mint green color!

This color was my favorite.

And you can see (above) the difference between the original, thick royal icing and the thinner flood icing. The thick stuff wouldn’t be able to be poured.

Now, here’s what happens when you put flood icing on flood icing…

It creates a flat color-on-color effect. (Bridget calls these “flat dots.”) Very cute!

And I love the red/mint green combination.

That’s the basic technique! Outline with the thick royal icing, fill in with the thinner flood icing. Drop flood icing onto flood icing to create pretty flat effects. The world is your oyster.

Bridget was great to encourage everyone to try it.

And the guests churned out some lovely cookies…

Gorgeous!

The flat flood-on-flood designs are my favorite. Just use a toothpick to make swirls.

Bridget brought some finished cookies along.

These peppermint candy cookies will make your skirt fly up…in a major way. Here’s the tutorial on Bridget’s site that shows you how to make them:

Peppermint Candy Cookies on Bake at 350

RECIPES

Here are the links to the recipes we used:

Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies – These are the cookies Bridget uses, and they are exceptionally delicious. You don’t have to chill the dough before rolling them out (a plus!) and they’re really tasty. Note that she rolls the cookies pretty darn thick—I’d guess hers push half an inch thick—and in my opinion, this is what makes Bridget’s cookies extra memorable. They’re soft and chewy. Yum.

Royal Icing – This is the first stage (thick) royal icing you’d use to outline cookies (with a #3 tip) or do decorative edge techniques. For flooding, you’d follow the steps above, adding small amounts of water until a ribbon of the stuff disappears back into the icing within a count of one thousand one, one thousand two.