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Royal Icing

Perfect for finishing off your home made Christmas Cake, Royal Icing offers a traditional method that can be adjusted to suit your desired finish. You can opt for the old style festive look or go for a more modern approach.

Preparation: 15 mins
Resting Time: ideally 24 hours

Ingredients

As a guide, the ingredients below will cover the top and sides of a 9 inch cake with 2 inch deep sides. Adjust to suit the size of your cake.

  • 5 Medium or 4 Large Egg Whites
  • 1 kg Icing Sugar
  • 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 2 tsp Glycerine

Method

  1. Separate the egg whites from the yolk ensuring there is no egg shell
  2. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy
  3. Sift the icing sugar into a separate bowl
  4. Add the icing sugar a little at a time into the bowl containing the egg whites and beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon
  5. Add the lemon juice when half the icing sugar has been added and beat well
  6. Continue to add the remaining icing sugar slowly, beating as you do until the mixture starts to form ‘peaks’ as you draw it upwards
  7. Stir in the glycerine which makes the icing softer
  8. Cover your bowl with clingfilm and leave the icing to rest for 24 hours at an average room temperature
  9. When you are ready to use, work the icing through before applying to the cake
  10. Spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake
  11. Leave to set before adding any piped decoration