Meringue Powder . . . Works for Me Wednesday

Using meringue powder is not the only way to make royal icing, but it's what I use to make mine.

When I first started decorating cookies, I used raw egg whites in my royal icing, but I started getting nervous.  Not nervous for me, but for other people who might eat the cookies.  About 9 years ago, I discovered meringue powder and I haven't looked back.

Does the brand of meringue powder matter?  Yes.  These are 2 of my favorites:

• Williams-Sonoma brand (made by CK)
• Ateco, available at bakery supply shops or Amazon

I also like:

• AmeriColor
• CK

There is another brand that is more widely accessible.  I won't mention the brand here because I think they do a lot of things really well, but I don't love their meringue powder.  Actually, I used it for years before even realizing there WERE other brands.  Once I bought one of the brands above from a bakery supply shop, I immediately tasted a difference and saw a better consistency with my icing.

{That said, if you are experiencing a cookie decorating emergency, you have my blessing to use the other stuff.} ;)

Gail of One Tough Cookie uses powdered egg whites with fantastic results.  She even has a vlog post about it if you want to learn more.

What do YOU use to make royal icing?

{Psst....here is the royal icing recipe I use if you're ready to make some of your own.}

White, yes, WHITE Food Coloring . . . Works for Me Wednesday

After last week's WFMW post, I realized that I needed to let you in on a little cookie decorating secret.  A secret called....white food coloring.

White food coloring is one of those things I saw in the bakery supply store for years and thought, "Royal icing is white. Why would I ever need that?" 

Then, it happened.  My beautiful WHITE outlined cookies turned, well, off-white.  The cookies I spent 5 hours decorating.  The cookies I needed to mail to a friend THAT morning weren't white. *sob*

I have no idea why royal icing turns off-white sometimes and not others.  All I know is, I'm not risking it any longer. I use it EVERY time I need white icing.  Just use it like you would any other food color.

Another hint: I put in the amount of AmeriColor Bright White that I think is enough, and then I add a little more.  Trust me, more is more here.

It's not only for royal icing and cookies, either.  Cheryl used it on her Snowy cupcakes earlier this week....they are so cute!


Where to get it?

• your local bakery/cake supply shop
• Sweet!
• Amazon for big or small {affiliate link}

 

Have YOU ever used WHITE food color?