Eggless Royal Icing 101

This is your Eggless Royal Icing Masterclass. Find not one but 3 ways of making this easy royal icing recipe for sugar cookies along with few tips & tricks to give you the confidence you need to try this technique yourself!

This easy royal icing recipe for sugar cookies will totally change the way you think about royal icing. It comes together super quick, pipes smoothly, & dries hard perfect for decorating cookies, cakes, cupcakes, & gingerbread houses.

Best of all, this is royal icing made without meringue powder or eggs!! Also includes a vegan royal icing recipe.

What is Royal Icing?

Also known as Decorator's Icing, Royal Icing is a type of icing made with confectioner's or icing sugar, egg whites, and sometimes flavoring or coloring that dries to form a hard glaze. Mostly used to decorate sugar cookies and gingerbread houses along with traditional Christmas Cakes.

Since egg-whites is an integral ingredient to get the shiny, glossy smooth finish in a royal icing recipe, it was not feasible for a majority of the crowd to try it.

Until today, Yes in this post I am going to cover not 1 but 3 ways of making royal icing, eggless version. I am sure decorating cookies with royal icing would become your favourite thing to do here on!!

Why try this recipe?

1. As mentioned totally no eggs, no egg-white, no meringue powder whatsoever making it suitable for everyone to try.
2. Looking for royal icing with or without corn syrup, with or without aquafaba or with cream of tartar I have got you covered with all of it.
3. All the versions of this eggless royal icing is super easy to make and comes together without much effort. Two of them does not require mixer too 😀

Ingredients needed.

1. Glucose Syrup - I have used glucose syrup in place of corn syrup as this is what I could find easily here in NZ. Feel free to use corn syrup or honey as a substitute.
2. Icing Sugar - It is important to use fine icing sugar. Homemade Powdered Sugar won't work.

Step by Step Recipe

First Method: Using Glucose Syrup

• Start by sifting icing sugar. Do not miss this step. (image 1)
• Add lemon juice, glucose syrup (or corn syrup) and give a good mix. (image 2 -3)
• You can consider adding flavouring agent at this stage if you prefer and mix well.
• That is your royal icing with corn syrup (glucose syrup) ready. (image 4)

Second Method: Using Honey

• Start by sifting icing sugar. Do not miss this step.
• Add lemon juice and honey. Give a good mix.
• You can consider adding flavouring agent at this stage if you prefer and mix well.
• That is your royal icing without corn syrup (glucose syrup) ready.

Third Method: Using Aquafaba

This is my favourite method of making eggless royal icing. The icing made using this method turns out exactly like the ones made with egg white.

It is glossy, shiny and so smooth. Absolutely white in colouration too unlike the other two method.

Here is how you make it:

• Start by sifting the icing sugar and set it aside.
• Over a double boiler, warm the aquafaba until warm to touch about 23°C if you own a thermometer.
• Start whipping it at maximum speed until foamy. (image 5-6)
• Then dump your sifted icing sugar and flavouring agent if any and whip till soft to stiff peaks form. (image 7)
• That is how you make eggless royal icing with chickpea water aka aquafaba. (image 8)

Comparing the Three Methods:

Of all the three, the aquafaba one is my personal favourite as it is so glossy, smooth and the icing resembles so much like the one made with eggs.

Being said that once you add food colour of choice, then there is absolutely no difference between the three.

All of them are easy to spread on a cookies, easy to smoothen and sets and hardens beautifully.

If your design calls for white icing then go for aquafaba method otherwise you can choose any of the three methods to make the icing for your designs.

Testing Consistency:

Each of the method would yield royal icing with different consistencies.

How to check Royal Icing Consistency?

The testing method is similar to that of the one that you do while making a custard or jam.

Take the back of your spoon and draw a clean line. Icing should stay in its place for 15 seconds without having the need to disappear too quickly.

So make a line and count till 15 seconds it should be flowly but still retain its position. If it flows too quickly then you need more icing sugar and if it does not flow at all it indicates the icing is too stiff and needs more water.

This is known as the 15 seconds Consistency Test.

Simple Logic

• Too thick: Add little water or lemon juice to thin it out.
• Too thin: Add icing sugar to thicken

Storing Royal Icing

Store the royal icing in an air tight container. Stays good for 5 days in your refrigerator.

When you want to use it, give a good whip to get it to the right consistency and then use.

Can we freeze Royal Icing?

I have not tried freezing the icing yet. Will update the post if I do it.

How to Decorate Cookies using Royal Icing?

• Transfer the icing to a piping bag.
• Make a very small cut on the piping bag. You can always increase the size if you want later.
• Trace along the edge of the cookie to form a border. (image 9)
• Fill the inside of the cookie. Making a border prevents the icing from spreading out. (image 10)
• This technique is also known as Flooding the Cookies with Royal Icing.
• Allow it to harden overnight (image 11). Then pipe out any designs of choice on top.

I will be sharing a detailed instruction on Diwali Cookies post which is coming up next so do consider subscribing to our Newsletter so you do not miss out any updates. (UPDATE: The DIWALI COOKIES post is now live).

Piping Nozzles:

If you wish to make use of piping nozzles to get a steady design. Then here are the two nozzle tip that you would need:

1. Wilton Nozzle 2: This is the tip needed to flood the cookies.
2. Wilton Nozzle 1: This is the tip needed to make intricate designs on the cookie.
3. All the other nozzles that you use to make a buttercream flower designs can be used to make designs on top of the cookie using this icing.

Baker's Tips:

1. Use only store bought Icing Sugar or Confectioner's Sugar for best results. Homemade Powdered Sugar won't work for this recipe.
2. Always sift the icing sugar to remove any lumps. Since the piping tip is very small, the lumps from the sugar would get stuck in there causing problems while designing.
3. In the aquafaba method, warming the chickpea water helps us to dissolve the icing sugar while whipping and that way you do not get the grainy texture while tasting.
4. If your icing is too thick add little water or lemon juice to thin it out. And if it is too thin add more icing sugar to thicken.
5. The 15 seconds royal icing consistency is perfect for flooding the cookies. If you want to make designs consider adding more icing sugar and thicken it a bit.
6. Always keep the icing covered or else it will solidify on the surface giving you a unpleasant taste and would also not flow properly.

Recipe FAQ's

Related Recipes:

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