With sooo many different variants of icing out there I thought I’d share a simple royal icing as well as a buttercream icing recipe. I think that it is probably important that we cover the basic differences between these two kinds of icing.
What is the Difference Between Buttercream Icing and Royal Icing?
The main difference between buttercream vs. royal icing is their ingredients. Their ingredients in return make them suitable for different dessert applications.
Buttercream Icing Recipe
Buttercream icing is a tasty sweet icing made with butter and icing sugar. It is a wonderful icing to ice cupcakes and cakes alike. It does not fully harden as royal icing does but remains soft. This icing can be coloured and flavoured to suit your needs.
Ingredients
Method
Cream your butter and slowly add your icing sugar.
If the mixture looks too dry slowly add milk till you get a thick yet spreadable icing.
Add your flavour / colour / cocoa powder to the icing.
Spread onto a cake or cupcake with a smooth palette knife - ensure that the cake is cool as a warm cake or cupcake will melt the icing.
Ingredients
Directions
Cream your butter and slowly add your icing sugar.
If the mixture looks too dry slowly add milk till you get a thick yet spreadable icing.
Add your flavour / colour / cocoa powder to the icing.
Spread onto a cake or cupcake with a smooth palette knife - ensure that the cake is cool as a warm cake or cupcake will melt the icing.
Royal Icing Recipe
Royal icing is made for decorating sugar biscuits. It hardens after a few hours allowing you to pack biscuits on top of one another to transport. Royal icing allows you to get artistic with designs and patterns on biscuits. There are two consistencies to consider when making royal icing. One is for piping the borders of your design which uses a thicker stiff icing where the flooding icing used to fill in the spaces can be thinner.
Ingredients
Method
Mix the water and meringue powder together until it is slightly foamy.
Add the icing sugar and extract and mix well. The mixture will start to thicken. If it is too thick add a bit more water (1 Tablespoon at a time)
For piping borders, the consistency should be thick and for flooding the consistency should be thinner - run a spoon over the surface of the icing and if it goes back to how it was in 10-15 seconds it is perfect for flooding, longer than that it is perfect for piping.
Split your icing into bowls and colour accordingly.
Place in a piping bag and have fun!
Let the icing harden before packing your biscuits away.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the water and meringue powder together until it is slightly foamy.
Add the icing sugar and extract and mix well. The mixture will start to thicken. If it is too thick add a bit more water (1 Tablespoon at a time)
For piping borders, the consistency should be thick and for flooding the consistency should be thinner - run a spoon over the surface of the icing and if it goes back to how it was in 10-15 seconds it is perfect for flooding, longer than that it is perfect for piping.
Split your icing into bowls and colour accordingly.
Place in a piping bag and have fun!
Let the icing harden before packing your biscuits away.
Now you have it! Which one is your favorite?!
Let's get social
Instagram: @lovilee_zaTwitter: @lovilee_za
Facebook: @lovileeblog
or subscribe to never miss out on any new articles in this link.
2 Comments
Hi there, just check the buttercream icing recipe – it says 23 cups of icing sugar.
O my hat, lemme fix that 🙂 should be 2 to 3