Sugar Cookies and Icing?!
Sugar Cookies and Icing?
I'm baking sugar cookies that will be shipped across the country. I need to know whether it is best to use a ROYAL ICING or a BUTTER CREAM ICING for the decorative icing that will be used. Or is there another choice?
Thanks for whatever tips and help you can give me!
Answers:
Royal Icing would last longer than butter cream. Try these toppings, I used the second one for my sugar cookies, to take to my child's playgroup and they withstood travel quite well.
1. Plain - Prepare cookies by brushing with heavy cream or an egg white slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon of water. Sprinkle with decorative toppings, hundred thousands,etc.
2. Powdered Sugar Icing Recipe -
2 & 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Food colouring to tint
Directions:
1. Assemble all of the ingredients and place in a medium sized bowl and mix with a hand mixer until combined.
2. Drop a few drops of food colouring into the prepared frosting and stir thoroughly to mix in.
If the icing seems too thick then add a few drops of water drop by drop mixing all the time to check for consistency. Hope this helps.
Don't use royal icing, it is more for decoration than for eating. Buttercream is good, or you could use a prepared icing already in the tube......don't get the gel though, it never dries :-) When my mom does her cookies, she does the edges in a stiff icing, then floats the center of the cookie with a glaze made from powdered sugar and milk.
Definitely go with the Royal. Anything with buttercream will get smashed. I would keep the decoration very simply, maybe even using some of the colorflow techniques so that you can have neat designs on the cookie, but not have it destroyed in the process. I would then wrap each cookie in tissue paper before packing into a box. Good luck!