Easy Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of eggs in royal icing? ›

You can order Ener-G Egg Replacer or use this as a substitute: 2 tablespoons potato starch, 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda. This is a very similar formula to the egg replacer mentioned above.

To make royal icing, place the powdered sugar, water, and Meringue Powder in a large mixing bowl. With an eclectic mixer, beat the ingredients together until the mixture forms stiff peaks. This should take 7-12 minutes, depending on the strength of your mixer.

Meringue powder can get expensive, and it's made with eggs, which we don't want. Use either xanthan gum or arrowroot powder instead of meringue powder to make royal icing without eggs. You only need a half teaspoon of either of these for the recipe, so one container will last you a very long time!

Luckily, there are multiple ways that you can speed up the process. Leave your cookies to try at room temperature and expose them to as much airflow as possible. If your home is humid, use a dehumidifier or a fan to help dry the cookies quicker, or use a heat gun to solidify the icing at lightning speed.

Pasteurized Egg Whites: Provide the necessary structure and help the icing dry to a smooth, hard finish. If you'd like to avoid using raw eggs, feel free to use meringue powder, which is sold in the baking aisle of most large supermarkets or craft stores.

Using salt and acid (cream of tartar) balances the sugary sweetness. Silver rum adds a subtle flavor, without darkening the icing like vanilla. Creaming helps minimize the grit of powdered sugar.

Disadvantages: Royal icing can crack. This makes it ill-suited for covering large surface areas (for instance an entire cake) or curved surfaces. Royal icing is rarely the most nuanced of flavors, with a somewhat bland (albeit sweet) flavor.

The icing consistency can be adjusted at any stage of the decorating process simply by stirring in sifted powdered sugar to thicken, or water to thin. Remember, at this stage, it is important to gently stir in (not whip on the mixer) any additional water.

Why did my vegan meringues collapse? ›

The greatest point of failure when making vegan meringues is whipping, or actually not whipping the aquafaba enough. You should get to really stiff peaks. So if you are in doubt, whip a couple of minutes longer.

Cream of tartar is a stabilizer and is sometimes used in making meringue to keep the eggs from collapsing. Some meringue powder already has cream of tartar in it to help in stabilizing meringue. So you can't use cream of tartar as a substitute for meringue powder, but it can be used to stabilize meringue recipes.

The corn syrup is an ingredient that is usually mentioned as optional in classic royal icing recipes. It adds a little gloss and elasticity to the icing. The glycerin is the not-so-secret ingredient that keeps the icing from being rock hard. You can find it in the baking section at craft stores or online.

There are three main types of royal icing: stiff consistency, piping consistency, and flood consistency. They are used for different decorating techniques, although sometimes you can use different consistencies to achieve the same result.

One of the main keys to shiny icing is getting that icing to dry quickly. The faster the icing dries, the shinier it will be. One simple method to faster drying is to just aim a fan at your drying cookies. I like to aim the airflow so that it passes evenly over my cookie sheet, not directly down at a particular cookie.

Substitutes like vinegar and baking soda, plain yogurt or buttermilk can help keep cake light, airy and structurally sound. Replace each egg with 1 teaspoon of baking soda combined with 1 tablespoon of vinegar, ¼ cup of plain yogurt or ¼ cup of buttermilk.

The effect of adding an egg yolk to it will be having the meringue not whip up properly. The fat of the egg yolk will ruin it. Instead of beautiful white peaks you will have a foamy mess. For a beautiful meringue use clean equipment, room temperature eggs-whites only, sugar, and beat as much air into them as possible.

Simply stir 1tbsp ground flaxseed into 2tbsp water to replace a single egg. This will provide both binding (making bakes hold together) and leavening (making bakes rise) in place of eggs.