Hey Ya’ll! Were going to be returning to the basics of cookie decorating and make sure weve got a strong foundation laid.
If this is your first time visiting the blog, My name is Sarah Grace and I teach people how to make gorgeous, decorated sugar cookies and how to earn a profit from their cookie decorating skills. If youd like to learn more and get resources for cookie decorators then you have come to the right place!
What is Royal Icing Consistency?
You can change the consistency of that icing once youve made it just by adding different amounts of water. The more water you add, the more runny your icing becomes, the less water you add, the firmer it is.
Firm textures of icing, like the really stiff straight out of the mixer kind, are typically used for things like flowers, piping thin lines, and piping fine details. The looser your icing gets, the more quickly it smooths out and the more it spreads out across the surface of the cookie. Those types of consistency, the more runny or loose consistency, are usually used for flooding, the surface of the cookie for dipping cookies face down and creating that smooth surface.
My favorite consistency is 20 second consistency. You may hear people refer to different consistencies based on what it looks like. That may be a cookie dough or toothpaste looking consistency. There are different ways of referring to it, but the way that I often refer to my icing consistencies is a mix of the two.
Sometimes I use what it looks like, but I also use seconds. When you hear me say that icing is a 20 second or 15 second consistency, what that means is when you have a bowl of icing and you take just a little drop and plop it down into the rest of the icing, thats how many seconds it takes to reincorporate and go smooth back over the top of the icing.
So, when I say 15 seconds, thats what I mean. And you may hear it referred to in different ways. But I want to talk about the four main consistencies that I typically use in decorating cookies.
Again, my favorite is the 20 second consistency. Some people like to outline their cookies with a stiff consistency and then slide with a more loose, consistent ease.
I prefer to use the 20 second consistency to outline and slide. This saves me a lot of time, a lot of bags, and a lot of energy when it comes to coloring all those different colors of icing. This 20 second consistency is what I use when Im flooding cookies when Im creating a wet-on-wet design, or an ombre design.
You can learn more about how to create this consistency in my consistency confidence class. This is now a free class! Its been a bestseller for years, but Ive decided to make it free that way its more accessible for everyone to be able to learn cookie decorating and get started cookie decorating. I know that I have had a lot of growth in my personal life and business just from the skill of cookie decorating. And it does seem that a lot of people are looking for something to help them get that flexible income, have a creative outlet, especially as a mom, and have a community and support. It is kind of like a type of therapy! So, I want to make it more accessible and Ive made that consistency class free.
You can find that free class HERE. Youll just need to sign up and complete the registration process and you can get into that online class for free. I teach you my signature SG Scoop Method for reaching perfect 20 second consistency.
Now Im not going to tell you its a foolproof method or that its great every time because the weather does have an effect. I think humidity has an effect on royal icing but its a lot easier to have an idea of how to get to that consistency, to kind of give you a jumping-off point rather than just guessing every time. Because thats what I did when I started out and it was really difficult.
If youve ever tried to frost a cutout cookie neatly and smoothly, you know that bakery-worthy results require more than just spreading on icing with a knife. The proper technique is called flooding, and it allows you to apply a smooth layer of icing to all or part of the cookie. Watch our tip video to see how its done, and check out how the finished cookie should look.
Royal Icing Consistencies (How to flood and outline a cookie)
FAQ
What are the three types of royal icing?
What does flooding mean in cooking?
How many seconds does it take for royal icing to flood?
What is flood icing?
Once you’ve outlined your cookies with your royal icing outline, you’ll fill in your designs with “flood” icing. Flood icing is basically just a watered-down royal icing (watered down in consistency, not flavor). It gives your cookies that beautiful, smooth layer of texture. You can use a toothpick to pop and smooth air bubbles.
What does flood icing consistency mean?
Flood icing consistency means the icing will spread around the cookie. To test this icing consistency, draw a line in the icing while in a bowl and see if the line will disappear. If it fades fast, then you have a flood icing. If your icing moves fast, you need a border around the cookie. That’s where outline icing will come in handy.
How do you know if icing is a flood?
If it fades fast, then you have a flood icing. If your icing moves fast, you need a border around the cookie. That’s where outline icing will come in handy. Outline icing consistency means the icing will not move and can be used as a border around the cookie and sometimes to add details to cookies.
How do I use flood icing?
The flood icing is a little runnier than the line icing – you just need to add a bit of water slowly to the basic recipe to get the right consistency. At Biscuiteers we squeeze our flood icing in place using little clear plastic squeezy bottles. For any tiny area it’s easier to use a piping bag.