We are currently on maternity leave! We will be back soon xx
Here I hope to briefly explain the colouring and consistency process of my Royal icing. I'll show you all more consistencies in a future blog. Stay tuned! For this batch I needed just two colours: purple and white (easy!). Often I would mix up to 10 colours at a time but that just depends on the particular cookie set I would be working on. Getting the perfect colours and consistency is a time consuming element of cookie decorating. However, it is extremely important! If you apply too much gel food colouring your finished icing can be brittle and crack into powder. Not what we want! If your consistency is not correct you could end up with a very messy looking cookie. Colour and consistency takes practice, practice, practice! Once you master it, your cookies will have a beautiful and professional finish; It is certainly worth the time and effort. For this cookie, I only required two consistencies: one for the outline and the flood. The outline is a little thicker in consistency and is used to outline the cookie and hold the flood. After mixing in the colours (by hand with a silicone spatula. A very good workout!), I add small amounts of water until the correct consistency is reached.
Once the outline is bagged, I add a little more water to the remaining icing, to create the flood. I want the flood to "ribbon off" the spatula when it spooned above the bowl. It's super important to not introduce too much water, as the icing might run off the side of the cookie. Not enough water and your finished cookie can be lumpy and textured instead of smooth and puffy. Once the right consistency is achieved, I place the flood into a tip-less piping bag, ready for decorating!
Love, Emma
