royal icing

noun

chiefly British

: a type of icing composed of sugar, egg whites, and sometimes flavoring or coloring that dries to a hard glaze and is used for decorating baked goods

Royal icing, made primarily of sifted confectioners' sugar and egg whites or meringue powder … dries hard with a glossy sheen, making it ideal for decorating cutout cookies.

—Martha Stewart Living

To make cookies look like buttons, use frosting of choice (such as royal icing or icing in a tube) to pipe four small dots onto the peanut butter cups.

—Judy Hevrdejs

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The gingerbread White House was made using 20 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 30 sheets of gingerbread dough, 100 pounds of pastillage, 30 pounds of chocolate and 40 pounds of royal icing. —CBS News, 28 Nov. 2022

There is also a gingerbread White House that was made out of 20 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 30sheets of gingerbread dough, 100 pounds of pastillage, 30 pounds of chocolate, and 40 pounds of royal icing, according to the office of the first lady. —Justin Gomez, ABC News, 28 Nov. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1770, in the meaning defined above