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

Examples of royal icing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Getting the buttercream or royal icing to the right consistency for decorating is hard work, remembering your potions and quantities of confectioners sugar to egg white. —Annemarie Dooling, USA TODAY, 29 Feb. 2024

Gentler and more forgiving than royal icing, the brittle gloss associated with conventional British cake stylings, fondant was commercialized in the early 1960s as a premade ready-to-roll frosting, sold alongside instant custard mixes and cake batter emulsifiers. —Zoey Poll Katja Mayer, New York Times, 15 Feb. 2024

What's Included: Gingerbread pieces, royal icing mix, pastry bag, and gold foil base Best for Kids The Elf on the Shelf Gingerbread House Kit View On Michaels One of the best gingerbread houses for kids is The Elf on the Shelf Gingerbread House Kit. —Nicole Pyles, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Dec. 2023

Cool the cookies completely Ensure that your sugar cookies are completely cool before decorating; otherwise the royal icing will simply melt off the cookies. —Zoe Denenberg, Southern Living, 15 Oct. 2023

Powdered sugar icing won't dry as hard as royal icing and is used more often as a drizzle or spread. —Bhg Test Kitchen, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Aug. 2023

Is powdered sugar icing the same thing as royal icing? —Bhg Test Kitchen, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Aug. 2023

There are a few differences between powdered sugar icing and royal icing. —Bhg Test Kitchen, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Aug. 2023

Whip up a batch of these classic sugar cookies from scratch and decorate with royal icing to match any special occasion. —Bhg Test Kitchen, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1770, in the meaning defined above