How to Make Royal Icing and Flood Icing (2024)

Royal Icing and Flood Icing can turn regular sugar cookies into little works of art! Smooth, royal icing and flood icing are actually simple to make and decorate with too.

Have you ever wondered how professional “cookiers” get that smooth, perfect icing on cookies? It’s like little works of art on every cookie. They are gorgeous and look really complicated. But here’s a secret: they aren’t complicated at all. In fact, this smooth royal icing and flood icing recipe is simple to make and easy to use. It’s perfect for decorating any kind of cut out cookies.

Before making the frosting, set yourself up for success by getting the right ingredients and tools. Here are some of my favorite products, tips, and suggestions:

• Powdered Sugar (aka confectioners’ sugar) – this will be the bulk of your icing. You MUST sift the powdered sugar if you want to have the perfect consistency.
• Meringue Powder– We use Genie’s Dream Premium Blend and it is perfect.
• Food Coloring– Don’t use the grocery store stuff. It will mess up your consistency. Get a good food coloring from the craft store or fromAmazon.
• Piping Bags– We like these small disposables ones.

Royal Icing

Royal icing is a mixture of powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water. The trick is getting the consistency just right. It hardens quickly and creates a smooth, matte finish stiff icing that is perfect for those beautifully cut-out decorated sugar cookies. Royal icing is best for outlining designs or for adding a raised texture to the cookie. It gives the icing that 3D effect. It dries really hard so it’s not the best for decorating the entire cookie. That’s what the flood icing is for.

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. I like to use a toothpick to pop and smooth air bubbles while I am flooding my cookies. A toothpick can also help encourage the flood icing to go where you want it to go.

How to Get the Perfect Consistency for Royal Icing

Before knowing what the perfect consistency is, you need to ask yourself “What am I using this for”? Are you making sugar cookies? Gingerbread houses? Flowers for a wedding cake? Are you doing detailed work or are you flooding? Or both? Here’s a quick guide for the 3 main royal icing consistencies as well as their uses:

The 3 main consistencies for royal icing:

1. Piping (on the left in the image above) – Piping is very stiff and gets very hard after drying. This kind of consistency is great for using as mortar on gingerbread houses. It is also good for making transfers (which means making an icing design like a flower and transferring it to a cake or cookie after drying). To get this consistency you want to have stiff peaks that don’t flop over when you pull it up.
2. Outline (in the middle in the image above) – The outline consistency is for, well, outlining. This will hold in your flood icing but won’t get too hard like the piping consistency. You can easily bite into it and it won’t be crunchy. It is great for sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies. To get this consistency you want to have a soft peak that gently flops over when pulled up, but not so soft that it absorbs back into the rest of the icing. You want it to still hold its form.
3. Flood (on the right in the image above) – This is that beautiful, glossy, “fill” icing. It will flood in the areas that you have outlined. It is perfect for sugar cookies. For this flooding consistency, you want the icing to absorb back into itself in 3-4 seconds after pulling it up. It should make a thick puddle and then keep its shape.

Royal Icing with Meringue Powder

In this easy royal icing recipe we use meringue powder. Some people use egg whites, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Especially for this recipe. Using raw eggs and raw egg whites can make this recipe inconsistent and increase the risk of salmonella. I promise, this recipe is perfect as-is, no need for substitutes. Meringue powder (not to be confused with egg white powder) is the only way to go. That being said, our very favorite meringue powder is thisGenie’s Dream Premium Blend Meringue Powder. It has great consistency and flavor. We can’t guarantee any other meringue powder will turn out quite as good!

What To Do if Your Icing is Too Thick

If it’s not the right consistency for your liking, stir in a tiny bit of water, a LITTLE at a time (you can always add more but you can’t take it away). My favorite tip for getting just the right amount of water is to use a spray bottle. I know it sounds weird but a little water goes a long way. A few little spritz’s with a spray bottle can help you avoid a big headache!

How to Decorate Cookies with Royal Icing and Flood Icing

You can decorate sugar cookies like a pro– it’s easier than it looks! Place the icing in a plastic piping bag, snip off the tip, and outline the cookies. You can also use a reusable piping bag with a very small piping tip. Fill in the outlines on the cookies with the flood icing and then use a toothpick to fill in any little gaps. Add sprinkles for more dimension and design. Be creative and have fun!

PRO TIP: When piping the outline, lift the tip of the piping bag so it isn’t directly touching the cookie. You want it lifted away from the cookie so the icing lays down gently onto the cookie rather than going directly from the tip of the bag onto the cookie. This will give you smoother, prettier lines and more control over where the icing goes.

Royal Icing and Cake

Royal icing serves a great purpose and is very beautiful, but not on a cake. At least not in large quantities. The only time you may want royal icing on a cake is if you make flowers or other decorations and transfer them to the cake after they harden. Even then, they really aren’t meant to be eaten, they are more for decoration. You can also use royal icing as a “glue” if you are wanting to attach the icing flowers or other embellishments onto the cake.

More Frosting and Icing Recipes

Different cookies and confectionaries use different kinds of icing and frosting. This royal icing recipe is great for intricately decorating cookies, but depending on that you are making, you may be better off with a recipe meant for spreading or piping in larger quantities (such as on cakes and cupcakes). Find the one that is perfect for you and your next recipe:

Frequently Asked Questions

Recipes with Royal Icing