Royal Icing Makes 2 1/2 to 3 cups, or enough to decorate 6 to 8 dozen cookies Royal icing has a long and distinguished history of being used to decorate cookies, fruitcakes, wedding cakes and petit fours. It is the sort of classic, been-around-forever recipe for which you can find all sorts of permutations in all sorts of cookbooks. It is simple to make and a little more difficult to use, if only because you need to work quickly -- royal icing sets into a firm glaze once it dries, and it does dry rather quickly. Royal icing gets its name from having been the traditional icing for fruitcake -- which was the wedding cake of choice among English royalty, and then among the general English population. Along with marzipan, fondant, and other rolled or formed icings, it has the advantage of sealing in freshness so that the cake in question could be made days in advance and still be tasty and moist upon serving. If a wedding cake needs to be made more than a few days in advance, royal icing is frequently used in tandem with fondant, which is cut and formed to fit exactly the particular dimensions of the cake. We don't get a lot of call for wedding cakes around our house, so I use royal icing mainly to decorate cookies at Christmastime. You can thin this with a little water or milk, or add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. Make it just before you need it, then use it all up in one fell swoop -- if you wait, you will be left with royal icing cement in the mixing bowl. The addition of glycerin is optional; it simply serves to give the icing an attractive glossiness, and has no bearing whatever on the flavor. If the eggs in your area are questionable as far as the risk of salmonella, feel free to substitute an equivalent amount of meringue powder, available at many baking supply stores. Do not double or halve this recipe. 1 lb. confectioner's sugar 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla, orange, peppermint or whatever extract you prefer 3 large egg whites 3 to 6 drops edible glycerin (optional) -- Sift together the confectioner's sugar and cream of tartar 2 or 3 times. Do not skip this step, or you will have unattractive tiny white lumps throughout the icing. -- In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until combined. You will despair at first, because the extract will make the icing look muddy or grey; never fear, as a good beating will incorporate enough air into the icing to turn it snowy white again. Set mixer speed on highest level and mix for at least 3 minutes. Use immediately. Here's a great cookie decorating technique: -- Use plain butter cookies as your base; you want something with a smooth, plain surface and mild flavor so that the icing takes center stage. Have a couple of extra cookies for practicing; working with royal icing can be a little bit tricky at first because it's so fluid. -- After you mix up a batch of royal icing, set about half of it aside and divide the remaining half among several small containers (coffee cups are ideal). Using food coloring, tint these small batches in the colors of your choice. Paste or gel food coloring -- available in craft shops and some grocery stores -- is recommended because it will not dilute the icing as liquid food coloring can. Stir the colored icings well to thoroughly disperse the color. -- Get out one pastry or sandwich bag for each of the colored icings you've made. Put each bag into a drinking glass and pour each colored icing into its own bag, pushing the icing down towards one of the bag's corners. If you're using sandwich bags, use scissors to make a tiny snip in each bag's corner. This will allow the icing to flow out for decorating. The drinking glasses will hold the bags for you as you work. -- Pick up a cookie and pour a little of the plain white icing onto its surface with the spoon. You don't need to use much; royal icing is fairly liquidy and will spread. Use the back of the spoon to smooth the icing out to the edges. -- Pick up one of the colored icing bags and "write" whatever you want on the iced cookie. The colored icing will almost immediately sink into the white icing to make a smooth surface that looks almost as though it's been painted. -- If you don't want to write anything in particular, you can "draw" stripes with the colored icing, and then use a toothpick to swirl the plain and colored icing together for a stunning marbleized look. Repeat on remaining cookies. -- Allow iced cookies to dry on a wire rack at room temperature for at least 2 or 3 hours, or until icing is dry to the touch. Storage Royal icing cannot be stored for any length of time, and must be used immediately. OTHER ODDS AND ENDS Catherine S. Vodrey is available for freelance writing, editing, fundraising/development, and photography projects at: Post Office Box 835 East Liverpool, Ohio 43920 USA E-MAIL: WordBanquet@gmail.com Thank you for visiting www.WordBanquet.com!