Royal Icing II

"I have made this icing 100+ times and it is foolproof (have a small cookie business). Don't add all water at once as it may make icing too thin for outlines. Always use paste food coloring, too. If..." See more you need an icing that is sugary sweet and dries HARD, this is it! Caution: if your bowl or beaters have even a trace of grease on them , this will not set properly. For planning purposes, it generally takes a good 6-8 hours for my cookies to dry sufficiently so that they can be wrapped. In addition, if you do not have a pastry bag & tip...a ziploc-type bag works well. However, it works better if you reinforce the corner of the bag with some scotch tape before you snip the corner off. Just snip off a little bit if you want a fine outline."

"This was really great. Easy to make. Used for our cookies. It hardened very well but not so hard that you couldn't bite into it without chipping a tooth. Didn't harden up too quickly either but I ..." See moredid keep it covered with a wet cloth just in case. I added different food colorings in it for our cookies. NOTE: The Meringue Powder is found in the Wilton's baking section at Michael's Craft Store or in the craft area at Walmart."

"Excellent!! Used to decorate my gingerbread cookies, worked well and dried fast so I could get them put away. Tip; use ziploc freezer bags with a decorator tip fastened in a corner. This allows you to..." See more work off and on without worrying about the frosting drying out on you."