Royal Icing

This smooth, hard-drying icing is perfect for making decorations that last. It is also useful as a "cement" to fasten decorations together. Royal icing is edible, but not recommended for icing cakes.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Meringue Powder

4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar

6 tablespoons warm water

Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

Instructions:

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer). 

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency.  Also, while creating your decorations, keep a damp paper towel over the bowl of icing to keep it from hardening too early.  This stuff gets incredibly hard.  It can even be used for other kinds of projects--such as ginger bread houses or even making model parts.  (Great for school or science fair projects!)  However, be aware that drying time will vary depending on amount used.  You may need a couple of days or more if you are using this in conjunction with fondant.

Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.

***I copied this recipe from the Wilton website.  Though I rarely go for brand name products, I have found Wilton products to be very high quality, reasonably priced (and easy to acquire with coupons at Michael's), and amazingly vast.  Anything you can think of, they have a tool/a decoration/or instructions for it.