Royal Icing Orchid

I don't blame you if your initial reaction to this post is "That doesn't look like an orchid." Well, since there are as many as 26,049 currently accepted species, I picked this one at random. All you'll need to pipe a basic white orchid is stiff consistency royal icing, a petal tip #104, a flower nail, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam brick to rest the nail in, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the petal tip with the wide end touching the center of the surface and the narrow end angled outward and upward. Pipe while moving the tip in an upside-down "U" motion. Finish by drawing the tip back toward the center, stopping pressure and pulling the tip away.

 Repeat twice for a triad of petals. Taper the ends (especially of the bottom two) with your fingertips after touching them to the dusting pouch.

 Pipe the two side petals. Again, keep the wide side of the tip in the center with the narrow side facing outward and upward. Really allow the icing to fan out in a circular fashion with these two side petals. Here's one…

 …and the other. Allow them to firm up for a bit.

 I practiced the final petal on my fingertip quite a few times; yummy, yummy practice! Hold the tip with the wide side in the center of the flower and the narrow side of the tip angled sharply upward. Pipe a bowl-shaped petal with the ends meeting in the center. Here's a side view of it…

 …and here's a view straight on. When the icing is dry you can brush on some color dust or petal dust. Place several of them in a wreath on a cake and you'll have a lei!

Royal Icing Narcissus

The narcissus has always been one of my favorite flowers (definitely my favorite bulb). It is the official flower of December, but is frequently overshadowed by poinsettias. They are easy to pipe, especially if you use a daffodil template on your flower nail (optional, if you're skilled at keeping the 6 petals equal in size): 

 You'll also need a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, petal tip #104, scallop tip #79, and stiff consistency royal icing in white and yellow. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick.

 Attach the #104 tip to the white icing. Hold the tip almost flat against the surface, but with the narrow end of the tip angled outwards and upwards. Squeeze while moving your hand in a tight "U". As you complete the shape, stop pressure and pull the tip away diagonally toward the center of the nail.

 Here are the first two petals. As you pipe them, touch your fingertips to the dusting pouch and taper the petals' tips by pinching them gently.

 Here are the 6 petals. Set the flower aside to firm up for a few minutes at this point.

 Attach the #79 tip to the yellow icing. Pipe a stand-up petal in the center; hold the tip against the surface at a right angle, squeeze, draw upwards for a few millimeters, then stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Repeat a few times until you've formed the center cup of the narcissus. Sneak in a few of these next time you're supposed to be piping poinsettias; see if anyone notices!

Royal Icing Ginkgo Leaf

Even thought it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (everywhere you go), there are still a few trees bearing stunning fall-colored leaves. The other day I saw one and was inspired to do a Google image search of "fan shaped yellow leaves." I'd gotten about 2.5 words typed by the time it prompted me with "gingko tree"! In retrospect, I think I probably knew that. Anyway, to pipe ginkgo leaves (which start green and turn yellow), you'll need stiff consistency royal icing, leaf tip #104, oval tip #55, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, and parchment paper squares. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the tip against the surface with the narrow end facing outward. Squeeze while moving your hand in a fanlike motion, keeping the wide end in more or less the same spot. Wave the narrow end up and down while you pipe to create the texture. Stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Repeat for the second half of the leaf, which should touch the first one at the base.

 Switch to the #55 oval tip to pipe the stem. It would look better narrower, but would be more likely to break.

Royal Icing Eagle Feather

After yesterday's pilgrim hat, I thought I'd better think of something at least representative of the Native American headdress (if not the whole thing): the eagle feather. All you'll need to pipe very tiny eagle feathers are stiff consistency royal icing in black and white, round tip #3, petal tip #101, a flower nail, a glue stick, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, parchment paper squares, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Pipe a slightly curving line of white icing with the #3 tip. As the icing comes out of the tip, pinch it into a point with fingertips you've touched to the dusting pouch.

 Switch to the #101 tip and pipe half of the feather from about half an inch away from the pointy end until about 1/3" from the tip. Hold the wide end almost against the center line and the narrow end facing outward. Pulse the tip as you go to create the ridges of the feather. Stop and pull the tip away.

 Repeat on the other side, again with the narrow side facing outward.

 Use the #101 tip to pipe the end with black icing (hopefully you have two #101's or you'll have to rinse the one out you piped the white icing with). Pulse the tip in the same way to create the ridges while moving the tip in a tight upside-down "U" formation to create the tip. This would look sweet on any dessert served at a black-and-white themed tea, as well as for Thanksgiving.

Royal Icing Dog Bowl

This is by far one of the easiest projects I've ever come up with; it only requires two tips, and can be piped in a matter of seconds. It really looks like Snoopy's signature bowl, doesn't it? All you'll need is red stiff consistency royal icing, petal tip #104, round tip #12, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of cornstarch and powdered sugar. You might also want a food-safe marker like AmeriColor's Gourmet Writers to personalize the bowl when the icing is dry. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Pipe a circle that spirals around over itself. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap it down into a nickel-sized, squatty disc. Switch to the #104 tip.

 Hold the wide end of the tip against the surface, and squeeze while rotating the nail. You might need to tap the seam between the two edges flat with a dusted fingertip, or flatten the edge of the bowl. This one turned out almost perfect on the first try! It might need to be filled with tiny royal icing bones.

Royal Icing Ghosts

The only tricky part about piping royal icing ghosts is getting the consistency of the icing just right; you want it to flow in a ghostly fashion, but you want it to be stiff enough to hold its shape. My icing wasn't thick enough, so I squeezed it out into a bowl, mixed in some stiffer consistency royal icing, then refilled the bag. In addition to white royal icing, you'll need a petal tip #104, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a glue stick, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a black food-safe marker like the AmeriColor Gourmet Writer, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #104 tip just above the surface, and squeeze steadily while dipping the tip down in a series of curves reminiscent of a cursive letter "w." Bring the tip back up to where you started, stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Liberally dust a fingertip by tapping it against the dusting pouch, and tap the center of this shape while drawing your fingertip upwards away from the curvy lower edge to form the ghost's head.

When the icing has firmed up, draw in some eyes with the black food-safe marker. Peel away the parchment and use these ghosts as cupcake toppers (or perhaps in the graveyard scene inside a "panoramic egg" eyeball). 

Royal Icing Wintergreen

Wintergreen was designated the official state herb of Maine in 1999. It grows in wooded areas, and produces white flowers in the summer that produce red berries in the fall. I thought I'd attempt the summer version right now; perhaps I'll revisit piping wintergreen later this fall. All you'll need are stiff consistency royal icing in white and green, petal tip #104, round tip #8, flat toothpicks, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Pipe a green leaf with the petal tip. Hold the tip almost flat on the surface with the narrow end facing outwards and angled up slightly, then pipe while moving your hand in a tight upside-down "U" shape.

 Repeat for a total of at least three petals. Touch your fingertips to the dusting pouch, and subtly taper the ends of the leaves. Touch the narrow end of the flat toothpick to the dusting pouch and gently press it into the icing on either side of the center line to form veins in a "V" formation.

 To pipe the white flowers, hold the #8 tip against the surface, squeeze while pulling the tip upwards, then stop pressure and pull the tip away.

Dust the narrow end of another flat toothpick and gently press a 5-pointed star formation (sort of like an asterisk) to suggest the end of the bell-shaped flowers. These would be very appropriate decorations for any woodsy or minty dessert (even though I just read that wintergreen isn't actually a member of the mint family; news to me!).

Royal Icing Coast Rhododendron

The coast rhododendron has been the official state flower of Washington since 1959. It's found along the coast (big surprise), but also extends through the Cascade Mountain Range. The flowers vary in shades from white to vivid pink, and grow in clusters on bushes. You'll need to use a lily nail, so pipe plenty of flowers in advance to give them time to dry thoroughly before peeling away the foil. You can place them inside an empty cardboard egg carton to give them some support while they're drying. Look at the royal icing jessamine to see how to get the lily nail to this step:

 Pipe five petals with a #104 petal tip. To make 5 somewhat evenly-spaced petals, start by piping a "V." Try not to squeeze too much when the tip is at the bottom of the cup; the less icing that collects down there, the better (it'll take longer than a week to dry, depending on your climate, if the icing builds up too much in the middle). When you pipe the petals, move your hand in a narrow, upside down "U" motion with the narrow end of the tip facing outward.

 Pipe a third petal in the middle of the "V."

 Rotate the nail around and pipe the remaining two petals.

 Touch your fingertips to a dusting pouch to subtly taper the petals' tips. Switch to a round #3 tip and pipe a cluster of stamens in the middle. Hold the tip at a right angle to and just above the center, squeeze, pull up, stop pressure, and pull away. You might want to dust the edges with deep pink Color Dust after the icing has dried or use a striped bag to pipe them.

Royal Icing Cottonwood Leaf

The cottonwood tree was designated the official state tree of Kansas in 1937. They have triangular to diamond-shaped leaves, which are rather beautiful; I think they'd be stunning on a cake commemorating Kansas (or even something to do with Valentine's day, because in the photos I've seen they look like hearts). All you'll need are green medium-consistency royal icing, leaf tip #104, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, round toothpicks, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #104 tip almost flat against the surface. Without moving the tip, squeeze so the icing curls over itself, then move the tip along for about 3/4"…

 …then stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Touch your fingertips to the dusting pouch and define/taper the tip of the leaf. Sometimes I like to use the surface of my fingernails to achieve that gentle, inward curve of the edge.

 Press the side of the tip of a round toothpick into the edge to make it jagged. Dust the toothpick first so it won't stick to the icing. Leave the curved top and the tapered tip of the leaf smooth; only make the sides jagged.

 Press the side of the toothpick into the surface to form veins, radiating outward and downward from the center ridge. When the icing is dry, peel away the parchment. If you're representing a cottonwood in fall, be sure to use yellow icing!