Royal Icing Stack of Pancakes

A tiny stack of pancakes is one of those projects you'll probably never need to pipe, but it sure is cute, easy, and sort of looks like what it's supposed to be. All you'll need is stiff consistency royal icing in brown and yellow, a round #12 tip, a flat #44 tip, 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 flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the tip at a right angle to and just above the surface. Pipe a swirl about the size of a quarter…

 …and tap it flat with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch.

 Allow it to firm up for a few minutes, and repeat. It looks better if the "pancakes" vary slightly in size.

 Pipe another…

 …and another.

 Finish off with a "pat of butter" (a short shot of yellow icing piped with the flat #44 tip). These would be cute as a garnish on any maple flavored dessert (or somehow featured in a gingerbread house).

Royal Icing Gingerbread Man

Perhaps this is a good variation on gingerbread cookies for folks who have gluten sensitivity; why not make the whole cookie out of royal icing, not just the decorations? You'll need brown stiff consistency royal icing (along with white and any other colors you like), round tips #12, #10, and #3, a flower nail, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, 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. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Pipe a circle for the head, and a "U" shape for the body. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the icing flat and smooth.

 Switch to the #10 tip to pipe the arms and legs. Again, keep the tip at a 90 degree angle and just above the surface. Overlap the limbs onto the body a little bit and tap the surface smooth.

 Allow the icing to dry for several minutes, and decorate it any way you like with whichever size tips you like using. You could pipe a whole family to live in a gingerbread house!

Royal Icing Poker Chips

Today's post is sort of my family's version of gelt; we have a poker chip caddy handed down from my grandparents that I stock year-round with seasonal chips and cards. The chips have to be clay or I won't play:

All you'll need to pipe poker chips is stiff consistency royal icing in any colors you like, round tips #8 and #12, flat ribbon tip #44, 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 powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Pipe a circle about the size of a quarter with the #12 tip. Hold it just above and at a right angle to the surface while piping.

 Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the icing flat. Allow it to firm up for a few minutes.

 Switch to the #8 tip and pipe around the perimeter. Again, keep the tip at a right angle to and just above the surface. Tap the slightly overlapping ends flat to join them where they meet.

 Pipe short shots of a contrasting icing with a flat #44 ribbon tip. These won't make for decent currency in a poker game, but they'd be cute as a garnish on cupcakes served at it.

Royal Icing Hanukkah Gelt

This time of year, chocolate gelt is pretty easy to come by. However, it isn't the greatest thing to decorate cupcakes with, and folks who are allergic to chocolate need to give it a miss. For an alternative, try piping gelt with royal icing. You'll need stiff consistency royal icing in yellow, round tips #12 and #2, 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 powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick .

 Hold the #12 tip at a right angle to and just above the surface. Pipe a ring; decrease pressure as the ends overlap and pull the tip away.

 Pipe a dollop of icing in the center hole.

 Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the icing flat into a disc.

 You can make them in a variety of sizes; the largest one here is just over 1". Allow the icing to firm up for about 20 minutes.

 Use small round tips like the #3 to pipe designs on them. To create the "interlocking" effect on the Star of David, pipe three pairs of parallel lines.

 To keep the menorah balanced, I piped the center line, then the base, then the three curving lines, starting from the center and working my way outward. The "flames" are small shots of icing that end in a point from stopping pressure and pulling the tip away.

 This gelt might not be sturdy enough to withstand an actual game of dreidel, but they'll certainly look good decorating any dessert.

Royal Icing Christmas Light Bulb

This is a good case of piping what I know. I grew up on the classic C7 and C9 Christmas lights, and never warmed up to any other variety (especially those cool-burning environmentally-friendly lights that look like the inside of a refrigerator; they may save the earth, but they're the antithesis of festive!). All you'll need to pipe tiny little classic Christmas lights are stiff consistency royal icing in yellow, black, and whatever color you like, round tips #12, #8, and #2, a glue stick, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, parchment paper squares, 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 #12 tip almost flat alongside the surface and squeeze out a ball of icing. Move the tip along while decreasing pressure for a little more than half an inch. Stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Pipe the base with the #8 tip on the yellow icing. Hold the tip against the wide end of the bulb, squeeze briefly, move the tip along, then stop pressure and pull the tip away. I tried to create "threads" by pulsing the tip in and out but they sort of melted together.

 Pipe a tiny black dot with the #2 tip, then flatten it with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch. These would be cute peeking out from under the eaves on a gingerbread house!

Royal Icing Hostess Ho Ho

Here's a companion to the other day's Hostess Cupcake: the Ho Ho (yep, I'm still pretty broken up about the end of the Hostess company). You'll need stiff consistency royal icing in brown and white, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, an offset spatula, a Styrofoam brick to rest the nail in, a glue stick, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, and round tips #12 and #2. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick.l 

Attach the #12 tip to the brown icing. Wipe a fingertip across the end of the tip to make the icing flat. Hold the tip almost flat along the surface and squeeze out about an inch of icing. Slide the offset spatula into the icing to make a perfect cylinder (just like the real Ho Ho's used to be…sniff).

Allow the icing to firm up completely.

Attach the #2 tip to the white icing and pipe a tiny spiral at the ends. This would make a cute garnish on any chocolate, cream-filled dessert (but nothing will ever replace Ho Ho's).

Royal Icing Christmas Pudding

Today's post is short and sweet (and tiny and sweet, too). You can make doll-sized Christmas puddings with round tips #12 and #3, leaf tip #65, stiff consistency royal icing in brown, green, and red, parchment paper squares, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start with the #12 tip on the brown icing. Hold the tip just above and at a right angle to a parchment square. Squeeze out a dollop of icing; move the tip upwards as you squeeze for about half an inch. Stop pressure and pull the tip away. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap down the peak. Allow this shape to dry for about 15 minutes. 

 Pipe a green leaf or two with the #65 tip.

 Finish off with a cluster of #3 dots for berries. This could be a cute garnish for any small Christmas-themed dessert like cupcakes or petits fours.