how to decorate sugar cookies with royal icing
none
sugar cookies, batches of royal icing, icing bottles or pastry bags with fine decorating tips, funnel, toothpicks, decorative elements candies
- sugar cookies
 - 2 batches of royal icing
 - icing bottles or pastry bags with fine decorating tips
 - funnel
 - toothpicks
 - decorative elements candies

- there are two steps to creating beautifully iced sugar cookies flooding and detailing.
 - flooding describes the process used to create a smooth, beautiful "bed" of frosting on top of your cookies.
 - this flat frosting surface creates a canvas, which you can then add detail frosting to.
 - both types of icing flood and detail have different textures.
 - each icing step begins with a batch of tinted or white https //toriavey.
 - com/toris kitchen/royal icing/royal icing.
 - first, create your flood icing.
 - for this tutorial, i started with a vibrant blue royal icing for hanukkah.
 - add water to your thick royal icing, a few drops at a time, using a spatula to stir the water in.
 - the texture you are looking to achieve is somewhat similar to the texture of shampoo.
 - frosting can easily go from thick to fluid, so add water carefully and stir frequently until the desired texture is achieved.
 - to check if you have the right texture, use the "10 second rule.
 - " drag a spatula through the frosting to make a line.
 - count how many seconds it takes for the surface of the frosting to become completely smooth again.
 - it should take around 10 seconds.
 - .
 - .
 - if it takes more time than that, your frosting needs more water added.
 - if it takes less time, your frosting is too liquid stir in additional powdered sugar to thicken.
 - once your frosting is at the right texture, fill two decorating bottles or pastry bags with the frosting.
 - for the bottle, i use a funnel to pour the frosting in, since the opening of the bottles is rather small.
 - pour frosting into the funnel.
 - agitate it with a thin knife, stirring and pushing the frosting through, till the bottle is full.
 - this may take a few minutes.
 - once your two bottles are full of frosting, attach a tip to each one.
 - i use a 1 round tip small for outlining and a 2 ribbon tip for flooding.
 - place a small bowl with a damp paper towel on the side of your decorating area.
 - you can place the bottles, tip side down, on top of this towel to keep the tips damp and clean royal icing is kind of like cement.
 - once it dries, it can plug up your tips and make decorating difficult.
 - the damp paper towel will help keep this from happening.
 - keep unused icing in a bowl tightly covered with plastic wrap.
 - starting with the 1 tip bottle, squiggle a line on a piece of paper to make sure any air bubbles are pushed out.
 - this will also give you an opportunity to get a "feel" for how quickly the frosting will flow from the bottle.
 - next, outline a cookie along the outer edge.
 - this thin tip will create a liquid "dam" to keep the flood icing from dripping over the sides of the cookie.
 - as soon as the outline is done, use the 2 tip bottle to fill the center of the cookie with icing.
 - imagine you are "coloring inside the lines" in a coloring book.
 - don't overdo it on the icing, a little goes a long way.
 - if you add too much, the icing will leak over the outline you created and make a mess.
 - use the wide 2 tip to spread out the icing across the cookie and nudge it into detailed corners.
 - be patient, this process takes a gentle touch and takes some practice to get right.
 - .
 - .
 - don't be hard on yourself, and take your time.
 - once the cookie is covered with icing, use a very small spatula or butter knife to smooth out any globs or uneven surfaces.
 - if your icing looks pretty even already, you may not need to do this.
 - use a toothpick to pop any small bubbles that have risen to the surface of the icing.
 - carefully grasp the outer edges of the cookie with two fingers and gently tap the cookie up and down to settle the icing.
 - this will help to smooth out the surface even more.
 - let the icing dry for at least 3 hours, up to 24 hours.
 - i let them dry overnight to make sure they're nice and firm before moving on to the detail icing stage.
 - once your flooded cookies are completely dry, you're ready to play with detail icing, you can "draw" on top of the cookie and making all kinds of beautiful designs.
 - start with another batch of royal icing.
 - for this tutorial, i used white, which made a lovely contrast to the blue flood icing.
 - for the detail icing, you want your consistency to be thicker and more like glue than shampoo.
 - if you use a 10 second rule for flood icing, i would say the detail icing will be more like a 25 second rule.
 - it should be gloppy, not runny but not overly thick.
 - again, knowing the proper texture takes practice, so add water slowly and test the texture as you go.
 - fill a bottle with detail icing, using the same funnel method i outlined above.
 - attach a 1 tip for thin detailed lines, or another tip of your choice to create pretty details the star tip is nice for creating flower like designs, while the 4 tip makes leaf like designs.
 - feel free to get creative with your tips use the detail frosting bottle to decorate, as you would with a paint brush and thick paint.
 - press the 1 tip gently to the surface, squeeze, and lift straight up to create dots.
 - to create straight lines, press your tip to the surface and squeeze to create a starting point.
 - immediately lift the tip, keeping your eye on the end point where you want your line to end.
 - keep your handy steady and pressure even as you pull towards the end point, lifting and then lowering when your line is finished.
 - the lifting action will help you to control the straightness of the line.
 - again, it will take some practice to get a feel for the icing.
 - .
 - .
 - have patience and don't be too hard on yourself once your lines have been added, grasp the cookie with two fingers and gently tap to smooth out the icing lines.
 - if you see any small bubbles, pop them with a toothpick as you go.
 - small imperfections can usually be fixed with a toothpick, too, as long as you fix them within a minute or two of applying the icing.
 - once it starts to dry, it becomes more difficult to "clean up.
 - " while the detail frosting is wet, you can also add small detail effects, like candied beads and sprinkles.
 - the frosting will act as a glue to hold the details in place.
 - when you're done decorating, wait at least 3 hours up to overnight to dry.
 - the longer the frosting dries, the more stable it becomes.
 - .

### Human: Generate cooking recipes. Include ingredients:
- sugar cookies
- 2 batches of royal icing
- icing bottles or pastry bags with fine decorating tips
- funnel
- toothpicks
- decorative elements candies

 ### Assistant: The ingredients you'll need are:
- sugar cookies
- 2 batches of royal icing
- icing bottles or pastry bags with fine decorating tips
- funnel
- toothpicks
- decorative elements candies


You can follows these steps to make the recipe:
- there are two steps to creating beautifully iced sugar cookies flooding and detailing.
- flooding describes the process used to create a smooth, beautiful "bed" of frosting on top of your cookies.
- this flat frosting surface creates a canvas, which you can then add detail frosting to.
- both types of icing flood and detail have different textures.
- each icing step begins with a batch of tinted or white https //toriavey.
- com/toris kitchen/royal icing/royal icing.
- first, create your flood icing.
- for this tutorial, i started with a vibrant blue royal icing for hanukkah.
- add water to your thick royal icing, a few drops at a time, using a spatula to stir the water in.
- the texture you are looking to achieve is somewhat similar to the texture of shampoo.
- frosting can easily go from thick to fluid, so add water carefully and stir frequently until the desired texture is achieved.
- to check if you have the right texture, use the "10 second rule.
- " drag a spatula through the frosting to make a line.
- count how many seconds it takes for the surface of the frosting to become completely smooth again.
- it should take around 10 seconds.
- .
- .
- if it takes more time than that, your frosting needs more water added.
- if it takes less time, your frosting is too liquid stir in additional powdered sugar to thicken.
- once your frosting is at the right texture, fill two decorating bottles or pastry bags with the frosting.
- for the bottle, i use a funnel to pour the frosting in, since the opening of the bottles is rather small.
- pour frosting into the funnel.
- agitate it with a thin knife, stirring and pushing the frosting through, till the bottle is full.
- this may take a few minutes.
- once your two bottles are full of frosting, attach a tip to each one.
- i use a 1 round tip small for outlining and a 2 ribbon tip for flooding.
- place a small bowl with a damp paper towel on the side of your decorating area.
- you can place the bottles, tip side down, on top of this towel to keep the tips damp and clean royal icing is kind of like cement.
- once it dries, it can plug up your tips and make decorating difficult.
- the damp paper towel will help keep this from happening.
- keep unused icing in a bowl tightly covered with plastic wrap.
- starting with the 1 tip bottle, squiggle a line on a piece of paper to make sure any air bubbles are pushed out.
- this will also give you an opportunity to get a "feel" for how quickly the frosting will flow from the bottle.
- next, outline a cookie along the outer edge.
- this thin tip will create a liquid "dam" to keep the flood icing from dripping over the sides of the cookie.
- as soon as the outline is done, use the 2 tip bottle to fill the center of the cookie with icing.
- imagine you are "coloring inside the lines" in a coloring book.
- don't overdo it on the icing, a little goes a long way.
- if you add too much, the icing will leak over the outline you created and make a mess.
- use the wide 2 tip to spread out the icing across the cookie and nudge it into detailed corners.
- be patient, this process takes a gentle touch and takes some practice to get right.
- .
- .
- don't be hard on yourself, and take your time.
- once the cookie is covered with icing, use a very small spatula or butter knife to smooth out any globs or uneven surfaces.
- if your icing looks pretty even already, you may not need to do this.
- use a toothpick to pop any small bubbles that have risen to the surface of the icing.
- carefully grasp the outer edges of the cookie with two fingers and gently tap the cookie up and down to settle the icing.
- this will help to smooth out the surface even more.
- let the icing dry for at least 3 hours, up to 24 hours.
- i let them dry overnight to make sure they're nice and firm before moving on to the detail icing stage.
- once your flooded cookies are completely dry, you're ready to play with detail icing, you can "draw" on top of the cookie and making all kinds of beautiful designs.
- start with another batch of royal icing.
- for this tutorial, i used white, which made a lovely contrast to the blue flood icing.
- for the detail icing, you want your consistency to be thicker and more like glue than shampoo.
- if you use a 10 second rule for flood icing, i would say the detail icing will be more like a 25 second rule.
- it should be gloppy, not runny but not overly thick.
- again, knowing the proper texture takes practice, so add water slowly and test the texture as you go.
- fill a bottle with detail icing, using the same funnel method i outlined above.
- attach a 1 tip for thin detailed lines, or another tip of your choice to create pretty details the star tip is nice for creating flower like designs, while the 4 tip makes leaf like designs.
- feel free to get creative with your tips use the detail frosting bottle to decorate, as you would with a paint brush and thick paint.
- press the 1 tip gently to the surface, squeeze, and lift straight up to create dots.
- to create straight lines, press your tip to the surface and squeeze to create a starting point.
- immediately lift the tip, keeping your eye on the end point where you want your line to end.
- keep your handy steady and pressure even as you pull towards the end point, lifting and then lowering when your line is finished.
- the lifting action will help you to control the straightness of the line.
- again, it will take some practice to get a feel for the icing.
- .
- .
- have patience and don't be too hard on yourself once your lines have been added, grasp the cookie with two fingers and gently tap to smooth out the icing lines.
- if you see any small bubbles, pop them with a toothpick as you go.
- small imperfections can usually be fixed with a toothpick, too, as long as you fix them within a minute or two of applying the icing.
- once it starts to dry, it becomes more difficult to "clean up.
- " while the detail frosting is wet, you can also add small detail effects, like candied beads and sprinkles.
- the frosting will act as a glue to hold the details in place.
- when you're done decorating, wait at least 3 hours up to overnight to dry.
- the longer the frosting dries, the more stable it becomes.
- .

