Can I Freeze Royal Icing?

Hi sugar friends! Today we have an awesome guest post from David at Good things by David on freezing royal icing.

This is a question I get asked quite a bit here on the blog and, much to my embarrassment, it is one that I had no answer for until I tested it myself.

It’s baking season now and many people want to get into the kitchen to ice those marvelous cookies for friends and family. I’m right there with you. Those of us who ice cookies on a regular basis inevitably end up with leftover royal icing and I’ll admit that in the past I used to dump what was left (big guilt trip, believe me!). Well, I no longer do that because I freeze what I do have left after one of my baking projects.

It’s simple, it’s easy and it works!

Unless one is icing hundreds of cookies, you may end up with leftover royal icing after making a couple of dozen cookies. Most royal icing recipes (including my own) make a substantial amount to begin with. I think it’s good to have more icing than is needed, because there are always moments when you want to add a little flourish here or there, and then there are moments when you absolutely do run out of a color and need to make more.

You can see that I truly do love to use a whole range of colors when I decorate these types of cookies. Having more options makes the job of icing sugar cookies enjoyable and absolutely easier. Again, unless I have a specific request from someone, I usually mix colors based on what I want to convey. I almost see it as artwork that allows one to express a certain kind of creativity.

Keep in mind that I tested freezing royal icing with my recipe and no one else’s.

This is what you do. Any leftover royal icing should be placed into zip-top freezer bags, giving each color its own bag. Push the icing to the very bottom of the bag and squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing it shut. You want the royal icing baggies to be well sealed. Repeat with remaining icing. Place these sealed bags into a larger zip-top freezer bag and seal shut, removing as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn.

Freeze flat on a rimmed baking sheet until you’re ready to use the icing.

You can make your icing a couple of weeks ahead of time and freeze it before your baking project. With all of the baking I’ve been doing in the past month, believe me, it has saved a lot of time doing this task early.

Note: royal icing can successfully be frozen for up to one month.

Thawing is the easiest thing of all. Remove as many icing baggies from the freezer as you will need and let them thaw on the kitchen counter. As soon as they’re malleable, they are ready to be removed from the bags.

Note: colors may separate and the icing may need to be adjusted to have the right consistency for piping and flooding. I urge you to drop the icing into a bowl to mix thoroughly with a spoon rather than putting it into your piping bag. Find out if it needs to be thinned out with a bit of water or if it needs anything else for your baking project. If the colors do seem uneven, use that spoon and bring the color back together. This is imperative!

Use as desired by filling your piping bag or squeeze bottle and decorate those cookies.

If you have followed my delicious recipe, there will be no compromise in flavor or texture.

Now you know! Royal icing can be frozen with great success.

Happy Baking!

Good things by David was started because I wanted to share some of the Good Things that have made my life a little bit easier, a little bit nicer and certainly more enjoyable. Everyone knows the phrase, “It’s a good thing”, made famous by Martha Stewart many years ago. In this blog you will find not only good things that have come from Martha, but you’ll also come across many that I’ve created over the years. It is my wish to perhaps inspire and encourage you, the reader, to try something new.