Royal Icing: The Ghost Cookies - Halloween Recipe

[sheeza]

Decorating cookies shaped like ghosts, jack-o'-lanterns, and black cats is a great way to prepare for Halloween and a wonderful children's project. Use smooth, glossy royal icing in holiday hues to dress up sugar, chocolate, or gingerbread cookies. Then, follow these instructions for flooding, piping, or sanding -- three easy cookie-decorating techniques that will give these confections a festive finishing touch.

Recipe
Royal Icing
Makes 16 cookies

2 large eggs
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Juice of 1 lemon
Glycerin (optional)
Food coloring

1. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Add confectioners' sugar and lemon juice. Beat for 1 minute or more. If icing is too thick, add more egg whites; if it is too thin, add more sugar.

2. For a glossy icing, mix in a few drops of glycerin. To tint icing, add food coloring sparingly, one drop at a time, using the end of a toothpick. Blend well.


For Flooding: To ice the entire cookie, use a pastry bag with a #2 tip. A thinner icing consistency is preferable when flooding; just add a bit of water to thin out the icing. Fill the pastry bag, cuff the open end over one hand, and use a spatula to scrape in the icing. Twist the half-full bag closed, so the icing doesn't leak out at the top.

For Piping: Using a #3 tip, rest the tip on your index finger, pushing the icing out gently with your thumb.

For Sanding: Dust the cookie with sanding sugar to make it sparkle. Tap off the excess sugar when the cookie is dry.