Beginners Royal Icing Course Cake Decorating and Baking Tutorial

In this lesson, Ceri shares his extensive knowledge of royal icing recipes including precautions to take when making royal icing (avoid grease contamination for starters!) along with his knowledge of instant recipes that are available. By the end of this lesson, you will know not only which ingredients are in a basic royal icing recipe but also what the better ingredients are. The amount of different ingredients/products to choose from can be intimidating but fear not – Ceri is here to give you lots of straight forward advice. Click here for Ceri’s royal icing recipes

So now we’re making royal icing and along the way, Ceri shares some knowledge about his preferred equipment, bowls and tools. This lesson is full of handy tips such as how to prevent that icing sugar cloud and some simple but useful practices that will make your life so much simpler. Ceri then shows us how to get the three most popular royal icing consistencies and explains their different uses.

Ceri talks us through royal icing premixes and discusses their pros and cons. If convenience and speed is your priority then premixes are a good option, but just be wary of the water content suggested on the back. Ceri would recommend going for a little less water to avoid making it too runny and adding more as you go along. It can be quite expensive but you can be the judge of whether it’s worth it or not as it is extremely convenient.

Colouring royal icing can be a little tricky. Ceri demystifies this for us in a matter of minutes. First of all, he approaches paste colours and gel colours. The general consensus is – avoid them! Then it’s on to dust and liquid colours and Ceri covers the pros and cons of both and when is best to use either.

In this lesson, Ceri addresses the various types of piping bags available and in true Ceri fashion, gives us the pros and cons of each bag. Ceri prefers plastic for bigger projects and paper bags for smaller projects. He then goes into the different types of paper used to make piping bags as well as the different techniques used to make them. There are certain ways to fold and cut your bag which will give it extra strength and accuracy and Ceri discusses his preferred technique – the “Wilton W”. If you are unfamiliar with this, then stay tuned to find out more.

This lesson covers piping nozzles or tips, depending on what you prefer to call them. This is a whole new world and definitely not something you want to just guess at, so this lesson along with a little further research will make you an expert. First off, Ceri recommends Bekenal piping tips as they are the best quality he has come across second to the PME Super Nozzle. If you happen to be able to check piping nozzles hands-on and not online, see if you are able to squash them with your fingers and if you are…avoid them. Soft metal is your enemy! Ceri then goes on to teach us how to take care of our piping tips and goes onto discuss how to attach them to piping bags and the different attachments available.

There are many different ways of hold a piping bag and it can get confusing. Ceri shows us what works for him to enable you to get your piping technique just right. Expect plenty of useful details including where in your hand to hold it, which muscles to use, folding techniques and so on. This lesson is packed full of easy practices that will make your life so much easier.

You may use these nozzles very infrequently, but it’s still useful to know what’s what. In this lesson, Ceri shows us what precautions to take when using royal icing with finer piping nozzles. We have one word for you – nylons.

In this lesson, Ceri takes us through some basic technique musts when piping. Don’t worry if you are left-handed, you won’t be left out… Ceri thinks of everything! Just remember 45 degrees, a slightly damp paintbrush and gravity are your best friends.

Now it’s time to see some piping in action! Ceri shares some different techniques when piping onto the side of a cake. The general rule of thumb is to let the royal icing and gravity do the work. If you try and control its movement too much you will very quickly end up with uneven piping. It may seem unnatural at first but as your confidence grows, it will become instinctive.

In this final lesson, Ceri demonstrates run-out or flow work. This is a type of piping work that consists of creating or filling in shapes as opposed to drawing lines and so on. It might sound simple but it can end up looking messy if it’s not done properly – rogue air bubbles, curved edges and all the other horrors. Ceri gives us some simple and straightforward tips to keep those nightmares at bay.