Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi Doodlecake

If the icing was too stiff it won’t stick to the fondant, and if does, it will be start to crumble once it dries. Royal icing for piping should just stand up in soft peaks. A little tip, sift the icing sugar through a fine sieve twice, this will make you RI really smooth which is essential for piping, you don’t want any gritty bits of icing clogging up the nozzel. Takes a while to get used to making RI, well done for trying, have another go.

Thanks miwl, I think that was definitely the problem. It actually looks quite good and luckily hasn’t fallen off, it just took forever as I had to keep stopping to push it on with the paintbrush. Once I started I had to just go for it as it was dark blue on white. Maybe a bit ambitious for a first attempt 🙂

Another tip is seive the icing through a (clean :-)) pair of tights or pop sock. I do agree with miwl that a soft peak is best. I don’t know if you are a beginner at royal icing but it takes a bit of practice to get right. When I first started it was always too stiff, then I discovered that you can beat it for ages really, really slowly and just keep adding a spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached. Re-beat before using if left standing overnight. I wish royal iced cakes would come back in fashion as I much prefer the taste to fondant.

Jx