How to Make Royal Icing Morning Glories
A striking symbol of affection, morning glories are open during the early morning hours and close in mid-to-late morning. If you want to share their beauty with those who don't get up with the sun, recreate them in royal icing to grace cakes for a variety of occasions. Morning glories aren't the most complex flowers to make from icing, but some experience working with royal icing and cake decorating tools is necessary. Since they come in several colors, you can work morning glories into many different color schemes.
Things You'll Need
- Egg whites
- Vanilla extract
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Confectioner's sugar
- Sifter
- Flexible cutting board
- 2 large glass bowls
- Spatulas
- Plastic wrap (optional)
- Icing colors
- Lily nail, 1 1/4 inch
- Aluminum foil
- 2 decorating bags
- Large petal decorating tip
- Medium petal decorating tip
- Decorating brush, 3/16 inch, round
- Styrofoam block (optional)
Instructions
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Preparing and Coloring Royal Icing
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1
Add 3 ounces of egg whites to the bowl of the stand mixer. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and whisk until a light froth forms. Turn the mixer's speed to its lowest setting.
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2
Put 4 cups of confectioner's sugar into the sifter. Hold the sifter over the bowl of the stand mixer. Place the flexible cutting board just within the edge of the bowl, beneath the sifter, so that the confectioner's sugar will slide down from the sifter and into the bowl, minimizing spills.
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3
Turn the mixer speed to a medium setting. Sift the confectioner's sugar into the egg white froth. Stop mixing when the icing is glossy and forms stiff peaks.
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4
Separate the icing equally into two glass bowls. Add water to one bowl of icing, 1 teaspoon at a time, and stir until the icing is slightly softened and less glossy. The stiffer icing will form the petals and the base of the flower, and the softer icing will form the flower center.
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5
Color the icing by gradually adding a small amount of icing color to the icing and stirring thoroughly with your spatula. To achieve deeper shades, gradually add more color, mixing well after each addition.
Shaping the Morning Glory
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6
Line the concave part of lily nail with foil. Fit your decorating bag with the large petal tip. Fill the bag with stiffer icing in the color you want to appear at the base of the morning glory.
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7
Place the tip 1/16 inch away from the lily nail cup wall. Pipe the icing onto the wall, turning the lily nail 360 degrees to cover the wall up to 3/16 inch away from the lily nail edge. This creates a small cup of icing nested in the foil lining the lily nail.
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8
Fit a decorating bag with the medium petal tip. Fill this bag with stiffer icing in the color for the morning glory petals.
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9
Place the tip 1/16 inch away from the lily nail cup wall, overlapping the top edge of the icing cup by 1/16 inch. Pipe the icing in an upward curve, peaking at the lily nail cup edge. Then pipe the icing in a downward curve, with the lowest point overlapping the edge of the icing cup by 1/16 inch. Repeat five times to create five petals.
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10
Moisten a decorating brush with water. Blend the petals and the cup with light strokes toward the center. Blend the end and the beginning of the petals with a light clockwise stroke. Moisten the brush again, if it becomes dry while working.
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11
Fit a decorating bag with a tip for creating small dots or narrow lines. Fill this bag with the looser icing. Add a small dot at the bottom of the icing cup.
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12
Remove the morning glory from the lily nail when dry, by gently lifting the foil away from the lily cup. Tear the foil away from the morning glory to use it for decorating.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Keep some uncolored icing in reserve, in case you over-color a batch.
Icing colors are highly concentrated, and a little goes a long way.
Make white and pink morning glories by painting the inside of the second decorating bag with a stripe of pink icing color.
Cover the royal icing with plastic wrap, to keep it from drying out as you work.
If making a large batch of morning glories, get several lily nails and stick the ends in a Styrofoam block. Remove when the flowers are dry, so you can use them again.
Depending on the size of the eggs, 3 ounces of egg whites may require three to five eggs.
Use separate spatulas for each color of icing. A tiny amount of the wrong icing color can produce an unwanted streak.
Icing flowers are fragile. Pack with care if you plan to store them or to finish decorating a cake on site.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
