Colors Used
In This Royal Icing Tutorial
Obviously, the main color I used for this royal icing transfer is purple (Wilton brand), but you could choose any other color combo. That's why I will denote the main color just in the three shades I'm using.
The golden color I get by mixing in a bit of brown into yellow royal icing. These
golden parts will be painted with gold dust. If you're particular about
the shade of gold you get, you could make a test first by piping dabs of
different colors/shades. Let these dry and paint them with your gold
dust.
For the white parts and details, please do add some white food coloring to your royal icing.
General Guidelines
For The Purple Owl Tutorial
- Outlining is always done with outline consistency royal icing
unless otherwise noted.
- In general, after filling a part with flood consistency icing, dry your work in
the food dehydrator at 40-50°C (105-120°F) for 30 minutes. If a part is
filled with bead consistency or stiffer royal icing, dry it for 15 minutes.
If you don't have a food dehydrator, just make sure that the surface has dried nicely.
These times are for parts that will be overpiped with details and don't have to be completely dry. Other drying times for specific parts will be noted in the in-depth transcript. - Before piping anything, always try first on a paper towel or
other surface whether the royal icing is behaving as you expect it to. If not, adjust it.
- The
same goes for cone openings. If your icing curls, try to adjust the opening by gently rounding it out with a small pin (must be thinner than the PME scriber needle, or you will enlarge the hole). More about measuring the cone openings below.
- So
don't cut corners like I do sometimes :-P. It's so much less painful to
take a few minutes to adjust, than to have to work a long time
with a consistency/cone that sucks.
- When you moisten your brush by dipping it in water, make sure to not just dry the bristles, but the ferrule/metal sheath above them as well. I missed doing it at least at one place in the video and a drop fell while I was over a wing, which left a small mark (fortunately on a spot that would be covered with details).
Also too much water on the brush can leave whitish streaks on the icing once it dries. - The template contains 5 facial plates with eyes, so you can pipe more than just one set of pupils, irises, etc. It's always good to have extras, if something should go awry.
Cutting and Measuring
The Parchment Paper Cone
Tip Opening
I already mentioned this on the main royal icing tutorials page, but will repeat it here again, because it's important: Use a small, sharp nail scissors to cut the holes in your parchment paper cone tips. Your icing will come out smoother than with a ragged edge.
The way I measure parchment cone tip openings works only if you have the exact same scribe tool as I do, as needles differ in thickness. The following is the scriber needle I and most cookie decorators and sugar artists use:
To measure the tip opening, stick the needle through the cut hole from the inside of the cone. This also will round out the hole nicely and prevent curling of the icing... most of the time.
If the
needle sticks out about 3 mm, the hole will be about the equivalent of a
PME #0 tip; 5 mm equals about a PME #1. Anything larger
than that, you'll have to eyeball :-).
Yes, the tip of my needle is blackened... I quite abused my scribe with isomalt work :>}!
Oh, yes, to measure the tip openings, I guess you will need a (metric) ruler as well :-).
Return HOME from The Purple Owl Tutorial Page 2
Return to the Main Purple Owl Tutorial Page
Return to the Main Royal Icing Tutorials Page
Return to the Main Tutorials Page
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