Recipe: Great pumpkin cookies

Recipe: Royal icing
Makes about 4½ cups, enough to top-coat 4 to 5 dozen (3-inch) cookies
This icing is by far my favorite frosting for cutout cookies. Because it contains high-protein egg whites, it dries quickly with minimal spreading; it also holds food coloring quite well with limited to no bleeding. Use this thick formulation as edible “glue” for gingerbread construction projects, or adjust its consistency for other cookie decorating techniques. Note: Since the egg whites in this recipe are not heated, it is best to use pasteurized whites to minimize the risk of food-borne illness, especially when serving the very young or old or those with compromised immune systems.

Prep talk: Tinted icing is best used the day it is mixed because the color will dry more uniformly. Otherwise, the icing can be made 1 to 2 days ahead and stored in the fridge. Bring the icing to room temperature when ready to use and stir vigorously to restore its original consistency. Once applied to cookies, the icing should remain at room temperature so it sets into a crunchy candy-like coating.

Important: Unless you’re using the icing, always cover the surface flush with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming.

2 pounds powdered sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
About 11 tablespoons pasteurized whites (or 5 large egg whites)
Flavoring, to taste
Soft gel food coloring (see “FAQ”) of your choice, to desired shade (optional)

1 Mix the powdered sugar and cream of tartar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the egg whites by hand to moisten the sugar. Fit the electric mixer with a whip attachment and beat the mixture on low speed to evenly distribute the egg whites. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and continue to beat about 2 minutes, until the icing is silky and very white. (The icing will lighten and thicken as you beat it.)

2 Beat in flavoring and/or food coloring, if desired. Mix well before using.

Consistency adjustments for royal icing
The following consistency adjustments are approximate guidelines for a single batch of un-tinted Royal Icing. The addition of food coloring or flavoring, beating time, and normal variations in egg size can all affect the end consistency. If you make an adjustment and still think your icing is too thin or too thick for your application, simply adjust by adding powdered sugar to thicken or water to thin.

• For outlining: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water. For crisp, well-defined outlines, start with 1 tablespoon water. If the icing is too thick to easily pipe through a small (1⁄8-inch) hole in a parchment pastry cone, gradually add more water. When piped, the icing should hold a thin line with no—or minimal—spreading.

• For top-coating: To avoid icing runoff on cookies under 2 inches, start by adding 2 to 3 tablespoons water. Gradually increase to 3 to 5 tablespoons as needed to improve spreadability on larger cookies.

• For stenciling: Add 3 to 4 tablespoons water, but remember, the exact quantity will vary with egg size and the other factors. The icing must be thin enough to easily spread into the stencil openings without leaving peaks or “tracks” when the spatula is lifted. At the same time, it must be sufficiently thick to keep from creeping under the stencil into areas where it is not wanted.

• For beadwork: About 4 tablespoons additional water works best, though exact quantities will vary, as noted above. At the proper consistency, a smooth, well-rounded dot should form when the icing is piped through a small (1⁄8-inch) opening in a parchment pastry cone. If the icing forms a peak, it is too thick. Conversely, if it spreads a great deal, it is too loose.

FAQ: Is a particular type of food coloring best for tinting royal icing?
While liquid, gel, paste, and soft gel food colorings can all be used to tint Royal Icing, I recommend soft gel coloring, a relatively thick, concentrated dye that comes in a container fitted with a dropper. A little soft gel coloring goes a very long way. The dropper also takes the guesswork out of getting the right color. (Just count the drops the first time you mix.) Chefmaster Liqua-Gel is a widely available brand of soft gel coloring.

Stand-ins
The next best choices are gel and paste food colorings. Both are very concentrated, but they come in small lidded jars and must be doled out with a toothpick or skewer—an often messy and unpredictable endeavor.

BUY THIS BOOK
Excerpted from Cookie Swap: Creative Treats to Share Throughout the Year by Julia M. Usher. Copyright 2009 by Gibbs Smith. Excerpted with permission by Gibbs Smith. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.