Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a substitute for eggs in icing? ›

Replace 1 egg white with 4tbsp aquafaba. Aquafaba can be used to add air and volume to cakes, as well as giving doughnuts that classic airy texture that we all love. It can also be used in royal icing and to make meringues – it's ideal for a vegan pavlova.

Make sure to open your aquafaba jar in a dry space, and keep it out of humidity to prevent clumping and hardening of the powder. Additionally, adding cream of tartar to your aquafaba can be beneficial as it helps to reduce the breakdown of texture when whipping the aquafaba, allowing it to stabilize.

As mentioned above, royal icing needs to be exposed to air to be able to dry completely. By putting wet royal icing in the fridge you are not only preventing the icing from actually drying, but the humid environment will also likely make the colors bleed.

Meringue powder can get expensive, and it's made with eggs, which we don't want. Use either xanthan gum or arrowroot powder instead of meringue powder to make royal icing without eggs. You only need a half teaspoon of either of these for the recipe, so one container will last you a very long time!

Meringue powder is most commonly used as a substitute for whipped egg whites in royal icing, but it can also be used to stabilize and thicken whipped cream and buttercream, helping them hold their shape when piped.

Aquafaba Drawbacks

Needless to say, bean water is saturated with oligosaccharides. Saponins, the part of aquafaba that is responsible for the egg white-like texture and foaming, are a toxic steroid derivatives that disrupt red blood cells. They may even contribute to development of leaky gut by damaging the gut wall.

The lemon juice whitens the royal icing. The royal icing should be light, fluffy, and slightly stiff. You may need to adjust the consistency by adding more egg whites if the icing is too dry or more powdered sugar if it is too wet.

If the cookie was decorated in the last 30 to 60 minutes, Maddie suggests scraping off the icing that has cratered and piping it again, adding squiggles of icing inside the outline and filling the cookie with flood icing. This technique also works well for fixing small areas of your cookie.

Take care not to beat the icing any longer than is needed to turn it crisp white, and to only beat it at high speed at this very thick consistency. Extended beating, especially of looser icing, can pump a lot of air into it, creating tiny (or not so tiny) bubbles that can be difficult to eradicate once incorporated.

It is likely caused by bad powdered sugar or vanilla extract. Not all powdered sugars are created equal. Make sure you use a good quality powdered or confectioners sugar that only contains cane sugar and corn starch. If it contains anything else, it will affect the taste and the texture.

What replaces eggs in vegan baking? ›

Coconut oil is widely used as an egg replacement in vegan baking and it's easy to see why. Once melted, this delicious oil will mix well into most batters, brownies and bakes. And it can be used to replace eggs when you're breading foods, such as tofu, before baking or frying.

The greatest point of failure when making vegan meringues is whipping, or actually not whipping the aquafaba enough. You should get to really stiff peaks. So if you are in doubt, whip a couple of minutes longer.

Mayonnaise. If you have a jar of mayo in the fridge, you can use 3 tablespoons in place of one egg. "Mayonnaise has been used as an egg substitute because of its moistening properties and is best suited for cakes with strong flavors, like spice cakes and chocolate cakes," Tutunjian says.

Egg whites are loaded with protein which tends to form a gel net, that thickens the recipe. This is also used to make icing or frosting. What is more, proteins in egg whites prevent sugar crystallization and promote smoothness to the finished product.

For recipes which use eggs primarily as a leavening agent you can try a commercial egg replacement product (see above) or the following mixture: 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil mixed with 1-1/2 tablespoons water and 1 teaspoon baking powder per egg.

Use applesauce to add moisture. Replace one egg with 1/4 cup of applesauce in sweet desserts. If you want a lighter texture, add an extra 1/2 teaspoonful of baking powder, as fruit purées tend to make the final product denser than the original recipe.