How To: Royal Icing Lines and Scallops

Royal icing; a classic sugar craft skill that can seem quite intimidating to the uninitiated, but once mastered, renders impressive results.  From classic royal icing covered cakes – ever popular at Christmas time – to wedding cakes adorned in intricately piped lace, royal icing can enhance the most simply decorated cake to something special.

This month, at the height of wedding season, our resident expert Claire Bailey is taking us through from the simplest skills – see how to create beads, dots and shells here – through to lace work and the stunning styles that can be achieved with brush embroidery.

Next up in our royal icing series, Claire has shared all the hints and tips you need to get going with piping lines and scallop shapes with royal icing. All you need is soft consistency royal icing, a piping bag, a selection of nozzles and a cake to decorate. Go on, get piping:

LINES

1. Fit a piping bag with a number 1 piping tube with a round nozzle and fill the bag a quarter full with soft consistency royal icing.

2. Hold the decorating bag at a 45° angle with the tip positioned slightly above surface.

3. Begin piping on the icing, letting it catch the surface you are piping on, then immediately lift the piping tube and apply slow and steady pressure, creating a straight string of icing that you allow to fall in place on the icing

4. When you have the length of icing you need, bring the nozzle back down to the icing and stop applying pressure, pulling away to stop the trail of royal icing.

5. Use a small paintbrush or toothpick to correct any mistakes or bumps in your royal icing.

6. Continue piping symmetrical lines to create a stripes pattern, or cross your lines over to create lattice shapes.

SCALLOPS

1. Fit a piping bag with a number 1 piping tube with a round nozzle and fill the bag a quarter full with soft consistency royal icing.

2. Hold the decorating bag at a 45° angle with the tip positioned slightly above surface.

3. Begin piping on the icing, letting it catch the surface you are piping on, then immediately lift the piping tube and apply slow and steady pressure, guiding the piping bag in the shape you want the icing to fall, slowly allowing the string of icing to fall in place on the icing.

4. When you have the length of icing placed in the shape you need, bring the nozzle back down to the icing and stop applying pressure, pulling away to stop the trail of royal icing.

5. Continue piping scalloped lines within or outside the scallops, or create swirls at the end of piped scallops for greater visual effect.

TIPS

• Rest your wrists on the table if your hands are shaky to avoid creating wobbly lines. Mark evenly spaced faint lines in the icing where you want to pipe the scallop to and fro, to make sure any additional scallops are equal in size.

• Try not to pull the royal icing, or drag it along the cake, to avoid breaks or bumps in your piped lines. Keep the pressure you apply even to control the speed with which the royal icing pipes.

Why not give it a go? Our bird cage cake is the perfect place to start in piping lines and scallops to create a beautifully decorated cake.