The Pantry Staple That Replaces Raw Eggs In Royal Icing Completely - Tasting Table

Royal icing is commonly made with powdered sugar, egg whites, and water or milk, sometimes with vanilla or almond extract for flavor. Meringue powder can be swapped for egg whites by combining two teaspoons of meringue powder with two tablespoons of water for each whole egg white called for. Meringue powder should not replace whole eggs in recipes that require eggs, such as baking recipes or breakfast scrambles. Meringue powder functions as a stabilizer made from ingredients like cornstarch, dehydrated egg whites, and sugar for texture and shelf life. It is safer than using raw or undercooked egg whites because it reduces Salmonella risk and also makes preparation less messy. It also helps produce shiny icing.

"Swapping meringue powder for egg whites in royal icing is incredibly easy. Simply combine two teaspoons of meringue powder with two tablespoons of water for each whole egg white needed in your recipe. It's important to note that meringue powder shouldn't be used as a swap for real, whole eggs in other baking recipes that call for eggs or in your morning egg white and spinach breakfast scramble. Meringue powder is a stabilizer, rather than a substitute for real eggs, because it's usually made from corn starch, dehydrated egg whites, a bit of sugar, and a few other ingredients for texture and shelf life. Apart from being a safer option, meringue powder is also the secret ingredient for shiny icing."

"Royal icing makes decorating cookies and confections simple and easy, and it's made with minimal ingredients. This means it's simple to whip up a batch and add food colorings to smaller portions for decorating. Traditional royal icing uses powdered sugar (also known as confectioners' sugar), egg whites, and water or milk to vary the consistency, and sometimes vanilla or almond extract is added to royal icing for flavor."

"Meringue powder is a game-changer when it comes to making royal icing, as not only is it less messy since it omits the need for separating egg yolks from the whites and then measuring those egg whites, but it's also a much safer ingredient to use than raw egg whites. Raw or undercooked egg whites have the risk of containing Salmonella, a bacterium that causes food poisoning."

Read at Tasting Table