How to Make Royal Icing Eyes – a nifty video tutorial showing you how to make your very own royal icing eyes; no need to buy these edible decorative eyeballs anymore!
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I want to share a secret with you…I am somewhat royalty. You see, I am the Royal Icing Eyes queen. No need to bow or anything, it’s really nothing special. All it means is that I have a ton of Royal Icing Eyes. OK, so maybe not a ton, and maybe I am not royalty, but I have A LOT of them.
First, let me tell you that I used to buy my Royal Icing Eyes. Gasp! Never again! It is ridiculously easy to make them yourself, it is way more cost-effective, and it is a fabulous way to use leftover royal icing. You’ll never purchase them again!
Royal icing itself has a shelf-life, but royal icing transfers such as Royal Icing Eyes will last indefinitely – to infinity and beyond! This is awesome because it gives you something to do with your leftover royal icing, and you’ll have something in your back pocket to decorate your cookies, cupcakes, and cupcakes + cakes with.
What You’ll Need to Make Royal Icing Eyes
- Royal Icing
- Americolor Soft Gel Paste - Black
- Pastry Bags
- Decorating Tip #2, Round (you'll need two of them)
Royal Icing Eyes Tips
- Your white and black royal icing should be the same consistency. You want your black pupil to mesh with the white sclera. I used about an 8-second royal icing.
- Royal icing dries fast. Only do a few white dots at a time and then go back and add the black pupils. You don’t want your white dots to dry before you add the pupil.
- Allow your Royal Icing Eyes to air dry for 24 hours and then store them in an airtight container in a cool dry place; their shelf-life is indefinitely.
- Have fun with the sizes of your eyes and the colors too!
You don’t need a ton of royal icing to make a ton of Royal Icing Eyes. The recipe below is my royal icing recipe halved and it will make a ton of eyes! You could also make Royal Icing Pumpkins. 😉
What are you going to use your Royal Icing Eyes for?
Royal Icing Eyes
Ingredients
- 4 and ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 and ½ tablespoons meringue powder
- Americolor Soft Gel Paste or Food Coloring
Instructions
- Prepare cookie sheet by taping parchment paper or waxed paper to it. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat all ingredients together until stiff peaks form; about 10 minutes.
- Divide royal icing into small bowls, one for each color. Add a drop of black color to a bowl. Mix until royal icing is desired color.
- Add a few drops of water into each color and mix; keep doing this until desired consistency is achieved. I used about an 8 second royal icing consistency.
- Pour white royal icing into a pastry bag fitted with decorated tip #2 for the sclera (white part).
- Pour black royal icing into pastry bag with decorating tip #2 for the pupil.
- Using white royal icing, apply firm pressure to your pastry bag and make a white dot (the sclera), releasing pressure and pulling the tip away when desired size is achieved. Make 8-10 white dots.
- Using black royal icing, apply firm pressure to your pastry bag and make a black pupil on top of your white dot, releasing pressure and pulling the tip away when desired size is achieved.
- Continue the above two steps until you have desired amount of eyes.
- Allow Royal Icing Eyes to air dry for 24 hours. Eat & Enjoy!
The Bearfoot Baker says
Your video is awesome Sarah! I am going to pin it now!
Sarah says
Thanks Lisa! I am trying to branch into videos and it's definitely a learning curve. 🙂