We’ve all been there – hours spent baking a celebratory cake or cookies only for them to be let down by icing or frosting that just isn’t the best. We reveal 2 of our favorite recipes that look amazing and taste even better!

Smooth Royal icing

Perfect for decorating cookies. Most Royal icing recipes include egg whites, however, the use of raw eggs is not great for children. Martha Stewart recommends using meringue powder instead, which can be found in the baking aisle of most good grocery stores. Here’s her egg-free Royal icing recipe, which makes 2 1/3 cups of icing.

Ingredients:

1lb confectioner’s sugar

5 tablespoons meringue powder

Half a cup of water

Method:

  • Place the sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of an electric mixer to which you need to fit the paddle attachment.
  • Mix on a slow speed and slowly add the water. Mix until the icing holds a ribbon-like trail on the surface of the mixer for 5 seconds when you raise the paddle.
  • This recipe will give you a consistency which is great for outlining and adding details. If you want it thinner for flooding, simply add a touch more water until you get the consistency you require.

Our Instagram fave bakes
Images by @cocoa_and_confetti    @sugarandextract

Beautiful buttercream frosting

A must for topping and/or filling the center of a large cake, or for icing cupcakes. When researching  the delicious world of frosting, we found there’s a lot you can to make it extra special:

Only use a good quality butter, margarine or shortening are just not the same!

Always make sure your butter is at room temperature to get the smoothest results.

If you want to make your frosting in advance you can do it 1-2 days earlier, and keep it covered in the fridge, but do take it out 1-2 hours before use and quickly plump it up with your mixer for a few seconds before placing on your cake.

When trying out recipes we found a lot of frostings were just too sickly sweet. The solution? Try one with added cream cheese! You’ll get the same luxurious texture, but with a creamier, sweet perfection flavor. We love Nigella Lawson’s buttery cream cheese frosting she makes to go on red velvet cupcakes – it works brilliantly on all cakes and cupcakes. Here’s the recipe, it makes enough to top 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

17 1/2 ounces confectioner’s sugar

4 1/2 ounces cream cheese

4 1/2 ounces soft unsalted butter

1 teaspoon cider vinegar or lemon juice

    Method:

    • Put the icing sugar into a food processor and whizz to remove any lumps.
    • Add the cream cheese and butter and process to mix. Pour in the cider vinegar or lemon juice and process again to make a delicious frosting.

    You can see the original recipe here.


    Once you’ve perfected your frosting, add extra style to your cakes with our brilliant range of cake toppers. We’ve got a wide choice of fabulous designs to match popular party themes, including unicorns, princesses, pirates, knights, space, superheroes, baby showers, tropical and happy birthday. 

    Our Instagram fave bakes
    Images by @juliewettergren