A New Year, A New Quest- for icing happiness, that is!

Ok, where did the time go? It is nearly February and yet again, I have neglected this poor little 'ol blog. So trying to get caught up here. There is a little revamp of my header and some posts to catchup on. Here we go.

Lately, I have been having a little bit of icing regret. When I first started out a little over a year ago.... (wow, I guess it is almost 2 years this year. Ok, yes life does get away from me.)
Anyway, I started out using an easy glaze from I Am Baker. It is a yummy recipe, but I just wanted something with a little more control when using. So off to google I went.


First attempt at decorating with glaze icing.....



Then I stumbled upon, The Decorated Cookie. I just love her!! Her creations are so fun, they make me wish she lived next door, so I could drop by and "accidentally" join the party that I image she has going on everyday! Anywho..... her recipe, Royal Icing (sort of),  is what I have tweaked over these last few years.  I have gotten many, many compliments on it and I do enjoy using it. Though, the one thing I do miss is being able to do fancy textures and borders. I can do something similar with this icing but it has to be sooooo thick, it really hurts my hand.

These Mickey's were made for my son's Birthday using the Royal Icing (sort of)- Yummy!






This Christmas, I decided to bite the bullet and try one more time- true Royal Icing. I tried Allison's recipe (with Glycerine added) over at Ali Bee's Bake Shop. I loved using it! The one big difference I noticed, between the true RI and the RI Sort of, was that the RI seemed to take alot more color than I am used to. Maybe it was just me. Like I said, I am not a baker and am not a master at any icing!!
BUT I did LOVE how quickly I can work. I waited hardly an hour between the light colors and dark. With no bleeding!!!! So it does lead me to believe that it is the oil in the RI Sort of, that may be causing me lack of sleep.

Family Vote: Well... after my husband had a bite of both, he looked at me with those, "I love you BUT" eyes.... Hubs and the kids like the softer icing. Give both a try and tell me what you think.

Here are my results. I am still on the fence if I will continue with all RI or continue with half and half. I am on a quest to discover what caused me bleeding issues. On the books to try is Glaze icing again and adding glycerine to both RI's. For now, I "stick with the proven" as my Dad says! :)