Filigree Butterflies - royal icing

Recently I have posted a couple of cake showing filigree butterflies (in cake album) .. I have often been asked how to make these butterflies and all that is required is patience and practise. they do not take long and always remember to make more than you need as they are fragile and do break easily… in these informed photos, you will see variations on a theme… its only a mini tutorial, so hope you enjoy and give it a try :) … fee free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer as best as I can :)

Royal Icing Recipe: using albumen powder

The most important thing to remember is to keep everything totally grease-free and dust/fluff free)

Ingredients:
Albumen powder (you should be able to purchase in supermarket)
• 15g (1/2 oz) fortified albumen or pure (sieved)
• 85ml (3 fl oz.) previously boiled water
• 455 g (3lb) icing sugar (superfine sugar)

Mix the albumen and water together and let it stand for about 20 min
Sieve the icing sugar (some icing sugars do not need sieving, and I do not know the icing sugar in Oz)
Put into a mixer with the albumen mix and beat for 7-8 minutes, starting slow whilst it mixes in, then going onto high speed for the duration.
Place in a clean, grease free bowl; cover in cling film and place a wet (wrung out) tea towel on top and keep in a cool place. Leave overnight or for 6-8 hours before using
This must be used up in 3 days.

so there we are… hope you enjoy and have fun creating these fragile creatures.

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