Royal Icing

Ideally, you should ice your cake a few days before Christmas, but,
if needs must, you can ice it, even on Christmas Eve.
Buy a cake board that is a little bit larger than your cake, and a decorative
frill, if required.
Choose your decorations from the hundreds available.
It might be that you prefer a minimalist setting, using just a robin
and a sprig of holly, or you may continue to use your traditional family favourites.

Ingredients

To make enough icing to create a rough finish, to represent a snowy landscape, for a 7 inch (18 cm) square or an 8 inch (20 cm) round cake
You will need:

1 lb 2 oz, 500 g, icing sugar, sifted
3 large egg whites
1 teaspoon glycerine

Method

Separate the eggs carefully,

Place the egg whites in a bowl, then stir in the icing sugar, a spoonful
at a time, until the icing falls thickly from the spoon when you shake it over
the bowl.
At this stage, stop adding the sugar and whisk well with either a hand whisk
or an electric hand mixer for 10 minutes, or until the icing stands up in stiff
peaks when lifted with a fork.
You will notice, if you touch the icing now, although it will feel soft, it’ll be sticking up in little
soft spikes where the prongs of your fork have lifted it.
Now stir in the glycerine.
Spread the icing all over the top and sides of the cake as evenly as possible
using a large, broad flat bladed palette knife.
Then, use a smaller broad-bladed knife (or smaller palette knife), to spike
the icing, lifting it gently into tiny peaks, to give a snowy effect.
Decorate your cake, then leave it overnight in a cool place for the
icing to dry out before storing it in a container until its needed.

Please note that this recipe contains raw egg.