Vent: My royal icing just would NOT dry for my gingerbread house

I followed the recipe exactly, used meringue powder and everything, but the stuff stayed tacky for two full days. I even tried putting a fan on it and moving it to a less humid room. Ended up having to hold pieces together for like 20 minutes each while watching a whole movie. Anyone have a foolproof icing recipe that actually sets?

4 comments

4 Comments

coleman.jamie12d ago

Two days? That's wild. Must have been some crazy humidity.

simonmoore12d ago

Nah, humidity doesn't explain it for me, @coleman.jamie. That stuff usually dries way faster. This was a weird batch of paint, thick like pudding right from the can. The label said quick dry but it just stayed tacky. I've used a lot of paint and this was a first. Maybe it sat on a store shelf for years or something. Just a total fail from the brand.

butler.mark5d ago

That brand always dries fast for me.

wren6525d ago

Honestly, have you checked the date on your meringue powder? I had a similar disaster last year and it turned out my powder was way past its best. It looked fine but just killed the icing's setting power. That could explain why the usual tricks, like what @coleman.jamie said about humidity, didn't fix a thing. Old powder might not give you the right protein structure to ever really harden. Maybe the brand is fine but you just got a stale container from the back of the store shelf.