Leftover Royal Icing as Buttercream

I always make entirely too much Royal Icing.

You'd think by now I'd know... and yet, every time I decorate cookies... I make too much.
So, what to do with all of that leftover Royal Icing??

Well, after giving it to the children to decorate as they please....

And making rows and rows of dots...

...which the children love to use as sprinkles.

I discovered that if you just add some butter or shortening, you can turn it into ... ta-da! Buttercream Icing!

What You Need:
1 cup Royal Icing
1/3 cup shortening or butter (at room temperature)
1-2 tsp. vanilla or butter flavoring
1/2 - 1 cup powdered sugar

Note: This will yield about 1 cup of buttercream icing. Generally, I have more than a cup leftover, but I wanted to break it down so that you could make what you want/need.

It's really not hard to make, you'll start by combining the shortening, royal icing leftovers and flavoring in the mixer.

Add the powdered sugar until you get a thick enough consistency to decorate with.
If you use the thin royal icing that you flood cookies with, you may need extra powdered sugar. Same goes for using butter instead of shortening, you just may need a little extra powdered sugar to thicken it.
You can always add more coloring, as well, to adjust if you're combining lots of different colors of leftovers... or add a few Tablespoons of cocoa powder and make it brown/chocolate!

I used this icing, leftover from my Beehive Cookies to make little beehive mini-cupcakes. I used tip #12 to make the "hive," swirling like with the Cupcake Swirl. And I used chocolate jimmie sprinkles to make the "bees."

There is a little bit of an aftertaste to the icing from all of the meringue powder in the royal icing, but when you add that extra flavoring, it's hardly noticeable. I wouldn't probably use this as a main icing over a cake, but for decorations or writing? Absolutely!

Click the Links Below to See:
My Royal Icing Recipe
My Buttercream Icing Recipe 

Enter your email address below to receive the latest recipes, tips and ideas in your email inbox:


Delivered by FeedBurner

And don't forget, if you shop at Amazon.com through my link, you support this blog and its contents. Thank you!