Royal Icing

Directions

1. 1
   Beat the egg whites and 1/3 cup of the sugar with a wire whisk or the whisk attachment on your mixer.
2. 2
   Add another 1/3 cup sugar and the cream of tartar and beat 10 minutes longer.
3. 3
   Add the remaining sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth and thick.
4. 4
   The icing can be tinted as desired with food coloring.
5. 5
   To make gingerbread (page 204) house sections, spray the back of a jelly roll pan and a rolling pin with cooking spray.
6. 6
   Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness and place on the back of the jelly roll pan.
7. 7
   Cut out the desired shapes for the walls and roof, then remove the trimmings (you can save and reroll these scraps for cookies or additional house embellishments) and bake for 5 to 6 minutes.
8. 8
   Cool for 2 minutes on the pan before carefully removing to a cooling rack.
9. 9
   Cool completely before assembling the gingerbread house.
10. 10
    Use Royal Icing to glue the gingerbread house together and to decorate the cookies.