Royal Icing

Put one egg white in a medium mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until egg white thins and starts to froth on the top.  Sift 1 1/4 cups pure icing sugar into a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of icing sugar to egg white and beat until combined.  Continue adding icing sugar in this way, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture is thick enough to pipe and stiff peaks form when spoon is pulled from mixture.  This can take up to 10-12 minutes of beating.  Spoon into a clean, small bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

*  Royal icing must be kept covered at all times as it dries out quickly.  It's best used on the day it's made but leftovers can be thinned with a few drops of cold water, beaten again and re-used.  Make sure any dry icing from the edges is not beaten into the mixture as this will block the flow of icing through the pipe.

*  Store in a cool, dry place, but not the fridge.  You can tint royal icing with food colourings if you so desire