Royal Icing Transfers Made Easy!

Oh hey bro. What's up? Just kidding...*no I'm not*

If you read cookie blogs at all--you will see some pretty CRAZY designs. A lot of these are done by amazing artists! I am not one of these people. And I cannot afford a fancy projector a la kopykake machine!

So I got to thinking...how about 'transfers' that I have heard about? This is exactly the same method that I talked about when discussing melting chocolate for decorations here  and also here. The only difference is that this is done with royal icing for use on sugar cookies.

I can't draw elaborate things freehand, especially characters. This helps me get a similar design each time! When they are dry (I leave them over night) I slide them off and keep them in an airtight container until I need them!

Want to try?

Keep reading!




What You'll Need:

• a flat board, tray or surface *don't try moving them from a table to another surface unless they are dry. Using a tray allows you to move them somewhere else to dry without disturbing them*
• parchment paper OR wax paper OR acetate sheets(projector paper) *some people note the parchment paper causes the transfers to break or is too hard to slide them off of. I can't find acetate sheets and the parchment paper works okay for me!*
• clamps or tape (for your parchment paper or acetate sheets to stick them to the tray)
• scissors (to cut your images and wax/parchment paper)

• royal icing
• templates or designs that you print out to size for your cookies! As you can tell, I did transformers! Autobots and Decepticons :) 

Printed images piped onto parchment paper on a tray!

How to:

1. Print out templates of your design. Black and white images work best---I always google colouring book images because those are black and white and easier to trace! Also duplicate the images and leave room in-between them so you can pipe several at a time!
2. Cut your tracing paper and your images up so you have them all separate from one another. *I did not do this and I noticed my transfers curled up a bit, Having them all individual is better, I think*
3. Put printed images on your tray or board. 
4. If you don't cut them all up separately-- place parchment paper on top of board and tape or clamp in place. You don't want this moving around! (I leave one side not taped so I can slide the paper in and out for multiple designs)
5. Trace the image with your royal icing either in black and white, and then add the colours, or trace the image as you'd like it!
6. Wait several hours until full dry and then slightly peel transfers off or use a flat knife to glide them off carefully!
7. Store in an airtight container or use right away on cookies! Secure with icing to cookie!

I did Spiderman too...for good measure!

See the minion's eye? This is why I said little details don't work for transfers if they don't connect to the main shape of the design. So sad. 

Tips:

• Wait as long as possible until the transfers begin to lift slightly
• Don't waste icing (or chocolate!) and pipe designs you may use later!
• I always pipe numbers and phrases I know I may need later!
• Don't put on too much of your base icing. This will cause your base icing to ooze out of your transfer...I did this...OOPSIE!
• Always make extra. Transfers can break easily! Also they can break when you put it on the cookie as you press it into the icing. Don't worry--just try and push the pieces together before the icing dries. My cookies still looked great and no one noticed the small crack ! Teehee. Crack. 

Hope this helps you with trickier designs..I can't wait to show you how these worked on the cookies I made! They are a birthday surprise so I have to wait. Awe shucks!

Happy Transferring!

XO