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July 17th 2007 09:35
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About Royal Icing
Royal icing, also called decorating or decorator’s icing, is similar to flat icings except that it is much thicker and made with egg whites, which make it hard and brittle when dry. It is used almost exclusively for decorative work.
INGREDIENTS
500 gm / 1 lb puff pastry dough
fruit jam, such as raspberry
frangipane filling
royal icing
For classic puff pastry (Pâte Feuilletée Classique)
500 gm / 1 lb bread flour
10 gm salt
75 gm butter, melted
250 ml / 8 oz water
300 gm butter, for rolling in
For frangipane filling (Almond filling)
200 gm almond paste
25 gm sugar
100 gm butter
25 gm cake flour
100 gm eggs
For royal icing
confectioners’ sugar as desired
cream of tartar ( 1 gram per kilogram sugar)
egg whites (125 gm per kg sugar)
1. To make the classic puff pastry, mix the flour and the salt. Place the flour in a mound on a work surface and make a well in the center.
2. Pour the melted butter and water into the center of the well. Gradually stir from the inside outward to incorporate the flour into the liquids, making a dough.
3. Once the dough has formed, knead briefly just until it is smooth. Do not overwork or the dough will become too elastic and difficult to work. Gather the dough into a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Then roll into a large rectangle.
4. To prepare the butter, place the butter between two sheets of plastic film. Soften it and flatten it out by beating it with a rolling pin. Set aside while the dough is rolled out.
5. Keeping the butter between the plastic sheets, roll it out and square the edges using the rolling pin to make a rectangle about two-thirds the size of the dough rectangle.
6. Remove the plastic from the rectangle of butter. Place the butter on the dough so that it covers the bottom two-thirds of the dough rectangle. Fold the top third of the dough down over the center to cover half the butter. Fold the bottom one-third over the center. The butter is now enclosed in the dough, making two layers of butter between three layers of dough.
7. Give the dough its first 4-folds, roll the dough into a long rectangle. Before rolling, beat the dough lightly so that the butter is evenly distributed.
8. Before folding, always brush off excess dusting flour.
9. Fold down the top edger of the dough to the center.
10. Fold up the bottom edge to the center.
11. Fold in half to achieve the finished. This will give the dough 1028 layers of dough and butter. Rest the dough in a cool place between folds to allow the gluten to relax.
12. To prepare frangipane filling, with the paddle attachment, mix almond paste and sugar at low speed until evenly blended.
13. Blend in the butter.
14. Blend in the cake flour.
15. Blend in the eggs until smooth.
16. To prepare royal icing, place desire amount of confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl. Add a small quantity of cream of tartar (for whiteness), about ⅛ teaspoon per pound of sugar ( 1 gm per kg sugar).
17. Beat in egg whites, a little at a time, until the sugar forms a smooth paste. You will need 2 to 3 oz of egg whites per pound of sugar (125 gm per kg sugar).
18. Keep unused icing covered with a damp cloth or plastic film at all times to prevent hardening.
19. To make conversations, roll out puff pastry dough as thin as possible. It should be nearly transparent. Chill for 30 minutes on a tray lined with parchment paper.
20. With a round cutter cut out circles of dough large enough to line 5-cm / 2-in tartlet cases. Cut out additional circles for the tops of each pastry and set aside. Keep the trimmings flat to use for the decoration.
21. Put about ½ teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each tartlet and top with a teaspoon frangipane filling.
22. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash. Top with a circle of very thin puff pastry and chill.
23. Coat the top of the puff pastry with a thin layer of royal icing, using a small palette knife.
24. Cut strips of puff pastry very thinly and lay on top of the royal icing to form a lattice pattern. The small illustration shows one pastry without its top (right) and three ready to bake.
25. Bake at 190ºC / 375ºF until golden brown and cooked through.
**From “Professional Baking” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**
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