“How to write with icing” may be my #1 MOST requested tutorial.
Writing with royal icing is dependent on: font style, font size, icing consistency, piping tip/size, piping pressure, piping technique. Today, I’ll talk with you about how I approach writing with icing. This isn’t comprehensive, but it’s a great starting point. Once you gain an understanding of how I approach various fonts, you’ll be able to apply the same principles to your future cookies, and over time with much practice, figure out what works best for you.
If you’re a seasoned cookier, you may prefer different techniques from me. I’m not here to delineate what is “right” or “wrong”; simply here to share my experience.
This beginners’ writing class is offered to you for free. To continue offering you amazing content, please support the Borderlands Bakery team by making a Shop purchase, a purchase from our Amazon storefront, or paying what you can via our virtual tip jar on Venmo @borderlandsbakery .
Please CLICK HERE to download the entire guide!!!
Be sure to tag us on Social Media and don’t forget to watch the video below!
There will be some overlapping information on the guide and in this post, and that’s OK! Just want to make sure you have all the info you need.
This video below should be helpful for many of you– Be sure to download the FREE lettering practice sheet that goes along with the video!
And I also created a handy graphic for those of us who want a summarized tip sheet:
I’ve put together a variety of writing and general icing practice sheets for you HERE. Each set serves a different purpose, so make sure to read the descriptions! You can even project the text onto your cookie as a guide for future designs! I will continue to add to it over time, and am happy to take suggestions, so please leave them for me below.
Don’t forget to check out fontbundles.net for amazing font deals. My favorites:
- This one is a HUGE bang for your buck
- And here’s another I absolutely love and just bought lol
- Holiday ish fonts HERE
- I also own this one with LOTS of lettering options
- This bundle contains fonts AND graphics
- Hands down one of the MOST POPULAR fonts is Muthiara — can’t tell you how many cookiers (including myself) love this font
- My most recent purchase HERE
You can also purchase graphics and SVG files in addition to fonts on designbundles.net (a sister company of fontbundles.net).
I also use PicMonkey.com for a TON of image editing, graphic creation, etc. .. in fact, I used this almost daily and it is 100% worth it to upgrade your account. They also have a great selection of pre-made graphics to put your own spin on. Great for non-designers like me!
Other website for great instant font generation: https://www.fontspace.com/
Here are also other posts that may be of huge interest to you, as they are directly related to tools and techniques used in writing with royal icing:
- How to use tipless piping bags
- About Royal Icing Transfers
- Using Dehydrator for Decorated Cookies
- My Projector set up
Now it’s time for you to give us some feedback. We want to keep creating content you find interesting/useful, so please leave us a comment in the blog post and/or the YouTube video, and include any put you may have! We fight to keep our website ad-free, so it would mean the world to us if you supported us by sharing this post/the video on social media and/or by making a purchase from our SHOP. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
I’m so excited to read this! I have about two more weeks to teach via google meets and then I can’t wait to dig into this during my toddlers nap time!
You are amazing. I live in Uruguay and love your work.
Thanks, Carolina!! Appreciate you <3
Loved this video. Writing on icing scares me! ?
Thanks so much!
Hopefully this takes some of that fear factor away!
Appreciate the down loadable practice sheets also.
Awesome content! Thank you so much for sharing with us!
This was an awesome video! Excited to try my lettering!
Just starting my research for learning lettering. I’m not tech savvy and therefore not ready to go the projector route. Any tips for lettering more free-hand style without needing a projector? Thanks for your content…been following you for awhile.
Hi Eileen, thanks for dropping a comment. In the PDF file, I link you to some searched on YouTube for those who don’t have a projector 🙂 — BUT this isn’t “free hand”– it’s still guided in some way. If you want to truly freehand, practice with sheets, then practice without a guide on the bottom to get better.
You are amazing! Thank you for an awesome tutorial! I love how you talked your way through and explained it step by step. I’ve watched it three times now, learning something new each time! This is amazing! Thanks again!
You’re so welcome. Comments like these are so encouraging and definitely push me to do more! Thank YOU.
Awesome tips! You are amazing at explaining! I have some experience but now I think I will improve my skills with these tutorials!
Lisa, thank you for the Write with royal icing video. Very helpful. I love the M is for mom font. What website did you use and what is the font name?
Hi – it’s from PicMonkey’s suite of fonts- called Didonesque
Thank you so much for this information! I really appreciate the tutorial and all the font info. Your work is beautiful too!!
Great video, writing is my biggest fear, step one practise then purchase a projector and away I go!
Your letter piping practice sheet page is gone? Can I get that?
Hi Kate, we just migrated platforms less than 2 days ago, so things are working a little differently than before – we’ll get this fixed in the blog post.
Meanwhile, you can download your free practice sheet by selecting it here: https://borderlandsbakery.com/products/icing-practice-sheets-pdf-downloads
Didn’t I see u on a TV baking contest show? Lol.
How do u write with gold lettering? How to make it gold in colour i mean?
Yep- I was on Netflix and Food Network. You have to write and paint it gold 🙂 There is nothing that’s really good on the market for writing that’s one and done.
Thank you so much for all of the tips! I purchased your Baking Phrases PDF, can you tell me what the name of the font is for the “Buttercream Dreams” line? Thank you!
It’s called “SS glorious grace”
Where can I buy the projector?
There was a link in this exact blog post toward the end– use the “search” function on your device to find it 🙂
This tutorial was wonderful. Thank you for sharing your talent.
Hi Lisa, when it comes to color bleeding I here a lot of different things. Some say to not let your base dry all the way but I see you say to let it dry 24 hrs before writing on the cookie. Please let me know what you think!! 🙏 Thank you so much for your help!
If you’re having bleeding issues, try piping on the layer underneath right after it’s dried. Be gentle- I don’t advise this for beginners because it’s *hard* to pipe a second layer on a soft base, but if you’re having bleeding, it’s worth a shot. I use a very thick consistency for writing vs. flood so bleeding decreases with the correct consistency as well (and not oversaturating, not under or overbeating your icing– very nuanced).
Thank you so much!!!! ♥️