Dairy free icing/frosting?

[Lisa W]

I am having a little cookie decorating party in a couple of days for some children in our family/friend area. I have all the gingerbread men made and frozen and I have lots of toppings, nut free and dairy free. The only thing I don't have is dairy free icing. Two of the children coming have allergies - one to nuts and one to dairy. Any canned icing I have seen has the warning "may contain milk product" on the label and any recipe I've made has called for butter and/or milk. Now, would using shortening and water with icing sugar give satisfactory results? It's not like we're icing a cake or anything -- just a "glue" for decorating the gingerbread men.

[jphilg]

Classic royal icing is just confectioner's sugar, egg whites, and a little lemon juice. If you have any raw egg issues, you might use powdered meringue instead.... but I grew up decorating cookies with royal icing. I've read that people don't think it tastes good, but I can eat it on a spoon!

[jphilg]

Oops...here is a recipe:



Royal Icing
Recipe courtesy Jacques Torres Chocolate

1 large egg white
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 lemon, juiced and strained


To make royal icing: Combine the egg white and powdered sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and continue whipping until completely incorporated, about 3 minutes. The lemon juice whitens the royal icing. The royal icing should be light, fluffy, and slightly stiff. You may need to adjust the consistency by adding more egg whites if the icing is too dry or more powdered sugar if it is too wet.

Makes 2 cups icing.