Instructions

1. Plan out the patterns or designs you would like on your sweet treat. Prepare the royal icing and get your frosting kit together while the food item cools. Include a number of decorating bags, some couplers and enough small bowls to mix each of the colors you want with its own portion of icing. Also get enough squeeze bottles to fill with all your chosen colors. Frosting should only be started when the food item has cooled off completely.

2. Use a stiffer consistency of icing so that it does not run for the sides of a cake, and slather it on with a frosting knife. For the top of the cake, or cookie, begin with a softer icing mix; create an outline on the top with your chosen background color to create a sort of dam, which will hold the rest of the icing from running down the sides when you flood the top.

3. Let the outlines dry, and then, flood the top with the bigger dollops from the squeeze bottle. Smooth the icing out with a spatula or a toothpick and use the toothpick to pop any air bubbles.

4. Add other colors into the background color while it is still soft, and mix and spread with a toothpick or a knife tip to create designs for a marbled or feathered look.

5. Create add-on, or stick-on, designs and wait for the icing layer to dry. Make add-on designs and patterns on parchment paper, allow them to dry and then lift off to apply to your treat. To make standout designs without the hassle of a separate paper, and if you are confident enough, wait for the background icing to dry, then pipe on the designs directly onto the treat in your chosen colors.