Glasyr Med Ägghvita (Glace Royale)

This recipe hails from 'Praktisk, illustrerad kok-bok för Svenskarne i Amerika,' published in Minneapolis in 1889. At the time, Swedish immigrants in America relied on such cookbooks to adapt familiar traditions to American ingredients and kitchens. Royal icing was a popular decorative element atop cakes and pastries, both in Sweden and in the broader European tradition. This method reflects 19th-century pastry practice: simple, unadorned, and robust, making use of just a handful of easily available ingredients for a glossy, pure white icing prized in festive baking.

Back then, a cook would whip the egg whites and sugar by hand, using a heavy spoon or a wire whisk and a large mixing bowl—likely made of stoneware or glass. For the sifting, a simple hand-held sieve or flour sifter would have done the job. Covering the icing required only a piece of clean, dampened cloth or parchment paper, not plastic wrap, which did not yet exist. All mixing was done without electric mixers, relying on skill and elbow grease to achieve the needed smooth, glossy texture.