Making

It’s important to get the consistency of the icing just right; to pipe well it needs to be runny but also hold its shape, not too chalky but not too liquid.

Add more lemon juice if the icing starts to dry up, or when you need a looser consistency to fill or flood biscuits.

Edging and flooding require two different consistencies of icing: stiffer for the edging and more liquid for the flooding.

As soon as you’ve made your batch of icing, it’s advisable to divide it into several small airtight containers to prevent the whole lot drying up as you work.