100 Royal Icing
By using royal icing to assemble square
cookies into a cube, you can make a sweet
little edible box. This treat is perfect to
hold more cookies or candy (or perhaps
the charm bracelet cookies on page 94),
and would make a lovely gift for someone
special. While I have added quite intricate
flourishes to the outside of the box, you
can easily simplify the design and omit any
filigree work to make a more contemporary
box. Alternatively, you can personalize
the box by piping the name or monogram
of the recipient onto the lid.
Byzantine
Jewelry
Box
1
Method
Decorating the cookies with royal icing
1. Each box will require 6 squares,
2. Apply the thinned purple royal
but there is no need to decorate the
square that will be the base of the
jewelry box, as you won’t be able to
see it. For each box, pipe an outline
around 5 square cookies, using
medium-peak purple royal icing
in a piping bag fitted with a No 2
round decorating tip.
icing in the squeeze bottle into the
outlined section on each cookie to
flood it with royal icing. Be careful
not to overfill the cookie, otherwise
the royal icing will leak over the
edge of the outline. Sometimes air
bubbles may appear in the royal
icing, so have a pin or toothpick
on hand to pop them.
3. Leave the cookies to dry for at
least 6 hours (preferably overnight)
before assembling the box or
adding further decorations.
You will need
Materials: 6 x square cookies for each box (25⁄8 in.
[6.5 cm] in width) • Medium-peak royal icing—purple,
peach, white • Thinned purple royal icing in a squeeze
bottle • Gold edible paint or gold edible luster dust mixed
with water or clear alcohol to make a paint (optional)
• White gum paste (optional) Tools: 2 x piping bags
fitted with No 2 round decorating tips • Pin or toothpick
• Fine paintbrush • Lock and key silicone molds (optional)
• Ornate heart or brooch silicone mold (optional)
2
Tip
Any molded
decorations can be made
in advance and stored at
room temperature in a box
once the paint has dried.
Byzantine Jewelry Box 101
4
5
6
Adding the details
4. If you would like to decorate the box, pipe a filigree
5. I have piped a series of
6. Once the squares are dry, the
border around the edge of each purple square, using
medium-peak peach royal icing in a piping bag fitted
with a No 2 round decorating tip. You can pipe any
design that you like, such as scrolls, snail trails, or a row
of dots.
connected scroll-like U-shapes
around the border, followed by
small dots on the join of each
U-shape. Allow the filigree work
to dry for at least 2 hours.
filigree patterns can be painted
with gold edible paint using a
fine paintbrush.
8
7
7. If desired, you can use silicone
molds to create a brooch or motif to
attach to the lid, and a lock to go on
one side of the box (to denote the
front). In my design I have made
an ornate heart for the lid, a lock for
the front, and a key. The shapes are
made by pressing a small ball of
white gum paste into heart, lock,
and key silicone molds. Ensure
that the gum paste is flush with the
back of the molds, then flex them
to remove the shapes. If the gum
paste sticks to the mold, grease it
with some vegetable fat (shortening)
before adding the gum paste.
8. Allow the heart, lock, and key to
firm for 30 minutes, then paint them
with gold edible paint. Leave them
to dry completely for at least an
hour before attaching the heart and
lock to the lid and box with a small
dot of royal icing.
Continued next page
102 Royal Icing
10
Assembling the jewelry box
9. Place the undecorated square on a flat surface. This will be the base of the
jewelry box. Place one of the decorated squares perpendicular to one edge of
the base and use medium-peak white royal icing to join the pieces together. It
is fine to apply the royal icing liberally. If you use too much and it oozes out of
the joins, you can easily wipe off any excess with a dry fine paintbrush.
9
11
11. To add extra strength to the box, pipe a snail
trail vertically along the joins on the outside of the
box, using medium-peak white royal icing in a
piping bag fitted with a No 2 round decorating tip
(see page 31). Allow the snail trail to dry for at
least 2 hours.
12
12. If desired, paint the snail trail with gold
edible paint, using a fine paintbrush to complete
the design.
Byzantine Jewelry Box 103
10. Next attach the remaining 3 sides to the
base, using white royal icing to secure them
in place. It may be necessary to hold each
side upright for a few minutes after joining
it to the base until the royal icing firms up
enough for you to be able to let go without
it falling over.
13. Once the jewelry box is dry, fill it with
candy or small cookies, if desired.