Candy Buttons

By barbsjustagirl

I use these candy buttons as a decoration on the top of cupcakes - yellow for lemon cupcakes, pink for strawberry, etc. Also makes a great little "candy" during the holidays especially if you color them accordingly.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp meringue powder (or 2 egg whites)
• 6 Tbsp water
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (use vanilla, lemon, peppermint, coconut for different flavors)
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar (1 pound = 3.5 cups)
• decorator bags or sandwich bags (1 for each color)
• food coloring I used gel, but any kind will do. Four colors is about right)
• Parchment paper

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from whatwillwedotoday.com

Preparation

Step 1

If you are using egg whites, separate the eggs.

Whip together the confectioners' sugar and the egg whites (or meringue powder and water) on low speed for one minute.

Add the flavoring and about 1/2 of the water. You may wish to add more water later to get this to the right consistency, but start out with a little less then you think you need.

Whip mixture for 10 minutes on high speed. If the icing is too thick, think it out with drops of water until it is the consistency of sour cream. A drop should hold it's shape and slowly smooth out to create a smooth button.

If you are using gel paste, you don't need to use much. I used bamboo skewers to get just a dab of the food coloring.

Divide the icing into small bowls. One bowl for each color.

Pour each color into a decorator bag or sandwich bag and seal.

Tip: Put the bag into a glass with the edges folded over the rim to easily fill with icing.

Use a tip 2 or 3 decorating tip to pipe icing on the paper.

Squeeze a drop of icing at a time onto parchment paper.

Place the parchment paper on baking sheets in a cool dry place, uncovered, to dry overnight.

Once the candy has dried, you can place in an airtight container.

You can store the leftover "icing" in the refrigerator in plastic bags.

This recipe makes a LOT, and it would sure be a shame to waste any of this....Right?