Royal icing is often used to create snow scenes but is also used as an edible adhesive – particularly for gingerbread houses.

[1] Royal icing is traditionally prepared with raw egg whites, which have a very small chance of transmitting salmonella poisoning.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first mention of royal icing as Borella's Court and Country Confectioner (1770).

[3] It developed at some stage in the early 18th century, replacing earlier styles of icing which generally involved making a meringue-like concoction that was then dried out in the mouth of an oven.

[4] Elizabeth Raffald (1769) is generally credited with the addition of a layer of marzipan between it and the cake beneath.