I am not a big frosting or icing person. If you have read through this blog before, you’ll notice that most of my cakes go without it, because I think that it takes away from the flavour of the cake. Frostings are just too sweet for me, but when it comes to making sugar cookies for Christmas, I have to use it!
The trouble I’ve found is that most buttercream frostings I’ve made are too soft. I can never get them stiff enough without adding lots and lots of icing sugar, thus making them too sweet and inedible. Also, I like my white frosting to be white, not this off-white, buttery yellow colour that doesn’t take food colouring very well.
Happily, I came across a recipe in a gingerbread house kit that I bought. It’s terribly simple and super easy to make, and I will use it from now on whenever I need to make frosting.
The Recipe
1 egg white
A box of icing sugar
Method
1. Whip the egg white until soft peaks form.
2. Add icing sugar, a little bit at a time, until desired consistency is reached. The icing will harden when left to dry, and will also get shiny.
3. That’s it!
My Alterations
When I first used this recipe to make icing for our gingerbread house adventure, I made it very thick. Probably a bit too thick, because it started hardening while still inside the piping bags! Oops. I learned my lesson, though, because when I made it for my Christmas sugar cookies, I made it much softer and it was easier to spread. The icing still hardened as it dried, but it took a lot longer.
The Result
This icing is very easy to make and use. I added lots of different colours to it for my kids to decorate their cookies, and it worked very well. Even though the icing was watered down a bit because of the colouring, it still dried after a few hours so I could wrap them up.
The Verdict
This recipe will be a staple in my baking arsenal. It’s easy to remember, too, which is such a bonus. I like the sort of recipes where you can adjust them to your needs so easily.
The Rating
5/5, definitely. See how pretty my cookies looked?
3 responses so far ↓
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George Erdosh // January 25, 2009 at 4:49 pm |
I agree with you, most frostings are too sweet. Yet they are integral part of a cake or torte, one complementing the other, giving a delicious whole. If the frosting is too soft, instead of adding more sugar, I partially chill it until just perfect for spreading.
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Hallie // January 26, 2009 at 5:22 pm |
That seems like too easy to be a great icing, but I will definitely try it.