Week 47 -- Icings and Frostings

Covering a cake with a fat based icing or frosting, not only adds flavor and richness, but also preserves the cake from staling, sealed from light, air, and moisture. Sugar syrup is the basis for many icings. Knowing how to boil sugar to a soft-ball stage is the secret behind great icings. Sugar syrup gives icings texture and structure. The sugar syrup principle is simple. Add a bit of water to sugar, heat it, the water boils off, and the hotter you cook the sugar, the harder it will be. For most icings, the soft-ball stage is the target, cooking sugar to 240F.

•  Cooked Sugar Temperatures

Stage Temperature Characteristics
Thread 230F Makes hair-like thread when cooled
Soft Ball 240F Makes a pliable, gelatinous ball when cooled
Firm Ball 245F Makes a firm but yielding, pea-like ball when cooled
Hard Ball 255F Makes a hard, glass-like ball when cooled
Small Crack 265F Sugar will crack, but not shatter when cooled
Caramelize 320F Browning
  • Procedure for Making Basic Sugar Syrup
    • Combine sugar and water in a 4:1 mixture in small saucepan (1 lb sugar, 4 oz water)
    • Add a pinch (1/8 tsp) of cream of tartar or lemon juice or 5 oz corn syrup to help avoid crystallization
    • Stir to combine ingredients
    • Wash sugar crystals from the sides of the pan with water and pastry brush to avoid crystallization
    • Bring sugar to boil until you reach desired stage, using thermometer

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  • How to Avoid Crystallization
    • One crystal forming in sugar cooking spreads like wildfire, turning icing crunchy instead of smooth and creamy
    • Avoid by washing down the sides of the pan with water and pastry brush while cooking sugar syrup
    • Do not allow the brush to touch the boiling sugar, just get close and allow water to wash down the side of the pan
    • Continually wash down the crystals of sugar that form on the side of the pan
    • A pinch of cream of tartar or lemon juice or corn syrup help avoid crystallization, but still need to keep washing down the sides of the pan
    • When checking the temperature of the boiling sugar, be careful to rinse any cooled sugar crystals off the thermometer probe between each temperature check
    • This process, though painstaking is essential, unless you want a bit of crunch in your icing
    • Of course, you may want a bit of crunch in your icing
    • The object is to learn to control the desired result that you want

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  • Chocolate Fudge Icing
    • Ingredients (by weight)
      • 1 lb sugar
      • 4 oz water
      • 5 oz corn syrup (to help prevent crystallization of sugar)
      • 1/2 tsp salt
      • 4 oz butter, cut in small cubes, room temperature
      • 3 oz dry cocoa powder
      • 8 oz powdered sugar
      • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    • Procedure
      • Mix 1lb sugar, 4 oz water, 5 oz corn syrup, 1/2 tsp salt in small saucepan, bring to 240F (soft-ball stage of sugar), initially stir together
      • Continually wash down the crystals forming on side of pan with water and pastry brush, don't touch the sugar in the bottom of the pan, but let the water dissolve and wash the crystals down
      • Don't stir the sugar further, leave it alone, takes at least 15-20 minutes to reach 240F
      • Put 4 oz butter in mixer bowl, room temperature, cut into small cubes, add 3 oz dry cocoa, 8 oz powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla
      • Cream the butter, cocoa, and powdered sugar together with paddle attachment, lowest speed
      • With mixer still moving, when sugar syrup reaches 240F, slowly add the syrup to the mixer bowl, allowing the sugar syrup to incorporate with other ingredients in small increments
      • When all syrup is added, incorporate some air, turn mixer speed up, medium high speed
      • This process cools the icing to great form, ready to apply to any cake, wait for room temperature for the icing before applying to cake

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  • Italian Butter Cream Icing
    • Starts with meringue, then sugar syrup added
    • Ingredients (by weight)
      • 1 lb sugar
      • 4 oz water
      • 1/2 tsp salt
      • 8 oz egg whites
      • Pinch of cream of tartar (1/8 tsp)
      • 1 lb butter, room temperature, cut in small cubes
      • 4 oz shortening
      • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    • Procedure
      • Mix 1 lb sugar, 4 oz water, 5 oz corn syrup, 1/2 tsp salt in small saucepan, bring to 240F (soft-ball stage of sugar)
      • Continually wash down the crystals forming on side of pan with water and pastry brush, don't touch the sugar in the bottom of the pan, but let the water dissolve and wash the crystals down
      • Don't stir the sugar, leave it alone, takes at least 15-20 minutes to reach 240F
      • There's no corn syrup or acid in this syrup so great care must be taken to prevent crystallization
      • Whip up egg whites to soft peaks along with pinch of cream of tartar in mixer
      • Use whip attachment to add air to the egg whites, high speed mixer
      • When egg whites are at soft peaks stage and sugar syrup has reached 240F, time to combine the two
      • Slow mixer to slowest speed, slowly add syrup to egg whites, very slow mixture to prevent deflating the egg whites
      • Once all the syrup is added, turn the mixer on high to increase egg white volume (this is marshmallow)
      • Next step is adding butter and shortening (shortening adds stabilization), recall that butter melts at 98F, and the icing needs to hold up to room temperature with some structure and stability
      • The mixture of sugar syrup and egg whites needs to cool below the melting point of butter, say room temperature, before adding butter and shortening
      • You can set the mixer bowl in another larger bowl of ice to help the cooling
      • Slowly add the butter and shortening in increments to the meringue (marshmallow), whip attachment still spinning on low speed, bit by bit add structure to the icing
      • After all butter and shortening has been added, turn mixer on high to incorporate more air
      • Pause the mixer and add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or whatever flavorings you desire (orange, almond, lemon, hazelnut, etc)
      • Turn mixer back to high speed for a few more minutes of incorporating air
      • Should now produce stiff peak icing, able to support multiple cake layers, as well as frost the outside

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  • German Chocolate Cake Icing
    • Ingredients
      • 1/2 cup butter
      • 1.5 cups brown sugar
      • 1 cup flaked coconut
      • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
      • 3/8 cup chopped walnuts
      • 1/8 cup chopped black walnuts
      • 1/2 cup milk
    • Procedure
      • Melt butter in large saucepan, medium heat
      • Stir in brown sugar, coconut, pecans and walnuts, and milk (you can use all pecans or all walnuts if you wish, but note that black walnuts are probably too strongly flavored to be used exclusively)
      • Bring to simmer, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbling, about 3-5 minutes
      • Allow to cool to room temperature before applying to cake

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  • Sugar Plums
    • Ingredients
      • 3 oz slivered almonds
      • 2 oz dried plums
      • 2 oz dried apricots
      • 2 oz dried figs
      • 2 oz powdered sugar
      • 1/8 tsp anise seeds, toasted
      • 1/8 tsp fennel seeds, toasted
      • 1/8 tsp caraway seeds, toasted
      • 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
      • Pinch salt
      • 2 tbs honey
      • 1/2 cup coarse sugar
    • Procedure
      • Put the almonds, plums, apricots, and figs into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 20 to 25 times or until the fruit and nuts are chopped into small pieces, but before the mixture becomes a ball
      • Combine the powdered sugar, anise seeds, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, cardamom, and salt in a medium mixing bowl, then add the nut and fruit mixture and the honey and mix using gloved hands until well combined
      • Scoop the mixture into 1/4-ounce portions and roll into balls -- if serving immediately, roll in the coarse sugar and serve -- if not serving immediately, put the balls on a cooling rack and leave uncovered until ready to serve, then roll in the coarse sugar prior to serving
      • The Sugarplums may be stored on the cooling rack for up to a week -- after a week, store in an airtight container for up to a month

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