I made this to frost the Spice Cake (good one) on Sunday. I found it in the same box of type-written recipe cards and, though there was no frosting suggested for that cake, I thought this would be a good match. It was delicious, but took a bit of tinkering with the recipe. The boiling to the softball stage was fine (thank God for candy thermometers), but when I beat the sugar syrup with the rest of the ingredients, something *happened.* Perhaps I beat it too long, perhaps the recipe was written for a hand-held or beater less powerful than my standing Kitchen Aide. Whatever, the frosting had a weird consistency; it was almost the equivelant of chocolate seizing (though this was caramel). I instinctively added a small amount of boiling water, rebeat the mixture, and voila -- a lovely creamy caramel icing, just as the recipe card promised. But be warned, this is VERY SWEET. Not a problem for most of us, but dear husband found it a tad too sweet. However, he still enjoyed the cake AND frosting.
What is chocolate seizing?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I wasn't clear about that. When melting chocolate, if a drop of water gets into the mixture, the chocolate turns from smooth and creamy to lumpy and stiff. That's what appeared to have happened to my caramel (though it wasn't technically seizing, but the result was the same). Fascinating, I know.
ReplyDeleteLike the format. Mix of luscious photos and photos of recipes is quirky, but adds authenticity. Look forward to trying some recipes.
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