Before fondant became popular, in the old days, cake makers use this type of icing on cakes. And I even made one but got lost. This icing is kinda stiff and you have to put it in the pastry bag to ice the cake. This is not buttercream icing because buttercream icing is soft and melts easily at high temperature. This icing has an ingredient using cream of tartar, which makes this stiff and you can ice the cake without even worrying that it would melt easily. You also have to melt water and sugar first. After that, you have to beat it with a hand mixer and then put in a little vanilla. Do you have this recipe and what is it called? Please help!!

Are you sure it's not Royal Icing?

Sounds like RI to me too.

It's called seven-minute icing.

Try googling for a recipe.

just did a google search and this was the first one that came up. Hope this is what you're looking for - sounds yummy to me!

7-Minute Frosting
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen


1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. (If this happens, it could cause your frosting to become grainy). Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

At first I thought it was Royal Icing, but I just remember.. Maybe it is royal icing.. How about boiled icing? Are they both the same?

I'm trying out boiled icing tonight... I hope it turns out right.. Wish me luck!

God bles!!

I have made another entry on how my icing turned out!

Here is the link :

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6038262.html#6038262

As cream of tartar seems to become an ingredient of yesteryear. I looked in my 1958 Good Housekeeping Cake book and found these recipes on the Decorating Frostings page. These were the only ones I could find with tartar as an ingredient.

(I am no decorator - yet. I am just doing a tremendous amount of research before jumping in, thanks for this site).

ORNAMENTAL FROSTING FOR BRIDE'S CAKE

Sift 2 1-lb pkg confectioners' sugar and 1t cream of tartar through very fine sieve. Add 6 egg whites; mix, using electric mixer, slotted spoon, or wire whip. Add 1t vanilla or almond extract. Continue mixing until so stiff that knife drawn through mixture leaves clean-cut path. (On damp days, you may need to beat in more sugar to stiffen mixture.) Makes enough to frost a 3-tiered brides cake. Unlike Posie Cream (recipe above), it becomes very hard.

MONOGRAM FROSTING
Use 1c confectioners' sugar, 1/4t cream of tartar, 1 egg white, 1/4t vanilla extract. Proceed as above.

Lori