Just Wondering Why Corn Syrup?

Decorating By lisahaslam Updated 10 Apr 2007 , 11:41pm by jen1977

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lisahaslam Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 2:16pm
post #1 of 15

I'm new to cake decorating and have seen corn syrup in most of the BC recipes...What does corn syrup do for the frosting? I'm wondering if I should just add it to the recipe that I normally make for my family because they haven't cared for the BC ones I've tried. Thanks!

14 replies
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Renaejrk Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 2:30pm
post #2 of 15

The corn syrup thins it a little to help it spread easier on a cake.

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chaptlps Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 2:38pm
post #3 of 15

All that corn syrup is used for is to help in the application of stingwork or writing. It keeps the strings from breaking. (man, I hate when that happens). Have you tried any of the meringue type buttercreams? There's a simple formula for Italian Meringue Buttercream it's 1-2-3. One lb egg whites, 2 lbs granulated sugar, 3lbs unsalted butter.
then you have 8 oz. water and two teaspoons of your favorite flavoring (vanilla, butter, lemon, almond etc).
Put the water and the sugar into a saucepan and heat til it reaches the hard ball or 240* stage. When the sugar syrup is at 230 start beating your eggwhites til they form soft peaks, (they fall over instead of standing at attention when you dip the whip in and pull it up). Carefully pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl of eggwhites on medium speed or speed two. (this works in a six quart mixer smaller you would have overflow) till all the syrup is in the eggs. Now turn it to high speed or speed 3 and mix til stiff peaks form and the mixture is cooled (bout 20-30 minutes).
Meanwhile, cream together your butter and flavorings till light n creamy. Change to a paddle and incorporate this into the meringue little by little til all the butter is in there. don't worry it'll look kinda grainy here but keep beating for 7-10 more minutes or til the beater makes a slapping sound and the frosting is smooth and creamy.
This makes enough to cover a decent sized wedding cake 2 or three tier. To store this you can put it in a container in the fridge or even freeze it but it must be brought back to room temp and rebeaten before applying to a cake.
I got this recipe off of mypastrychef.com. There are loads of things you can do with this type of frosting, you can add liquor to it like chambord or granmarnier or even kahlua. Chocolate sauce is good the variations are endless. And because it is a weight recipe it is very easy to halve double quarter or whatever.
Hope this helps. This recipe does make a lot of frosting but then again who wants to be making little batches of frosting everytime the piping bag needs filled. this frosting is good for borders and stringwork but you might want to use good ol american style for roses n such.

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antonia74 Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 2:46pm
post #4 of 15

Sorry....I think that may be a typo above that the boiling water/sugar only goes to 140 degrees F? (That's not even softball stage.)

I think you mean to take it to 230-240 degrees F. icon_confused.gif

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chaptlps Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 2:52pm
post #5 of 15

yer right it's 240
sorry hun My bad!!!! oi!!!! icon_redface.gificon_surprised.gif

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CakeLadyM Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 2:53pm
post #6 of 15

How much in cups is a pound of egg whites? I don't have scales! icon_cry.gif

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antonia74 Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 3:08pm
post #7 of 15

16 liquid ounces or 2 cups

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chaptlps Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 3:12pm
post #8 of 15

K you'll want to have two cups of eggwhites that would equal about 16 oz. or about 16 large eggwhites (16 eggs that is) or bout 8 eggs per cup for the whites. think bout an ounce per eggwhite if you are using large eggs. Here's where I got the info http://recipes.chef2chef.net/conversion/yield-equivalency-2.htm
Hope this helps ya.

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CakeLadyM Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 3:14pm
post #9 of 15

Thanks, Chapt and Antonia!

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msmeg Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 4:43pm
post #10 of 15

I saw where the 8 to 10 egg whites equals 1 cup ( 8 ounces liquid measure) but she asked how much 1 lb of egg whites is ( 16 ounces weight)

If you fill the measuring cup with feathers and one with lead weight they would measure the same in liquid measure but the weight is different.

So the question is still how much egg whites in a pound I would think to do ANY recipe by weight you NEED an accurate scale.

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chaptlps Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 4:55pm
post #11 of 15

ms hun it takes one dozen large eggs to make 24 oz. This is how I do it with commercial meringue powder 10oz water to 6 oz meringue powder.

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lisahaslam Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 6:23pm
post #12 of 15

Wow - Thank you for your help! I'm going to start a batch now- great point about making little batches to cover a wedding size cake!

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KoryAK Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 8:09pm
post #13 of 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by msmeg

I saw where the 8 to 10 egg whites equals 1 cup ( 8 ounces liquid measure) but she asked how much 1 lb of egg whites is ( 16 ounces weight)

If you fill the measuring cup with feathers and one with lead weight they would measure the same in liquid measure but the weight is different.

So the question is still how much egg whites in a pound I would think to do ANY recipe by weight you NEED an accurate scale.




There are a few things that (for all intensive purposes) measure out at a pint a pound... oil, butter, water, milk, cream, and eggs.

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msmeg Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 9:27pm
post #14 of 15

Thanks I will try to remember that list.... That does explain why we use ounces for both I never understood that....

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jen1977 Posted 10 Apr 2007 , 11:41pm
post #15 of 15

I keep saying I'm going to try a meringue buttercream, but never have. Maybe that should be my next experiment!

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