How To Make Icing That Hardens Slightly?
Decorating By mrssean Updated 28 Jun 2007 , 3:56pm by ChristaPaloma
Since I was a little girl my Mother always got my birthday cake at a local bakery. A few years ago, the owner retired and they are out of business. Since then I have been trying to figure out how to duplicate the icing, or at least come close.
It was white decorator icing, and the thing that made it so good was that it would harden slightly and there would be just a bit of a 'crunch' to it. Underneath it would still be creamy, but the top of it would be firm.
No other bakery has icing like it, and I don't know enough about cooking to know what ingredient gives the frosting that firm quality.
Last night I tried a batch of something called "Firm Decorator Icing". It was the right consistency, but it tasted icky. NO matter how much flavoring I added, it just tasted like powdered sugar. Could my sugar have been faulty? The ingredients for this icing were 2 boxes of powdered sugar, six egg whites, cream of tartar and flavoring. It was firm very quickly, and looked beautiful, but the taste was just not right.
Any suggestions? And when I figure out the icing, maybe someone can tell me about the cake. It had a very fine texture, not soggy at all, and almost but not quite dry.
Help me get a little of my childhood back! 
.....by the way, would it be bad manners for me to write to the owner and ask tell him what his cakes have meant to me over the years and ask for a recipe? That bakery was in his family for years, and likely there isn't a recipe, but a formula for a great big batch.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
they may have used a commercial icing base with flavorings in it, that you mix with powdered sugar and shortening. we use that at the bakery i work at, it tastes so good. it crusts like decorator icing. i've never been able to get that taste at home.
.....by the way, would it be bad manners for me to write to the owner and ask tell him what his cakes have meant to me over the years and ask for a recipe? That bakery was in his family for years, and likely there isn't a recipe, but a formula for a great big batch.
Not bad manners but would be a honoring touch to them for their years of service in the business.... let us know what you find out.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%