French Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine powdered sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let boil for 10 minutes without stirring, ensuring it doesn't burn.
Prepare a bowl of ice water.
Drop a little syrup into the ice water; if it sinks immediately and can be formed into a soft ball, it's ready.
Remove from heat and let it cool partially.
Beat the icing
Beat the syrup hard for 15 minutes until it turns very white.
Ice the cake
Pour the icing over the cake while still warm.
Use a knife heated in hot water to spread and smooth it.
If the icing becomes too stiff, place the bowl in hot water to melt it as needed.
If the syrup shows any brittleness when tested, add a little more water and boil again.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into a syrup that sets into a smooth, white, sweet icing as it is beaten and cooled.
The step that matters
Boiling the syrup without stirring. Sugar concentration sets the final texture. Too little boiling leaves the icing soft and runny, while too much makes it brittle or grainy. Stirring can trigger sugar crystals, so the test with the soft ball is used to judge readiness.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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