Archive Issue - Monthly Tidbits Article
June 2008

The Icing on the Cake Part I
by Jill Jackson

Hello, it’s me again, sharing tales from the kitchen. Over the last two weeks I have been writing about the several different methods to mixing your favorite cakes. Between creaming, straight dump, single and double step methods, I am exhausted. We have been using these so often I concentrated so much on the cake only to find, “How will I ever find the perfect icing to top my cake?”

Did you know there are seven categories of icing? This favorite, also known as frosting, is used to put the finishing touches on cakes, pastries, cupcakes, breads and more—even biscuits! These categories include, butter cream, fondant, royal icing, fudge icing, flat icing, glaze and boiled icing. Whew! I’m exhausted just thinking about the possibilities? But which is the best one to use for your particular favorite?

Is it Butter cream? One of my all-time love/hate relationships is with butter cream. I love it because it tastes so good, but I hate it because it is often too rich for my blood, often depending upon the region from which it comes—that’s why I make my own. The most common here in the United States is the Simple butter cream, also known as decorator’s butter cream. In this process, the fat (usually butter or shortening) is mixed with confectioner’s sugar and whipped until creamy. Feeling a bit more intercontinental? There is French butter cream made from butter, German butter cream made with butter and pastry cream, Italian butter cream (often lighter because of the air whipped into it during the mixing process), and Swiss butter cream, which whips soft butter into a soft, Swiss meringue.

My favorite butter cream? Our very own signature cream cheese butter cream—to die for! Perfect on our Red Velvet cupcakes. The cream cheese cuts the sweetness of the sugar (*Hint: The sugar may affect the thickness of your icing, causing it to be more fluid. For added stiffness, add some shortening or corn starch. This will also cut the flavor a bit and if your icing tastes too sweet this may be the perfect solution to that problem).

Had enough? Not me! Next time we’ll discuss other icing choices. Some light, some not, they are all part of the best part of life—the sweet life.