Icing and frosting

Icing and frosting

1. Icing and Frosting

2. Icing or Frosting is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese or flavorings. It is used to cover or decorate baked goods such as cakes and cookies. When it is used between the layers of cake, it is called filling. Icing can be formed into a shape such as flowers and leaves using a pastry bag and such decorations are common on birthday and wedding cakes.

3. Chef’s color dye (food color) is commonly added to icing mixture to achieve the desired color. Sprinkles coloring mist, edible ink designs or other decorations are often used on the top of the icing.

4. Types of Icings Butter Cream : Butter cream is softer and more spreadable than most icing and is the preferred choice for taste and flexibility. It can be used as a filling inside cakes and also as a coating for decoration. It is made by creaming together sugar and butter or other fats like lard or margarine.

5. The quality of the fat used will affect the taste, consistency and appearance of the cream frosting, as also the temperature at which the butter is whipped. Add a burst of flavor with vanilla extract. The cream melts easily in hot weather and so must be kept chilled to keep its form.

6. Whipped Cream : If lighter frosting is what we need then whipped cream is the answer. Often called Chantilly cream or crème Chantilly, it is made by cold-whipping together heavy cream and sugar till light and fluffy. We could also add or use meringue powder for stability. Enhance our cake’s taste by adding flavors to the cream.

7. Royal Icing : Traditionally used to cover and decorate dense fruit cakes, Royal icing is a pure white and fluid paste that solidifies into a hard outer shell on drying. Made by beating together egg whites, icing sugar, and lime juice, it looks smooth, hard and matte when dry. Some may use meringue powder instead of the egg whites.

8. Cream Cheese Frosting : Cream cheese frosting is perfect for carrot cakes, cupcakes, red velvet cake, as a filling for doughnuts and well just about any kind of pastry with all that creamy and cheesy deliciousness. It comes together quickly by creaming together part butter cream frosting and a good quality cream cheese. A bit heavier than most types of cake icing, the texture and taste are best when made with high-fat cream.

9. Meringue: This very light & frothy icing is made by beating together egg whites, cold water, and granulated sugar. The technique of introducing air to the mixture gives it a foamy consistency. The added sugar stiffens the foam. It can be plain or flavored and with nuts added to it. There are 3 popular varieties of meringue – French, Italian and Swiss. The difference lies in the methods of beating the eggs. Uncooked meringue can be used as pastry toppings, or it can be baked until crisp and eaten likes cookies.

10. Fondant : Fondant is a popular heavy frosting that can be easily sculpted and is used mainly for celebration cakes. Basic fondant ingredients include water, gelatine , glycerine , sugar (icing or castor sugar) and shortening. Some use marshmallows in place of gelatine and glycerine . The ideal texture is a fondant that can be stretched without tearing. It can be worked into different shapes using carving and decorating tools.