For Jakob's birthday, I attempted boiled white icing from The Tasha Tudor Cookbook.
I also made her from scratch cake, but it wasn't my favorite.
Simple ingredients-
(Don't you love making things with simple ingredients?!!)
2 farm-fresh eggs (or the store-fresh you have in your fridge)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (we used rum flavoring- I have no idea why we even have that never mind used it.)
-Whip the egg whites till stiff (not dry).
(Leah whipped ours but we did it first and while we were cooking the sugar, the eggs separated a bit. So, we just whipped them a little more later. ?)
-In the top of a double boiler, over hot water, place the water and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and then boil without stirring till it is -242 degrees on a candy thermometer.
(We used a double boiler but mine is weird and it took forever to boil- like over an hour. Next time I'll just boil it carefully on the stove.
Tasha also says that when it is ready the mixture will "spin a thread when blown from a spoon." That sounds magical. My sugar never spun a thread, it just played dead. But someday, my grandchildren will say, "Please make my birthday cake with Grandma's boiled white icing, so we can watch it spin a thread when we blow it from a spoon." And my daughters will sweetly indulge them, blowing icing threads like professionals. Just saying.
-Add the sugar water to the eggs. This takes (more than) two people. A child hold the mixers, a mother to pour a gentle, magical thin stream, and seven onlookers to ooh and awe in anticipation.
Continue beating until the mixture reaches spreading consistency (and resembles marshmallow Fluff.)
-When the frosting cools, ice your cakes.
This makes a lot of frosting.
Mine would have been beautiful just poured onto the middle and top of two round cakes (without icing the sides).
Or, sprinkled over a bundt cake.
It was late and we were in the mood for ooey goodness so my cake looked like this...
You can make a cake at least this cute.
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Boiled white icing makes life good
Time to celebrate!
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