What would a birthday be without a cake? Cakes can be made low
fat or fat free (for instance, angel food cake), or at the very least with canola or other
healthier oil. But the frosting is frequently a heavy, artery-clogging butter-based
paste. Here's a better choice. It's an old Betty Crocker recipe; light,
fluffy, delicious, moistens the cake, and is fat free! See some ideas for decorating
and flavoring variations at the bottom of the page.
White Mountain Icing
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup white corn syrup
2 Tablespoons water
1/4 cup egg white (Note #1)
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract (Note #2)
Beat egg whites until stiff.
Mix sugar, syrup and water together in a saucepan. Boil over
medium high heat until syrup spins a 6" to 8" thread when you dip a spoon into
it. Do not leave unattended; it will burn easily.
With beater running, pour syrup into the eggs in a very thin
stream. Don't rush; beat it steadily to stiff, glossy peaks. Add
vanilla extract
or other flavorings or colors.
Frost cakes, cupcakes, use as filling for "jelly" rolls, or
use in place of meringue.
Note #1: Don't allow any egg yolk to
get into the whites. Use a clean glass or steel bowl, not plastic under any
circumstances, and be sure the beaters are clean. Anything greasy will keep the egg
whites from beating up stiff.
For cherry frosting, add a little maraschino cherry juice or red food
coloring plus either 1 teaspoon cherry flavor or
almond extract.
Decorate with halved Bing cherries or maraschino cherries.
Add 1/2 teaspoon
vanilla extract and 1/2
teaspoon
orange extract. Tint light orange, and decorate with drained Mandarin orange slices and
a little orange zest.
For Easter, cut a sheet cake into a rabbit shape; frost with white
icing flavored with an added 1/2 teaspoon of coconut flavor and fuzz
with shredded coconut for fur.
Add 1 teaspoon peach flavor and
decorate with well-drained peach slices.
Leave a tablespoon of syrup in the pan and continue to cook until
golden. Add to hot icing, beating constantly, for a caramel flavor. Sprinkle
with a little toasted coconut flakes.
Tint pale pink and decorate with real roses and leaves.
Add 1 teaspoon mint flavor and
tint light green. Decorate with shaved bittersweet chocolate.
Add 1 teaspoon
lemon extract, tint light
yellow and dust with a little fine lemon zest.
Add 1/2 teaspoon
vanilla extract and 3/4
teaspoon chocolate
flavor. After icing the cake, make a few swirls with chocolate syrup and dust
with shaved bittersweet chocolate, chocolate sprinkles, or stud with chocolate bits.
Sprinkle with
cinnamon-sugar
and decorate with a red-hot cinnamon candies.
Tint yellow, flavor with 1/2 teaspoon
pineapple extract
and decorate with candy corn for Halloween.
Tint pale lavender and decorate with colored sprinkles. Add a
ring of animal crackers for a circus cake.
Add 1 teaspoon rum flavor and top
cake generously with chopped pecans and a light sprinkling of sieved brown sugar.
The possible variations are as ample as your own imagination!
