In this small quaint town, there are few people that you don’t run into on a daily basis. It’s been a culture shock, a climate shock, and definitely a culinary shock since moving to this northern Canadian burg. And while there are moments where I long for my urban desert home, there are also moments of sweet and utter bliss. One of those moments happened when I met Pat.
Pat is a sweet old lady who lives just a few houses down from me. She’s a fun witted grandma with a few stories to tell. She belongs to the same Church as I do, and when you have less than 30 members in your area, you get to know them really well. Pat’s husband passed away last July, and all of her children and grandchildren have long since moved away. She’s been having trouble getting around on her own these days, so she’s moving closer to her family. We have been assisting Pat in packing up her house and finding little treasures along the way.
We stumbled across an old trunk that was filled with love letters, hand-made baby blankets and booties, knick-knacks, and a plethora of hand written recipes. My heart began to beat faster as I ran my fingers through them, and I could see Pat become excited when I asked her about them. She hasn’t cooked much since her husband passed, and it was something she loved to do. She graciously gave me a stack of intriguing recipes and I couldn’t wait to dig in.
The first one that really caught my eye was this Fluffy Brown Sugar Icing.
What I love about old recipes is the way they are written.
Pat wrote: “drops like a hair from spoon” as to know when the brown sugar mixture is ready. It was interesting, and I had to see what she meant.
Plus… hello… FLUFFY BROWN SUGAR ICING!! How could you not want to know what that tastes like?!
Sure enough, the mixture of brown sugar, water and corn syrup becomes thick like a rich caramel and when dropped from a spoon makes tiny (even smaller than pictured) strands that resemble hair.
Then you: “Pour hot syrup in a thin stream into egg whites, beating constantly.”
I thought for sure this wouldn’t work. Maybe I am just really novice when it comes to egg whites, but I assumed pouring a hot liquid into them would almost immediately deflate them.
But no, it didn’t.
In fact, it held it’s shape and gained a glossy shine.
It was amazing, and the taste is stellar. It’s like a fluffy caramel marshmallow frosting.
I dipped many things into that Fluffy Brown Sugar Icing. Chocolate covered graham crackers, pretzels, and peaches. The peaches won in my book. My husband just rolled his eyes said, “Oh, now peaches need frosting?!”
But seriously, this icing would be amazing when paired with just about anything… even a spoon.
Thanks for letting me introduce you to Pat. I have several more recipes that I can’t wait to share with you!
UPDATE: Here are some more of Pat’s Recipes: Cherry Nut Bread and Very Nice Chocolate Frosting
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Fluffy Brown Sugar Icing {Pat’s Recipes}
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 4 egg whites
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix brown sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil. (Be careful, as it will rise, so make sure the sides of your pan are taller). Let it boil at medium to medium high until the syrup drops like a hair from spoon (approximately 10 minutes). Remove from burner and set aside.
- Meanwhile, beat egg whites until stiff.
- SLOWLY pour the hot syrup in a THIN stream into egg whites, beating constantly. Beat until icing holds peaks, then blend in vanilla.
- Let cool to room temp, then store covered in the fridge until ready to use.
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CRGenes
This is very much like Seafoam Frosting which I admit I prefer because I don’t want to use corn syrup. But I love the flavor!
Sarah
I tried to make this tonight and had no problems until pouring my caramel into my egg whites. When I poured the caramel it kept getting spun by the beaters and span into a “sugar web” around the beaters before it ever got to my egg whites. How do I get the caramel mixture into my egg whites without getting stuck in my beaters?
Heather
When you pour the sugar into the bowl, make sure you have the mixer on high and put the sugar in right at the lip of the bowl, letting it run down the side of the bowl. It may not seem like it will get mixed in but it will. Hope that helps!
Donika@momwhats4dinner
Saw this on Pinterest, it looks amazing…so light and fluffy! Will try it out soon and let you know how it worked out for me 🙂
Jill Blotter
My son has had the great pleasure of being fed by you while serving a mission in your quaint little town and it has been a highlight for him! THANK YOU!! He told me to look this recipe up and others… and I love your blog. You are very talented and I will try this right away. Thanks for looking out for Elder Blotter. 🙂
Shawn
Your son is such a GREAT missionary! It’s been a pleasure having him and his companion come for dinners every week. 🙂 (it’s been a highlight for me as well). You did a fantastic job raising a gracious, kind, and faithful boy!
Vic
I’m going to try this very soon – sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing.
For those ladies having problems with eggs that won’t whip up – it’s usually because of grease (from butter or oil) in your bowl.
Always use a glass or metal bowl (not plastic) and give the bowl and your beater/whisk a wipe over with lemon juice on a kitchen paper towel before using. The lemon juice removes any trace of grease that may be in there.
Tonya
So I tried this twice with no luck. The eggs completely deflated and smelled AWFUL. My kitchen still stinks. Out of curiosity, I tasted it. It just tasted like molasses, which isn’t exactly what I was looking for. I’m a pretty experienced baker, but I haven’t made a meringue icing in years so I’m not sure what I did wrong. I followed the instructions pretty carefully. After the first failure, I looked up other meringue icing recipes for the exact temperature of the syrup, but it still didn’t work. Should I let the syrup cool longer? This looks amazing, and I really want it to work. We were going to use it to fill whoopie pies. Any thoughts on where I went wrong?
Shawn
Hi Tonya, My gut instinct is that something is wrong with your eggs. The egg whites should not smell awful, in fact I don’t think they really smell like anything. You need to be careful that you did not get any yolk into your whites, cause that will not work.
If you only have egg whites, make sure you whip them until you get stiff peaks.
Once your brown sugar mixture is boiled to the proper consistency… remember, you are dipping a spoon in and letting it drip slowly back into the pan, looking for thin and wispy strands that look like hair, or even spider web consistency, if that is easier to picture.
Then, SLOWLY stream the hot liquid into the stiff egg whites, WHILE the beaters are going (at a high speed). The hot liquid will cook the egg whites, and once the brown sugar mixture has been added, add the vanilla and keep beating till stiff peaks form again. Shouldn’t be much longer.
Because of the brown sugar being boiled down to near caramel, the frosting tastes like a caramel marshmallow frosting… it’s really delicious. Try again using these tips, I bet you’ll have success!
Angelyn @ Everyday Desserts
This looks AMAZING!!!
Joanie from NC
What a “sweet” story about your neighbor. I hope she will be happy nearer family and hope you snagged some copies of her recipe treasures! Any thoughts from anyone who has made this how long it might last in fridge before use? A day, 2–3 days? Thank you!
Amie
That was such a cute story, well written. Thank you for the recipe that sounds amazing. I will have to try this recipe this weekend. Nice site too.
Shawn
Thank you Amie! 🙂
marilyn caissie
I done this recipe years ago.So good everyone should try it.It’s fast and also good on muffins,and other dessert.A must try.
Terripan
I LOVE this frosting! It rained here all day and I made frosting and it was SO good.
Dotta
Great frosting. Just like grandma used to make. I would love to get a hold of Ms. Pats recipe box. Thanks for sharing.
Carol
Welcome to Canada! I love thiis icing. I always heard it called boiled icing and usually had it on devil’s food cake cooked in a bunt cake pan. To me this procedure is a wonder of science. Sugar is so amazing. Add baking soda to boiled sugar it foams up and makes toffee. Boil a mix of milk butter and brown sugar for 15 minutes and beat it for 15 minutes you have wonderful brown sugar fudge. Boil it longer and get rock candy ie. suckers. Spin sugar and get cotton candy. Yes sugar is a wonder of science! I wonder who thought to put it in egg whites? By the way marshmallow is a good description marshmallow is made similar to this, so is nougat. They both use whipped egg white. Thanks for sharing! Hope you like Canada.
Kryzdy
Hey!! thanks for the recipe!!! Im Using this frosting with http://lovecookeat.com/chocolate-crepe-cake/ this recipe!
I dont use corn syrup, so instead, I doubled the brown sugar and doubled the water. It takes a bit longer to boil down. Once I got it to a full rolling boil, I turned it down to a med. heat and just watched it carefully. after 10 mins or so it has gotten very thick… almost ready. Threw a bit of cream of tarter into the egg whites when they were at a soft peak.. getting ready to finish it up! ** the egg whites wont pick up.. Im wondering if its because today is cloudy and slightly humid?
UPDATE: Poured the sugar mixture into the soft peak egg whites… The egg whites went flat but are getting thick now. The sugar mixture has cooled to a hard frosting in some spots and has built up around my beaters. the hardened candy has been shaved off by the beaters and mostly back into the frosting..
At first I thought something was wrong, but the frosting is picking back up into a beautiful whip. Not like whipped cream… but more like… super thick and creamy spread… I think it will work for what Im doing! Will have to try making the peaked eggs on a clear day… maybe the humidity is the reason it didnt peak.
Terripan
Mine was made on a really rainy humid day and it turned out glossy and super smooth. And tasty… 🙂
nixy
Try put tinny little bit of salt in to them it should work
carolyn
So how did you happen to move from AZ to a tiny town in my homeland? And that picture of the frosting in the jar…stunning!
Shawn
Thanks Carolyn! 🙂 My husband is working on a job up here for about a year, so we all came with him! It’s been fun.
Heather @ French Press
holy god this looks TOO good!
Patricia Adams
This is wonderful, giving it to my grand daughter who is the baker in our family. My mother loves divinity so I am going to try it and send to her in Iowa. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing recipe.
Debby
I have been looking and looking for a recipe just like this. Years ago my mom made banana cake and frosted it with this type frosting. My 2 sisters were especially fond of those cakes and I’ve been wanting to surprise them with one. Thank you so much for sharing! Enjoy those old recipes. They are sure to be dandys.
Mescinna
Have you tried adding any food color to this icing? Does it hold the color well?
Mary Lou Dunn
Use gel colors, not liquid. I work in a high-end dessert bakery and gel colors do not change the consistency of the icings and frostings.
Missy
This sounds amazing! My son is allergic to eggs, do you have any ideas for substitutes in this recipe? Thanks!
Shawn
I don’t really know what would work in place of eggs. Sorry!
Kit
Hi! have you tried Meringue powder? I know it still has eggs in it, but sometimes stuff that has been ultra pasteurized and dried doesn’t cause the same allergies as the fresh stuff.
Here are a couple of links to Vegan Meringue that might work as well. One uses egg substitute, sugar, and water, and the other one uses Flax seed gelatin.
http://www.misterniceguy.com.au/recipes/vegan-lemon-meringue-pie/
http://www.wingitvegan.com/2012/10/a-vegan-meringue-topping-and-chocolate.html
Good Luck!
Katy
I know that Wilton makes meringue “mix”. I don’t know how that would work in here, but it may be worth a try.
Amber
I’m dating a vegetarian so looked into that. The Wilton mix is made of eggs. At least this stuff is. http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=pg_meringuepowder#tabs
Someone suggested this to me, but I can’t vouch for it yet. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EI1VLU/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000EI1VLU&linkCode=as2&tag=sweetopia-20
My BF said “why not just mix brown sugar into softened cream cheese and call it good?” Which, while far from the same, still sounds pretty good.
Shawn
I like a good cream cheese frosting any day! 😉
Birdie
Mix your brown sugar with cream cheese, vanilla and cool whip. It’s fabulous piped into fresh strawberries!
Korinna
My son also has egg allergies and please don’t try meringue powder as it is pure egg whites. Egg substitute wont work for meringue. Sorry! I have found a lot of egg substitutes for other recipes but meringue is a no go. And my family uses a very similar recipe for our meringue on lemon pie. Amazing toasted holds up on the pie so well and tastes a bit like toasted marshmallow when baked off on the pie.
Karen
My mom always made this to ice our birthday cakes. She calls it Meringue icing; you can drop it onto parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheets and bake to make meringue cookies. She uses organic cane sugar (no corn syrup), plus a dash of cream of tartar to the egg whites so they keep their peaks. In Central America bakeries sell it in little cups with sprinkles on top, in many flavors – from mint to lemon to coffee – yum!
Shawn
Oh my goodness, getting a cup of this icing with sprinkles on top sounds like the perfect little treat. Thank you for the tip about the organic cane sugar! 🙂
Melissa
Is anyone concerned about eating raw egg?
Shawn
Hi Melissa, there actually wouldn’t be any raw egg whites in the icing because the boiling hot brown sugar mixture will cook the egg whites! 🙂
Gen
my mom taught me to make this and the sugar was ready when it spun it a silver thread, amazing on banana cake!
Shawn
That sounds like a great way to use this yummy icing!
donna
can you use this as icing for a wedding cake or would it be brown tinted instead of white?
Shawn
Hi Donna, it is slightly brown due to the caramelization of the brown sugar. 🙂
Jessica
I make this with maple syrup instead. Very delicious!
Shawn
That’s wonderful to hear that the maple syrup works as a substitute. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Amber
Ooooh! I was thinking palm sugar or coconut sugar would be fun to try! Maple sounds lovely.
I’ll have to go see if there is an alternative for the eggs (I’ve a couple non-egg eaters I know I would love to use this for…)
Dawn
Maple syrup in place of what?
Shawn
Maple syrup in place of the corn syrup. Some people prefer not to use the corn syrup.
Samantha
So glad you mentioned this! I was wondering what I could replace this with and my dad makes maple syrup 🙂
Vhanessa
In Spanish this recipe is called “suspiro” which means sighs. For those that are having trouble getting it to rise, you have to whip the whites first until they get to the hard peak stage and the syrup has to be HOT when you add it. The idea is to cook the whites with the air from whipping incorporated; if not, you’re eating raw egg whites… You also have to make sure that there are absolutely no yolks when you try to whip, because the whites won’t rise. I add lime zest to the syrup as it boils. It is an awesome easy treat to make just watch out for small kids and boiling sugar syrup!
Shawn
Thank you so much for your great information on the icing! 🙂
Sharlene May
My grandmother used to make this. She called it Sea Foam Icing. Thanks for posting. Now I can make it for my grandchildren.
Shawn
I can see where she gets the name! 🙂 Thanks Sharlene, I hope your grandchildren will enjoy it as much as you do!
Kristin
I can’t wait to try this. And what a treasure to have found. Is there any way you can share another awesome old recipe? They are so unique!
Shawn
Thanks Kristin! I’ll be sharing more of Pat’s recipes on the blog, and you can find them by clicking on the tag that says, “Pat’s Recipes” at the bottom of this post. Here’s a link to the most recent recipe I made of hers…
http://iwashyoudry.com/2013/07/31/cherry-nut-bread-pats-recipes/
Kristin
Thanks so much!
Jan
Awesome story, thanks for sharing. I would make copies of the recipes, make a book. Can not wait to try this.
Mrs. Sarah Coller
What a great story—love this!
Janet B
This reminds me of a wonderful brown sugar Italian meringue buttercream I made out of Gourmet magazine. I never thought of using it as frosting without the butter, I wil definitely have to try it! I’ll bet it would be good on a devil’s food cake.
Karen N.
Hi Janet, do you still have the recipe for the Brown Sugar Italian Meringue Buttercream from Gourmet Magazine that you mentioned? I’ve searched the Internet and can’t find it, and Gourmet stopped publishing their magazine a few years back. Thanks in advance!
Lucy
what can I use instead of corn syrup? It doesn’t exist here in Italy.
Jessica
Wonderful story and yummy recipe!
I have translated it into Swedish and is sharing it on my Swedish blog, so Pat’s recipe has now made a trans-Atlantic journey. Thank you so much and please send my thanks to Pat 🙂
Genna
Stumbled upon this and it sounds amazing! I love to bake and will be making my sons 1st birthday cake in a couple months. His smash cake will be traditional butter cream with lots of colors but the cake for everyone will have this frosting. Excited!
T'Hud Weber
LOVE this idea, and recipe! Has anyone tried alternatives to using the corn syrup? Just curious, I just have a hard time with corn. Cheers, and thanks for sharing!