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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Samantha
I did this frosting with a “fleur de sel” caramel cupcake and it was amazing!!! Here are the recipes : http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/3551-fleur-de-sel-caramel-cupcakes (preparation of the cupcakes)
http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/3552-fleur-de-sel–caramel (caramel recipe)
Red's Mom
I have a birthday boy that wants pineapple upside down cake today. I think I found a perfect match with this frosting!
Chef Nate
This method is called an Italian Meringue. The Brown Sugar is a nice variation of the traditional Simple Syrup. I can’t wait to try this on some Macerated Summer Peaches this weekend!
Alexia
Hi! This isn’t the first time my frosting has failed, but I just can’t get the frosting out of its liquid state. I just can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.
Marie
Oh, Shawn. When I saw this recipe I thought, “I have no clue what I would do with this but I have to try it.” Then I read the recipe and knew I couldn’t wait. After I read about your love to cook and less love for cleaning aaand all of your lemon recipes I just knew we could be best friends. I can’t wait to tell everyone about my new favorite blog and to try all of your yummy looking lemon recipes because lemon is like the chocolate of summer, well, almost.
Shawn
“Lemon is like the Chocolate of Summer.” LOVE IT!! 🙂
Cynthia
Hi Shawn,
This sounds wonderful-thanks for sharing! One question: I noticed you used a Kitchenaid stand mixer to beat the egg whites-did you use the balloon whisk beater or the paddle beater to do this? Thanks for any info you can provide.
Shawn
Hi Cynthia, I used the whisk attachment for this.
Stacie
Just wondering, I made this yesterday, and it was beautiful & fluffy. Tonight when I went to frost my cake, the icing was very runny, so I wound up using it as a glaze instead. I’m just worried it’s going to run off the cake entirely .
For future reference, would rewhipping it bring it back, and I’m guessing you have to use it immediately, or it will be runny again the next day??
Stacie
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a loooong while, but I am always leery with recipes involving egg whites – I always seem to underwhip, or over-whip, never get them right. Anyway, the lure of this recipe was too much, and I finally had to try it.
The first brown sugar batch was a total flop. I thought it was done after just a few mins., but since the recipe said up to 10, I thought I was jumping the gun. Nope, solid caramel mess & a burnt pot.
Still determined, I only did the brown sugar mix for about 3, maybe 4 mins., (and on low…I have a radiant stovetop that seems to be much hotter than my old element stoves) and it was much, MUCH better. The sun was shining on me today, because I even got proper stiff peaked egg whites. Hallelujah!!
Then the final test – adding hot liquid, to my beautiful egg whites. I totally expected it to crash & burn at that point, but it didn’t. At first I was in shock. Then I tasted, and went straight to heaven. I could eat the entire bowl!! I so glad I didn’t give up after the first try!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe, and the story behind it!! I will definitely be making this again (and again, and again, …)
fan
Hi Shawn,
I tried to make this fluffy brown sugar icing, it color ends up looking quite brown (a little dark),it is different from the photo you shown. Any idea?
Shawn
It sounds like you might have cooked the sugar mixture a little too long. But the frosting isn’t white, it is a light brown.
valerie
Hello. id really love to make this frosting for my Easter cake, but I don’t have a stand mixer. Do u think I would be able to do it with a handheld mixer?
Paula
My grandmother made this type of frosting for decades and she never owned a stand mixer. You just have to be very very organized and plan out ahead what each hand will be doing and how you will get from step to step. She made it look easy – but it wasn’t; which was why my mother usually made a different simpler frosting that didn’t require such careful timing and each hand doing its own task seperately… but Grandma’s frosting did taste much much better!
Shawn
You could totally make this in a bowl with a handheld mixer. I would just have someone help you stream in the sugar (because it will be hot and that could be a little tricky).