ISO: ISO: Help please with this Caramel Frosting (click to see recipe)

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deb-in-mi

Well-known member
First let me say that the cake part turned out great - so delicious. My only change to the recipe is that I added an egg yolk.

But I somehow TOTALLY screwed up the caramel frosting. I thought I did everything right but when I went to Step 6 the frosting never thickened. Finally after 20 minutes I thought, perhaps if I added powdered sugar to it that would help. 32 ounces later, and with a total corruption of the flavor, all I had was a glaze consistency of a light tan 'frosting', sickenly sweet - not good at all.

I should probably say that when I added the warm milk mixture to the caramelized sugar much of it hardened immediately but as the concoction cooked the harden mixture melted.

I spent way too many hours on this...I was going to tackle Bakerella's Cupcake Pops tomorrow but after this disaster I lost my enthusiasm....

Thanks for your help!

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/revelatory-caramel-cake

 
I believe you were on the right track Deb- but you thought the icing would

thicken when it was not supposed to do that until it cooled on the cake. Note in the recipe it says to POUR the icing on the cake- that would be a big clue that it is supposed to still be quite liquid at the time you apply it. It would thicken and harden when it cooled.

Try it again and don't stress- I think you were "there" at step six but just didn't realize it.

 
Deb, my hunch is with Melissa--if you didn't get the sugar/milk mixture to the soft ball stage (235*

then it would not set up properly in the end.

If you did use a thermometer, then perhaps it was off. There is a way to check without one--drop a bit into cold water and it should from a soft ball of candy. It's not a bad idea to verify even if using a thermometer

The caramelized sugar would normally harden when liquid is added, and then smooth out--that's normal.

I love the sound of this recipe--most rely on brown sugar, which is not the same as real caramel.

 
I'm guessing it's a combo of not reaching 235....

I swear I couldn't get the candy thermometer to budge over 235, and not realizing that it should have been 'pourable'. Thanks everyone!!

I'll give it a try again next week - feel like I need some 'space' before I do it again.

 
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