I recently baked a cake with an icing recipe from my husband’s grandmother. The icing is delicious but has the strangest consistency. I iced the cake but it did not look nice at all and was super difficult to do. The more I messed with it the more it crumbled. How do you add icing onto cake when it’s super thick and grainy?
I’ve added a picture of my attempt and her recipe!
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
3 tablespoons of cocoa
1 stick or 1/2 cup of butter (room temperature)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Combine ingredients, bring to a rolling boil, “cook” for two minutes. Add vanilla and cool. Beat.
by deetayyzee
49 Comments
Cut straight lines.
It feels like this icing is really low on butter:solids ration if it’s meant to be soft and spreadable. I’d probably use 4 or 5 sticks to that ratio of sugar. If it’s meant to set kind of firm, I’d skip beating it. Just let it cool to room temp and drizzle over the cake.
your sugar to milk/butter ratio might have bern off, maybe there wasn’t enough liquid? or you needed more fat. Either one could lead to the frosting crumbling like that.
The cooking may have done it as well, if it was too hot, that can also make the sugar crystalize like that. You could try researching candy temps and see what you’d want to aim for when making frosting.
Otherwise, you could try making it the usual way without cooking, and see if that helps while preserving the flavor.
EDIT: So after learning more from some of the replies, I realize this is a special type of frosting for Texas sheet cake. It looks similar to making a ganache, and is also expected to look glossy. That said, the recipe I’m looking at uses powdered sugar and lower heat than you mentioned, so that may make a difference. [the recipe](https://sugarspunrun.com/best-texas-sheet-cake-recipe/)
[also one more with similar instructions and more details on preparation](https://www.hummingbirdhigh.com/2021/05/texas-sheet-cake-recipe-for-9-x-13-inch-pan.html)
That cake cutting is wild
But I’d go for a rough texture rather than smooth, or piped
Y’all my husband cut the cake. Don’t judge us lol
Maybe you cooked out too much of the liquid? Also why are you beating it at the end? What’s the end goal?
I’m sure it still tasted yummy! Cooked icings are meant to be poured onto the cake and worked with very, very quickly as the cooked sugar sets up. Messing with it once it has cooled too much will only mess up the finish. You’re better to not worry too much if you’re not able to cover the sides completely. If the recipe doesn’t provide temperature details (or instructions to not stir), might be worth looking for a new recipe that is more exact. The sugar can very easily go too far with instructions to just boil, which means the icing will set up that much faster and be even harder to work with. There are classic southern caramel cakes like this, too…oh, and a butterscotch bar with cooked butterscotch icing (kinda like Tastykake Krimpets).
This looks a lot like an icing recipe we have from my great grandma, which is only a few steps off from her depression fudge (same ingredients but very different ratios; similar technique). In her fashion, we only ever make it as icing for sheet cakes that are kept in the pan when served. It doesn’t ever get pretty, but it’s always delicious.
Is this supposed to be a “caramel cake”? Are you in the south? This is cake is extremely common here and the texture of the icing was very strange to me when I first moved here. It’s sort of crunchy? And it is supposed to be a solid “candy” layer on the cake almost. So this seems right to me (not a baker but I eat a lot of southern treats haha)!
Do you know how this icing was intended to be used? Was it poured onto a sheet cake, used more like a glaze for cupcakes…? Is it even intended for fancy layered cakes? Cause based on the consistency this seems to have, I think the only way to make it look better is to use a different recipe!
I know that Texas sheet cake uses the boiled icing method and for that one you just pour it on top of the cake and leave it. I tried to use it for a layered cake once and it just flowed off the sides. So, you’ve already gotten better results here with it actually staying on the cake.
I make boiled cookies (essentially fudge) that is a very similar recipe from my grandma. I’ve found the temp is very important, just a bit too high of a “boil” and it hardens too quickly. I’m too lazy to use a thermometer lol, but when I keep it a medium soft boil it comes out softer and glossy.
The ratios are off, in old fashioned boiled icing (sometime called velvet icing) the milk and sugar amounts are very similar – if not the same.
I use this one below:
1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 cup Cold Milk
1 cup Unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
pinch Fine Sea Salt or Table Salt
add the milk to the dry ingredients until no lumps, then heat and boil for a few minutes and then add the salt and vanilla, let it cool and whip in the butter – it should look like velvet when you use it.
I’m perplexed as to when or why any of these ingredient would be beaten for this recipe. That could be part of the problem but it definitely looks like you let it cool too much before you started icing the cake. There are just a few minutes between too hot & too cold when you can pour it over the top of the cake and it’ll almost frost itself.
It looks to me like you heated the chocolate too quickly and took the temp too high. Temper it very very slowly to keep the shininess.
That cake cutting made OP’s 10 year old inner child beam with joy…
🤣
I think you overcooked it and it candied.
I actually sometimes want this hard of hard crackling icing! Maybe use it on a tea cake, something like a strawberry shortcake or a Victoria sponge?
Don’t let it cool too much. Alternatively, don’t use grandma’s recipe.
That is the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake icing. It’s really not meant to be used on a cake like that. Texas Sheet cake is flat, almost like brownies, and you ice it fast by pouring the icing while it’s still warm and unset, and don’t touch it once it’s on.
It looks slightly over-boiled. I use this recipe often, but never for layer cakes. It’s more of a sheet cake type icing in my family.
That looks so fudgy and delicious. Make a pan of brownies, pour this over it and then add some m&m’s on top. Maybe drizzle over some melted chocolate. Call them the deadly sin, cause that’d be a pan you’d want to be a glutton over and not share with anyone but a fork.
It might want to be really whipped (aerated) once it’s cool?
This is a boiled icing. You have to make sure your sugar doesn’t crystallize when it cools, which is what it looks like happened here.
You can add a small amount of glucose sugar or an acid, like a splash of lemon juice. You don’t need a ton of it, just a small amount.
Also, don’t stir the icing while it boils. Let it boil, and then take it off the heat and let it come to room temp before putting it in the fridge.
When it’s fully cooled, that’s when you whip it.
Yes, hot Texas sheet cake icing.
Grandma made this all the time. Pour the hot icing over a warm cake. The heavy icing compresses the cake slightly to a fudge brownie like density. The icing hardens and cracks and crystalizes.
This is my Madeleine de Proust. Such good childhood cake memories. 😃
hmm maybe substitute regular sugar for powdered??
I love all of this: unhinged cutting (something I would do because I can’t wait to eat it!), using grandma’s recipes that are prob missing steps she had in her head and the fact that this seems to be for a Texas sheet cake, which now I have to make!
This is my grandma’s frosting recipe too! My guess is you slightly overcooked it, or let it cool slightly too much before pouring on the cake. It looks pretty crumbly, so my best guess is overcooking.
The icing is basically halfway between fudge and ganache, which means it’s meant to be poured or drizzled on the cake, probably with minimal touching. You could probably convert it to an ermine frosting if you want it to be workable.
This is very close to my mother’s fudge frosting recipe, and it looks like it’s a little over-cooked. Here’s a couple modifications that will make it prettier. Bump the cocoa up to a quarter cup, and split the butter in half. Add the sugar, milk, cocoa, and half the butter, bring to a rolling boil and boil for 2 minutes. Then check to make sure it’s at the soft ball stage before taking off the heat and adding the rest of the butter and the vanilla. Beat until it’s glossy and matte by turns, then add to the cake (quickly). It honestly works best with a sheet cake that’s still in the pan, rather than layer cake, but you’ll get the thick, glossy chocolate you’re going for.
Boiled frosting! They are a tricky beast! Instead of following the timing guideline, get a candy thermometer and cook the sugar to about 240F. That should sort out the texture. If you’re still having issues, you could add some corn syrup or cream of tartar to the recipe and they will help prevent that matte crystallization.
EDIT- just re-read and saw “the more I mess with it the more it crumbled”- sugar is aching to crystallize when it melts. Stirring it too long can make it seize up like it has here. After you add vanilla, you really just want to stir it enough to start getting thick then pour the frosting over each layer of the cake.
You could put a doily on top, then dust it with icing sugar and remove paper doily to see the pattern.
That’s that cooked frosting that’s basically fudge, right? I cook mine a little less than the recipe calls for so it doesn’t set up so hard and stays a little shiny.
My grandpa use to make this icing. If I wanted a snack he would sometimes make it and pour it over saltines for a good salty sweet snack.
I can’t help but I’m looking at that icing and all I can think of is Berger cookies. I want to go make some right now.
All I want is for it to be pretty on my taste buds.
Man, I try to be positive on these types of posts…
Um, did you cook it and beat it? You probably should have cooked and poured…but the recipe seems off to me. The texture is so odd.
Also, who cut that damn cake? 🤣😂😅 I am assuming your kiddos, lol. I sent this pic to my hubby.
try looking for a brigadeiro sauce, (half can of condensed milk + same measure of milk or heavy cream,+2 tablespoons of butter + 2/3 tablespoons of cocoa, bring to a boil and let it get thick, but still spreadable. put on top of cake, dont need to freeze it
It looks like fudge that’s been turned into “frosting”. I would think you’d have to work very fast, or loosen it to make it more spreadable.
I have this recipe. You only boil for 1 1/2 minutes, and only beat it until “cool”, it should be a little warmer than room temperature when you spread it. If you beat it too much (too cold) it doesn’t spread well, and if you over cook it, it dries up like your picture. My grandma used to make it, and I have made it (and messed it up) a million times now. It is absolutely delicious, and my favorite, but it can definitely be finiky. I saw your cake and dug out my cookbook before I even read it lol. I can eat that frosting without the cake!l
I only ever make this type of icing on a sheet pan cake.
That icing recipe is for a “poured fudge” icing.
It works best on a sheet cake (rather than on a layer cake). Yummy!
If you’re happy with the taste and texture, I’d experiment with brushing on a light simple syrup for a sheen. Alternatively you could add a thin layer of melted dark chocolate to complement the sweet and fudgey icing.
What is going on here
I have a chocolate cooked icing like this and it always looks busted asf but it tastes great! I have no tips but just wanted to reassure you I also have no idea how to make it not look crazy😂
Thats a basic sheet cake icing. Down south, we put pecans in it and you top a chocolate sheet cake with it. Put a slice in the microwave for about 15 seconds to let the icing melt into the cake! Very nice. It’s never a “pretty” icing though.
I would try adding the butter when you add vanilla (initially, I’d probably try adding half at the start and half after boil). You’ll retain some moisture that way.
The ingredients and cooking method are very similar to chocolate fudge. Make sure you’re beating it long enough, but I’d consider boiling until it reaches the soft ball stage. Boiling based on temp, not time, could make a big difference.
Over heated, I think. Also, it needs some vanilla extract. The alcohol helps with consistency. Try a lower cook temp and immediately remove from the pan after cooking. Put it into a fresh bowl and stir to cool quickly. Add a little milk a few drops at a time if needed to adjust.
Heat the knife you spread it with