Angel Food Cake with 7-Minute Frosting Recipe from Grandma's Cookbook - Awake at the Whisk (2024)

FAQs

Why is my 7 minute frosting runny? ›

If the mixture has not been sufficiently heated, the network isn't as stable and will eventually break down, turning the icing runny. To ensure that your icing lasts as long as the cake, make sure to stick your thermometer deep into the center of the egg white mixture.

After seasoning and flavoring, use the frosting right away and serve the cake as soon as you can. Seven-minute frosting's advantage is that it's fast, not long-lasting. It doesn't hold for much longer than 24 hours at cool room temperature. And no, refrigeration won't help.

The big difference is how they are cooked: Swiss meringue is cooked, then beaten off the heat while seven-minute frosting is beaten as it cooks on the heat. I love fluffy seven-minute frosting on fine-grained cakes like devil's food cake, red velvet cake, and coconut cake.

How to make an angel food cake: Egg whites need to be at warm room temperature. If using frozen, thaw them by submerging the plastic bags in a bowl of hot tap water. This will keep them warm.

The longer you beat, the more air you incorporate in your buttercream, thus, it will have lots of holes or air-pockets, it will also make the colour lighter. If you will use your buttercream primarily for filling or maybe as simple swirls, then this is ok.

Add small amounts of ingredients like powdered sugar, cornstarch, gelatin, heavy whipping cream, or cream cheese to make your frosting less runny. For flavored frostings, ingredients like cocoa powder and peanut butter can also work. When your frosting is the right consistency, it'll be easy to spread or pipe.

How long can cake sit out unrefrigerated? If your cake is frosted with buttercream, it will last covered at room temperature for up to four days. However, it is best to refrigerate cakes with other frostings such as cream cheese or ganache. A fully covered unfrosted cake will last for up to 2 days at room temperature.

Refrigeration is only necessary if your kitchen gets very hot during the day, if you're making a cake that won't be served for more than three days, or when cake includes a fresh fruit filling or topping, or whipped cream frosting.

A simple uncooked buttercream frosting (sometimes referred to as an American buttercream) made with just butter, sugar, and flavorings, or other frostings with little to no added liquid, can sit out for a couple of days. That's because bacteria needs water to proliferate, and butter is just 10 percent water.

Swiss meringue buttercream is a favorite among many cake decorators because of its smooth finish on the outside cakes and its ability to hold piping detail.

Which frosting is best for beginners? ›

In terms of ease, buttercream is the best frosting to use as it's easy to make and relatively easy to spread.

The most stable of the buttercreams, Italian buttercream is made from a meringue made bystreaming hot sugar syrup into egg whites as they're being whisked.

Don't use a plastic bowl, which may have an oily residue that can minimize the volume of beaten egg whites. Add cream of tartar and vanilla to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl).

Be sure to use only fresh eggs; liquid egg whites in a carton have been pasteurized, which can prevent them from whipping into stiff peaks. Cream of Tartar: Stabilizes the egg whites and keeps them from deflating. This helps create that light, fluffy texture.

Otherwise refrigerate the icing for up to 10 minutes, stirring it every 2 minutes, until it has reached a thick, but still spreadable, consistency. You do need to be careful doing this as the icing can become firm quite quickly once it has cooled down.

You can confectioners sugar or corn flour to it. The quantity of these depends on how much it have become watery! You can keep it in refrigerator till it gets cold and then you can whip it again but you should start with lowest speed to highest speed and don't over whip it , if you do that if will become watery.

However, if your buttercream isn't stiff enough, gradually add more powdered sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until your frosting is thick but still pipeable. If you stick your spatula into the buttercream, your frosting should maintain a stiff peak.

To fix the grainy consistency, add 1-2 additional teaspoons of room temperature milk and mix the buttercream on low speed for an additional 1-2 minutes. This should help the powdered sugar dissolve completely.