7-Minute Frosting
Posted on July 3, 2011 by bob in GPlenty
A wedding "cake table" holds not just one, but an assortment of cakes.
Mary Virginia Norris was a happy, beautiful June bride. Because her mother Mary Jane is a long-time friend, I was there to witness her “blush” at Montgomery’s First Methodist Church, and afterwards to dance at the Montgomery Country Club. The celebration was blissful.
Other friends, Jenny Loughridge and Beth Edwards (a.k.a. my fabulously talented “Flower Ladies”) decorated for the event, and I was able to poke a few of my own blue hydrangeas into the cake table arrangement on the evening before the wedding. That opportunity also gave me a sneak peek at the breathtaking backdrop for the bride’s very good idea: Mary Virginia opted not to have a singular wedding cake. Rather, the table would be filled with several of her favorite cakes…caramel, red velvet, cheesecakes with assorted toppings, and devil’s food cake with (my-oh-my!) Seven-Minute Frosting.
I hadn’t tasted, or let alone made, a Seven-Minute Frosting in years. After the first taste, I wondered why I had not. The table was beautiful, and this frosting/cake combination was divine!
Mary Virginia had requested that her grandmother, Norris, make these special confections, and her grandmother obliged. After all, she’d made them for other important occasions in her granddaughter’s life. The devil’s food cake with Seven-Minute Frosting had always been Mary Virginia’s cake of choice for her birthday celebrations.
Leaving the reception, I was so very grateful for the invitation to attend such a personal, uplifting, very holy event. And, I was determined to bake a cake. One that had new memory attached. A devil’s food cake iced with a Seven-Minute Frosting.
Per serving (icing only, if cake yields 15 servings):
calories 163
fat 0g
chol 0g
sodium 16g
carbs 41g
sugars 40g
protein .9g
Recipe:
Egg whites from 4 large eggs
3 c. sugar
10 tsp. cold water
3 tsp. clear Karo corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla
"Beat seven minutes or..."
Stir together in double boiler* the egg whites, sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook, stirring, on a low medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils.
"...until frosting peaks."
While mixture is still cooking, beat with handheld electric mixer on high for 7 minutes, or until frosting forms peaks. Remove boiler from heat. Add vanilla. Continue beating briefly until thick. Cover until ready to spread on cooled cake.
*Note: It is important to cook this in a double boiler to keep it from scorching. It scorches easily! This recipe makes plenty of frosting for a two-layer 8” cake.
Patsy Smith, a Montgomery native, is the author of two cookbooks, A Cookbook for My Southern Daughter and A Southern Daughter Entertains. They may be purchased at Capitol Book and News, Rosemont Gardens, Southern Homes and Gardens, Jo’s Hallmark, Richardson’s Pharmacy, and other fine book and gift stores, or through her website at www.southerndaughtercookbooks.com.
