Whipped Icing Recipe

Sugar icing, glaces de sucre in French, is widely used in confectionery of all kinds.  It may be cooked or uncooked.  Pastries, cakes, petits fours, and puddings may all be decorated in various ways with icing.  Cooked icing recipes, such as fondant icing, use icing sugar brought to a very high heat in a little water.  Uncooked icing recipes often use butter or egg white together with the sugar.

A whipped icing recipe is rather different because it uses a large amount of stiff fresh double cream mixed together with icing sugar.  It is a luxury icing for covering a large summer sponge cake.

Start by putting an empty bowl in the fridge until it is cold.  Use half a pint of double cream to half a pound of icing sugar (this is very definitely for a special occasion - it is not a healthy option!).  Put the heavy cream and the icing sugar in a bowl.  The icing will taste better if the sugar has been in a jar with a couple of vanilla pods for a few weeks before making the icing.  Or you can add a teaspoon of brandy or rum.  It is better not to use ingredients such as vanilla extract.  In this whipped icing recipe, you are working with the best ingredients and an extract will give a rather commercial taste to the finished icing.

Whip the cream and sugar together with a whisk until the mixture stands up in stiff peaks.  This is easier if you have an electric beater, but some people believe that doing it by hand gives a better finish as more air is introduced into the icing.

When the mixture it stiff, smooth it down in the bowl, cover it and return the bowl to the fridge.  It should remain in the fridge for at least an hour before being used so that it is thoroughly chilled.  You can prepare this icing the day before using it.  It will keep in the fridge quite happily for 24 hours.

When you come to spread the icing on the cake use a spatula which you dip periodically into a jug of hot water.  This will prevent the icing from sticking to the spatula.  Work quickly, spreading the icing all over the top of the cake and down the sides.  The whipped icing recipe does not demand the smooth finish of a royal icing recipe.  It should look a little uneven.  Decorate the top of the cake with fresh summer fruit, strawberries, redcurrants  and raspberries.