Earth to CDers....Earth to CDers.... Good Morning!
Infreakincredible! Another dreary day here in rural America. Looks like big rains a coming and sprinkling.
Grammie always would say she could smell rain "acommin". I would go out and I couldn't smell anything like rain but she could. And then the rain would come so she was right.
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Another old Grammie recipe and a funny story with advice attached to it. I loved Grammie's homemade Angel Food Cake as it was at least 8 inches tall. But it should have been with that whole dozen of egg whites she always used. But it was the white fluffy frosting I liked the best. So I asked her for the recipe. I carefully wrote down her every word so I could make that white fluff frosting.
The day I decided to make her Angel Food Cake and that great fluffy icing was a tremendous day for me. On my own, in our home kitchen, without Grammy's help. Oh boy! I get out the ingredients and set them on the table. Carefully I read the entire recipe. I measured and mixed and put it on the stove. Keep in mind I was only 12 years old at the time. But, I was chief cook and bottle washer at our house at this age. And, I didn't want to have to call Grammie to get this done.
Then I read the notes on the recipe. It said, cook until it spins a thread about 7 inches long. So I went to the sewing box and wondered which color of thread I was supposed to use???? But I finally decided on white as it had the most on the spool. I get the tape measure and measured 7 inches. Now I was ready to cook the frosting.
I put it on the stove and it starts to boil after a while. I didn't really know when I was supposed to get that thread spinning, but I waited until the mixture was really boiling. I held that thread above the pan and waited and waited and waited. I must have held that thread above the pan for 10 minutes and that thread never did spin like Grammie's recipe said. The frosting was really thick and gooey so I just quit boiling it and went on to the next part of the recipe....the syrup mixture was a funny color and egads it was thick. I wasn't even able to mix the next part of the recipe for as long as it said so I just decided it was done. I went ahead and took a knife like Grammie had always done and tried to spread it on the cake. It was really gooey and getting really hard so I only got frosting on the upper part of the Angel Food Cake. Something went wrong for sure but I was determined as supper was nearing and I had to cook supper too for my dad, brother and me.
We ate our supper and I presented the cake lovingly to my dad and brother. Dad chuckled at the half-iced lopsided cake, but he got the big carving knife to cut us each a piece. He tried to saw it but it was tough....then the cake started collapsing from the attempt to saw through the frosting. He lifted the knife and the helmet of hard icing started coming off the cake and actually lifted the cake. I was sitting at the table with eyes as big as half-dollars. Dad finally said "why don't we get rid of this icing". So he lifted the rest of the icing and threw it away. The cake was wonderful, but kind of squashed from the sawing with the carving knife.
The next day I called Grammie and asked why had my frosting failed. I explained how I had used the thread but the thread didn't spin. She burst out laughing and said "child, that wasn't what I meant - to spin a thread means to lift up the spoon and let the mixture coming off the spoon, spin a thread. It didn't mean to cut a thread and hold it over the pan."
My first big cooking failure. But I learned from this. The advice I got from this, was from Grammie....she said to always ask the person you are getting the recipe from, to explain every part of the recipe - especially when you're age 12 and have only been cooking for a year or so. That's what I did after that....asked.
Here's Grammie's recipe for the white fluff frosting. Do not, I repeat do not cut a thread to make the liquid spin the thread!
Grammie's White Fluff
2 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon white corn syrup (karo)
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup boiling hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Use a medium saucepan. Put white sugar and add the corn syrup. Add the 1/4 boiling hot water. Cook over low to medium heat, boiling it until it is clear and spins a thread.
While boiling, separate the egg whites from the eggs and put in a large mixing bowl. Do not put the yolks in this. Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites until they form very stiff peaks. The keep beating and start adding the boiling hot syrup mixture. Do not it cool before adding this syrup mixture.
Set the bowl with the frosting mixture in a pan of very hot water. Don't let the water come over the top of the frosting bowl. Beat for about 7 minutes or until shiny and stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla and cream of tartar and mix until well mixed. Quickly frost the cake.
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This is a picture of my great uncle's house with my dad's cousin sitting out front..... early 1920's.
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