On Sep 10, 9:56*am, zxcvbob > wrote:
> I made a cake Saturday night to take to a potluck on Sunday; when it was
> cooled I started gathering the stuff to make frosting, and we were out
> of powdered sugar. *==(8-0
>
> I didn't want to goto the store just for that, and I knew I had seen
> recipes before for "boiled frosting" that use granulated sugar, so I did
> a search. *Found one recipe that kept cropping up over and over so I
> made that. *From memory, it was:
>
> Boil 1 cup of milk, 1/4 cup flour, and a pinch of salt. *Remove from
> heat and cool completely. *Cream 1/2 cup margarine (I used butter), 1/2
> cup shortening, and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. *Add 1 tsp
> vanilla and the milk mixture and beat for several minutes until it looks
> like whipped cream.
>
> This made way too much frosting for a 9x13 cake (I don't know if it was
> enough for 2 cakes) and it looked good but tasted greasy and not sweet
> enough. *It was a lot better on the chocolate cake than it was licking
> the bowl, but the fat : sugar ratio is still way off. *I'm trying to
> figure out how to improve it because I think it has potential. *Using 2
> sticks of butter instead of butter and shortening would help some, but
> probably not enough.
>
> Maybe add 1/2 cup of sugar to the milk and flour before boiling it, and
> just cream 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla
> (leave out the shortening, and add the vanilla earlier to help dissolve
> the sugar)? *Not sure this will whip... *What do you think?
>
> --
> Bob

How about buttercream? You really need a Kitchenaid or similar mixer
for this, but it's freaking fabulous!
35 oz granulated sugar
8-10 oz water
Boil until 250 degrees. While it is coming up to temp, start on the
yolks.
You need 10-20 egg yolks whipped until they reach the ribbon stage
Slowly pour the hot syrup into the whipped yolks- try to keep the flow
to the side and not hit the beater whip!
Mix until cool- this takes a good hour. Then add 35 oz of soft,
unsalted butter a bit at a time until all is incorporated.
This is time consuming, but you will thank me later!