The Icing on the Cake (Silver Spoon Icing Sugar)

Member Name: flodombey

Product:	Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
Date:	14/06/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great quality, easy to use, smooth

Disadvantages: Not great for the health conscious!

I regularly bake and find it a really enjoyable hobby, its something I have done since I was little because my mom used to be a semi profressional cake decorator and so I picked it up from an early age.

Silver Spoon Icing Sugar is, in my opinion, an absolute store cupboard staple for any aspiring baker, the quality is impressive and its also very versatile. At the moment 500g is around 75p in most supermarkets, it does seem to have managed to maintain a relatively stable price as other sugar items have risen quite dramatically. I get through a box this size with just two 9" round cakes but its not too expensive and very good value for the quality.

In general I tend to make butter cream more often than anything else with this icing sugar. A general rule of thumb is half the amount of butter to icing sugar, I make it with 4oz butter and 8oz icing sugar for a standard round cake filling. I also use a couple of drops of vanilla extract to wetten the mixture and give it a nice flavour.

The method is quite easy, you just need to soften the butter (I just weigh it out well in advance and let it come up to room temperature) then slowly work in the icing sugar with a fork. I add the vanilla essence half way through. I also sometimes flavour the butter cream with coffee but you only need a couple of teaspoons to get the full effect (concentrated coffee granules with hot water allowed to cool).

The reason I like the quality of this icing sugar is that it has very few lumps in it unlike lesser quality versions and it makes a very smooth icing and buttercream very quickly.

To make standard icing you only need to add water and balance it until you have the desired consitency. Great for icing fairy cakes and the like.

A wonderful cupboard essential for anyone with an interest in baking, personally my favourite brand and something I always keep on standby for when the urge to bake takes over!

Summary: Store cupboard essential for the avid baker