Old Fashioned Buttermilk Icing

Let's get this straight! If you're from West (Almost Heaven) Virginia, the verb for putting a creamy, sugary substance on the outside of a cake is called, "frosting", but the delectable goo itself is called, "icing". So many folks, including Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, get this wrong. It says, "frosting" on the sides of those little plastic cans of preservative-infused sweet coating. Well, where ever you were reared and what ever you like to call it, cake just isn't as delicious without the swirls of creamy spread on the outside. I think most of us agree on this point! That's why children who are tempted by mama's cake sitting on the table, swipe their fingers through the icing instead of trying to pull a hunk of cake from the middle. Over the years, I've been "homeroom mom" enough to know that little ones also lick it off the top of their cookies and cupcakes and throw the crumbly baked goods in the trash. Icing is important stuff!
Today I want to post a recipe for a pure and simple buttermilk icing that takes your cake-eating experience to another level. While we enjoy a chocolate-buttermilk icing on my mother-in-law's Johnny Hoosier Cake (see my archives), this plain version is a nice change and is especially good on pound cake. This is the same kind of icing that the Amish in Ohio use to top cookies and pumpkin bread; I've bought it at roadside stands there.

Buttermilk Icing
1 C sugar
1/2 C buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4-1/2 C butter
1 TBSP white Karo syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

Boil to soft ball stage on a candy thermometer (like you would for fudge) and pour over cake immediately.
Note: This came from an elderly person's personal kitchen file that I bought at an estate sale in Ohio.

******Happy Birthday Ben!!! 18 this week!!!!******

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