[Sca-cooks] cake icing

[Mark.S Harris]

Amanda said:
> It's actually really easy to do a heater:  make a sheet cake in whatever
> size you want and then trim two corners at the narrow end to shape.
> Pre-shaped pans tend to be pretty small.   Just remember to apply a crumb
> coat of icing, especially to the cut edges, so crumbs don't smear into your
> finished product.

I've done little cake decorating, so some of this is unclear to me.
What do you mean by a "crumb coat of icing"? Is this applied
differently than the background icing? Or do you just mean to apply
a sacrificial layer of icing that will be under the real layer of
icing? If so, is it a thinner mixture or applied thinner than the
final coat?

We have briefly mentioned period icings before. I get the feeling
that these were much thinner than the fluffy, often rather thick
icings that I'm used to seeing these days. When did these thicker
icings come into use? Or was this a Victorian thing? I imagine these
questions on icings are highly affected by the price and availability
of sugar.

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net