Note: A great recipe for baby showers, bridal showers, or lady's tea. I start by using a 1-1/2 inch cookie cutter to cut rounds out of slices of pound cake. Then, keeping them in an airtight container, I start this icing recipe. When making the icing, the setting time is critical. If you let the icing set too long, it will be too thick to pour. If you don't let it set long enough, it will be too thin and too little of the icing will stick to the cakes. I learned this the hard way. I let the icing set about fifteen minutes instead of eight and you can see in the picture that the icing didn't completely cover the cakes. A suggestion I borrowed is to place a moist paper towel over the bowl while the icing is setting. This keeps it from setting up too quickly and also prevents air bubbles when pouring the icing onto the cakes. I made the flowers out of gumdrops, coating them continuously with sugar as I formed them. 4-1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Gel food coloring, in desired colors
In a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water, mix sugar, corn syrup, 1/4 cup water, vanilla and almond extracts together until they are warm, well combined, and smooth. Stir in enough food coloring until desired color is reached. Do not overheat. Let cool about 8 minutes before pouring. When ready to pour, I place the cakes on a baking rack with wax paper underneath to catch the drips. I wait for them to cool, then transfer them to silver baking cups and place in an airtight container. They will keep just fine for one to two days. Makes 16 petit fours.
