Here he is! Larry the Lamb. Larry is full of prunes and covered with soft fudge frosting, but who’s judging right?
Oh, that’s right. The whole internet is judging him, aren’t they? Anyway, here is Whipped Fudge Frosting!
AuthorRetroRuth
From Rawleigh Recipe Gems, 1964
Melt butter and chocolate at low heat. (If desired, add milk, and then temper in beaten raw eggs and bring up to about 160 degrees)
Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl of the mixer. Add stovetop mixture. Beat at medium speed until all ingredients are well-blended.
Chill overnight or place the mixing bowl in a large pan of ice water. Beat frosting at high speed until it changes color and is of spreading consistency.
Yield: Will frost two 8- or 9-inch layers or a 10-inch tube cake
Ingredients
Directions
Melt butter and chocolate at low heat. (If desired, add milk, and then temper in beaten raw eggs and bring up to about 160 degrees)
Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl of the mixer. Add stovetop mixture. Beat at medium speed until all ingredients are well-blended.
Chill overnight or place the mixing bowl in a large pan of ice water. Beat frosting at high speed until it changes color and is of spreading consistency.
Yield: Will frost two 8- or 9-inch layers or a 10-inch tube cake
Oh, and here is the prune cake I made his insides out of!
For a couple of years now, I have been testing fluffy chocolate frosting recipes behind the scenes. I mean, you could probably just whip a ganache or make chocolate whipped cream and call it good, but I still wanted to see if there was a vintage recipe that would give fluffy, very chocolatey lamb cake frosting.
And no, I’m not going to put cocoa in 7-minute icing, even though if you do that I’m not judging. I made a coffee version once, which was really good, but for some reason making 7-minute icing flavored with chocolate seems wrong to my OCD. Like drinking a glass of milk after you brush your teeth kind of wrong. Unsettling.
So I found this recipe, and the great thing about it is that I was able to get the two eggs tempered into the chocolate base and up to temp so they weren’t raw anymore. Raw eggs are another OCD for me, but I still wanted the frosting to get the smooth, creaminess from the egg yolks.
After I cooled and whipped the frosting, it was light, fluffy, creamy, and had a great flavor. But it did NOT hold a peak at all, and so wasn’t very useful for making lamb cake fleece. In fact, I made this white 7-minute frosting to cover up the fact that the fudge frosting underneath was sliding off the lamb. In fact, it only held up for pictures, and Larry proceeded to slowly lose all the frosting off his body in about 12 hours. This was sad for me, but not for Tom, who would scrape the sagging frosting off the platter and into his mouth every time he walked past.
Anyway, onto the taste test!
“This tastes like really good fudge frosting! Very creamy.”
“Yeah, but it keeps sliding off the lamb.”
“Who cares? That’s not going to stop me from putting it in my face.”
The Verdict: Soft But Delicious
Overall, I wouldn’t call this a fail, just a step in the right direction. This frosting was smooth and incredibly creamy and rich. It had a great chocolate flavor as well. Even though it was too soft to pipe, you could use it for filling or just to frost the top of a non-lamb cake. And I think to firm it up I could either add more powdered sugar or sub the milk in the recipe with cream so that it becomes more of a true ganache. Either way, I am making this again!
Mmm, sounds delicious!
Larry looks fantastic in spite of slowly losing his outerwear. I wonder if the fact that Larry’s innards were filled with prunes was just too much of a “power of suggestion” for the frosting. 😉
Ha ha haha!!
This is very close to a couple of recipes in my 1959 Pillsbury’s Best of the Bakeoff cookbook. The Rich Chocolate Frosting is very close to this one, but my favorite is Luxury Chocolate Frosting. It takes a lot of mixing, but as long as you whip the heck out of it at each step you will be rewarded with a heavy mousse-like frosting that sets up beautifully. 2 cups chocolate chips melted and completely cooled to room temp. Cream 1/2 cup butter. Gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar beating well the whole time. Add 3 eggs, one at a time beating (really) well with each egg. Add vanilla and the chocolate and keep beating on high until it sort of fluffs up a bit and turns a slightly lighter color. Don’t I’ve up too soon. Perfection!! This is harder to make in warm humidity or a hot kitchen. I have loved this cookbook since my mother brought it home when I was 9. My husband just had it rebound for me. So many memories.