February is a big birthday month in our family, so yesterday we all gathered at Mom and Dad's house to celebrate. One of the birthday boys requested a cake with caramel icing :: it's a frosting recipe that's been handed down in our family for generations. Mom makes this with a butter or yellow cake. Let me warn you that it is SUPER sweet, so if you don't have a serious sweet tooth you may want to scroll down to the next recipe on this post.
Caramel Icing
1/2 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
3 cups confectioner's sugar
Melt butter over low heat. Stir in brown sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in milk. Return to heat and bring back to a boil. Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm. Stir in confectioner's sugar and beat until smooth.
**This icing sets with a bit of a crust, so you don't want to let it stand too long before frosting the cake. You can add more confectioner's sugar if too thin or more milk if too thick**
Garden Vegetable Soup
This is what I filled up on before going to the birthday celebration since I am desperately trying to trick my body into thinking it doesn't like sugar. There is nothing unhealthy about this soup and it really is quite good and easy to throw together. I used store-bought chicken broth as the base. And by the way, who knew that most pre-packaged broths (including organic) have sugar in them? After much scrutiny I finally found one that didn't. You can find the recipe here.
