Foam-Type Icing

Foam icings, sometimes called boiled icings, are simply meringues made with a boiling syrup. Some also contain stabilizing ingredients like gelatin. Foam-type icings should be applied thickly to cakes and left in peaks and swirls.

These icings are not stable. They should be used the day they are prepared. Italian meringue, discussed, is the simplest foam-type icing. Follow the recipes but add 8 ounces (250 g) corn syrup to the sugar and water for the boiled syrup. The meringue is usually flavored with vanilla.