My Mama used to use a recipe for White Icing where she used regular sugar. She would bring this to a boil until it formed a hard ball if it was dropped into some water, then she would pour it over her egg whites that had already been beaten to a stiff peak. Do you know where I can find the recipe for this?

 It sounds just like what we call Italian Meringue, only we don’t boil the sugar syrup to the hard-ball stage (250°F; 121°C); we stop a little way into the soft-ball stage (238°F; 114°C). The one time we weren’t paying enough attention and let the syrup get past the soft-ball stage, it sprayed hard little sugar crystals and threads throughout the meringue in the mixer and we had to start over. (And you know how much we don't like starting over!)

Try that Italian Meringue recipe and if it isn’t like your Mama’s icing, let us know and we’ll look for something else.

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