Cookery - UK versus N. America

You don't sound very happy to me - you even selected a "poisonous" name for yourself.

FYI, I have moved around a lot following my husband's career. He chose to move, I chose to go with him and make a happy home wherever he went, rather than be like some of my former friends who insisted that their husbands had to find a job locally so they would not have to move.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

I think I need to up my reading comprehension. You two don't seem to be speaking the same language. I saw no moaning or unhappiness.

I certainly feel I would like to poison you ! LB was a much misjudged woman who likely never poisoned anyone, but I can't say the same for her Papal Father.

You think as a naval wife I didn't move ? I read Bobbie's letter with a smile. My husband would go for two years at a time and before we moved here, I moved 11 times in 14 years. David would have been the first to tell you that I did it all cheerfully, carted children around the world, pregnant with another and never 'complained' - as you seem to think I do.

I am wondering how you arrived at that judgement of me - must be because you judge others by yourself, because your picture could not be further from the truth. So please don't judge me by your friends !

(snip)

When I was growing up in England,and the newspaper had had a lengthy correspondence on one subject, the editor used to post a notice "This correspondence is now closed".

I will not respond further.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

I should hope not since you manufactured the whole debacle about me.

I did happen to notice, on further study of the tables, that it does not mention the main difference between U.K. "icing sugar" and North American "confectioners sugar".

Icing sugar is pure sugar, very finely ground. Confectioners sugar has a small amount of cornstarch added, supposedly to avoid lumping. This means that it will not make real royal icing,(the kind which sets like concrete). Nowadays, if I want real royal icing I can go to my local import shop and buy icing sugar. In past years, I had to take regular sugar and grind it really finely, a small amount at a time, in my blender. Mind you, my dh says he prefers the American kind, it makes it easier to cut the Christmas cake (yes, Gillian, I still make one, old family recipe, complete with marzipan, royal icing, piped flowers on top, the whole bit).

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

Olwyn Mary

want to hear of the last Christmas cake I made?? Disaster all the way.

Jim and I were together, unmarried, but SOs. WE lived in Maryland. We were invited to Miami for the Christmas holiday to be with the old MIL and the rest of the tribe. I thought I would make a real English Christmas cake. I made it in November, marinated it faithfully; I had all the ingredients to make marzipan and icing ( I don't like it hard, so always added a smudge of glycerin..my Mum's trick.).

Well we arrived in Miami; it was about 85 degrees, hot as hell...and we were in the RV in the front yard. Her house had no A/C...just open windows.

At the right time I made the marzipan, and slathered the stuff on the cake. I then made the icing, and put that on the cake. In my family we had Father Christmas and Trees on the cake; I had bought some, and decorated with that. It really looked good, and my Mum would be proud of me.

I took it into the old lady's kitchen, and it sat there for a few hours until they were ready to eat it. (No-one EVER was in time for a meal in that place),,maybe why I hate Miami.

By the time we were ready for the cake, I took the inverted tin off the plate.....you guessed it, the whole damn stuff had slid off the cake and was puddled around the cake.

That is the last Christmas cake I ever made!! About 23 years ago.

Gillian

here in Canada we can buy super fine sugar. works great ruby

I make royal icing on a fairly regular basis to decorate my over-the-top cookies. I find that mixing some meringue powder into the confectioner's sugar does the trick - you can make it as stiff or soft as you like for piping and it dries like rock candy.

MelissaD

A short video on the behaviour of icing

Too funny Dora.

Actually the rules do not apply to the icing sugar in NS, it is put out by Atlantic Sugar and is simply powdered sugar, I don't know what you get in Alberta though.

Here in Florida, and back in New York, it was called different things, but they were all supposedly identical. At least I was told that they were interchangeable and never had a problem. IIRC it was either confectioners, superfine, icing sugar and there was one more but I don't remember what it was called.

I should have said this is how EUROPEAN icing sugar behaves.

I think it is powdered. I don't buy it often enough and am not enough of a treat cook to know. Maybe a bag every 2 years? This little discussion has been quite educational - I always thought it was all the same thing.

Out here in the west, when I was growing up, most of the sugar available used to be beet sugar - all the native kids at my school used to disappear periodically to pick sugar beets. I think that market has been completely driven out by cane sugar now and there probably isn't a Canadian brand at the local grocery, whereas 20-some years ago there used to be. I'll check when I'm getting groceries. Again, I think I only buy 1 bag a year, usually when I'm canning. Dora

I was going by what OM said, that cornflour was added to icing sugar in the USA, I really don't know. Here it is powdered sugar, but it is produced here as the Maritime Provinces always had lots of trade with the West Indies. Salt fish down and rum back up lol

Granulated, superfine, confectioners. They are different,

Granulated is coarse, superfine is similar but is the one used in sugaring flowers (for example) and confectioners is powder. Turbinado is unprocessed, coarse granulated brown, but the same as brown sugar which I believe has molasses. Victoria

Very good!!

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans