Casa Cosina: 7-minute frosting cookies...really?

I remember watching my Ginny (Grandmother on my mother's side) when she would make 7-minute frosting for all of our birthday cakes. I may have been just a kid but I already knew it was the most delicious cake frosting EVER!! And she made it look so easy! Then I grew up and found that it was so much easier to buy the pre-made frosting at the grocery store. I have no problem admitting that making 7-minute frosting intimidates me a lot. Just the thought of it would make me sweat.....Then I became a mother of a child who does not like the store-bought frosting......or frosting from any cake bakery EVER....

I love cake! Actually, let me clarify, I love beautiful cakes that can make our birthday party center-pieces look amazing. I have been known to search out the most unique cake designer and order it 6 weeks in advance of the celebration....at a pretty penny, I might add, and then not eat a single slice. Sometimes, the cake looks amazing but tastes terrible. This is when I ask myself, "Why do I do this every time?" But I continue this crazy behavior.

My husband's birthday is why I bring this up. I did my normal search for the most unique cake for his 45th birthday. But what I found was that it was going to cost me $245. WHAT??? I. Just. Said. No! Then I came up the brilliant idea to simply ask my hubs what kind of cake he would like, and to my surprise, he told me! What have I stumbled onto here....maybe a homemade cake that is enjoyable and that will be devoured. That's the way to go.

So here we are back to the 7-minute frosting. This was part of his request. And now I am hyperventilating and my heartbeat is increasing....how can I live up to my Ginny and my mother who can both make this frosting effortlessly. Oh, let me add that this is the icing that the hub's mother use to make for him when he was a kid. Now I have to live up to my Ginny, my mother, AND his mother. Oh the pressure! But, I have a plan (were you surprised?).

Today, it's two days before his official celebration and I've decided to try it out....Can I say SUCCESS??? I am so proud! Big sigh of relief going on over here.

Here's how I made it (not a family secret recipe):

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

What to do:
Mix the sugar, cream of tartar, salt, water and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld mixer for one minute. Place pan over boiling water in the bottom of the double boiler. Beat constantly for 7 minutes on high speed with the handheld mixer. Then beat in the vanilla.

That's it! Easy-peasy!

Again, here we are, two days before the celebration and I now have a ton of frosting that I should just throw out. But, I can't do that so I decide to try is to make them into meringue cookies. My version of meringue cookies, that is. Or "7-minute frosting cookies".

I simply dumped the icing into a large zip lock bag, cut a corner off, and piped the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet. Then let them bake in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes. I let them cool for a New York minute and then scooped them off of the cookie sheet with a metal spatula to completely cool. They were fluffy and so delicious!