Cooked sugar icing for cakes and pastries

Name: Cooked sugar icing for cakes and pastries
Yield: 1 cake
Cuisine: Slovak
Ingredients: 250 g Granulated sugar; 130 ml Water; 1 tsp Vinegar (20%)

White icing made by boiling sugar, water, and vinegar into a syrup, then stirring until white. Makes enough to cover one 24 cm cake.

Slovak cuisine · Translated from Slovak · October 24, 2026

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Recipe at a glance

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Servings: 1 cake
Difficulty: Easy

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Cooked sugar icing for cakes and pastries uses just three ingredients: granulated sugar, water, and a teaspoon of vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer for ten minutes to form a syrup. Pour it into a cold bowl and stir occasionally as it gradually turns white and begins to set. For colored icing, simply add food coloring.

Ingredients

Granulated sugar 250 g
Water 130 ml
Vinegar (20%) 1 tsp

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Instructions

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Pour the water and vinegar into a saucepan and add the granulated sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for another 10 minutes. After ten minutes, the mixture will form a sugar syrup.
Pour the syrup into a cold bowl and let it cool slightly, stirring occasionally.
After 5–6 minutes of stirring, the syrup will begin to turn white and gradually set. Continue stirring occasionally.
After another 5–6 minutes, the icing will reach the desired consistency.
Add food coloring if desired and spread the icing over the cake. This amount is enough for a 24 cm cake, and the icing will set on the cake in less than 1 hour. If you need more icing, use 500 g sugar, 250 ml water, and 1 teaspoon vinegar, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Tip: Spread the icing as soon as it reaches the right consistency, as it sets quickly. If it thickens too soon, warm it briefly over a water bath and stir.

Nutrition facts

Approximate values per 100 g, calculated from the ingredients

Energy: 252 kcal
Protein: 0.0 g
Carbohydrates: 65 g
of which sugars: 65 g
Fat: 0.0 g
of which saturates: 0.0 g
Fiber: 0.0 g
Salt: 0.0 g

Calculated from the raw ingredients, without frying oil. Where an amount is “to taste”, typical amounts are used. Food composition: USDA FoodData Central and product labels.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Varená cukrová poleva na torty a zákusky – z 3 surovín