my homemade frosting will not thicken, what can I do to help it along?!
Answers:
Here is the recipe I found at cooks.com. It includes cornstarch, a thickening agent! Looks like it was missing from your recipe. . German Chocolate Cake Frosting: 1 c. sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. nuts
1 stick butter
1 can condensed milk
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 can coconut Combine ingredients and cook over low heat; stirring constantly until thickened, about 12 minutes. Add chopped pecans and coconut. Option: Make 1/2 cake and cut the frosting in half too. Just take cake mix (German chocolate) and make half of it
Peace
www.cooks.com
Eggs and butter are probably what's supposed to thicken it. With respect to the eggs, you want to make sure you've heated it enough; as far as the butter, think about how cold butter needs to get to solidify. That's how cold you'll have to get it before the butter starts to thicken it. I suspect this is all you need to do - let it cool more.
As a last resort, you could try adding cornstarch. You would have to reheat the frosting, mix the cornstarch with a small amount of cold liquid, then add the liquid to the hot mixture and cook. In my experience, it will take about 5 minutes of cooking and then you'll see clearly that the cornstarch is working and turn the heat off. However, I would caution you about this because I haven't used cornstarch with those other ingredients and it might not be exactly the texture you want (plus it's gross if you use too much and get a cornstarch jelly). If you do want to use this, a pudding consistency (thick and gooey while warm, slightly gelled but creamy when cold) is achieved by adding 1 tablespoon cornstarch per 1 cup of thin liquid (water or milk) that you want to thicken. You'd use less for something that is already somewhat thick or that is supposed to be less firm than pudding.
cornstarch pudding experiments
Always use powedered sugar......not granulated sugar
You should try cooling it longer
Put it in the refrigerator for half an hour
I'd try adding a little baking soda to it. Might help.