Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 360 g (3 c) confectioner’s sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 3–4.5 tbsp whole milk (see note)
Instructions
- Add the confectioner’s sugar and fine sea salt to a medium sized bowl. If the confectioner’s sugar is very clumpy before starting, make sure to sift it.
- Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons of whole milk to the bowl. Stir very slowly with a small whisk or spoon until the mixture is somewhat lumpy but most of the confectioner’s sugar is moistened. Don’t add any more milk at this point. Just keep stirring until the liquid stops hydrating the confectioner’s sugar.
- Add whole milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time, stirring after each addition until the glaze stops loosening. With practice, you’ll become a pro!
- Keep gradually adding whole milk and stirring until the glaze is thick but pourable. The final glaze should have the texture of very thick honey. You’ll know it has reached the correct consistency when there’s no confectioner’s sugar locked in your whisk and the glaze ribbons back into the bowl.
- Using a spouted liquid measuring cup, a spoon, or a squeeze bottle, add the glaze to your completely cooled cake (note the “completely cooled” part, as a warm cake will thin your glaze!). If the glaze sits for a while before you use it, give it a quick stir and it will be ready to use!
Notes
- Resist the urge to add more than three tablespoons of milk at the outset. Just keep stirring until that confectioner’s sugar is a lumpy mess and most of it is hydrated!
- This recipe can do a great double glaze on a pound cake, or it can be used to make two pound cakes.
- You’ll want fine sea salt (table salt) for this recipe. Kosher salt will not dissolve in the final mixture, and will give you crunchy bits of salt in your final glaze.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes