Penoche Frosting

I have a recipe from mom today.  I love this frosting recipe.  I’m not including a cake recipe to go along with it; everyone has a favorite cake they like to make.  I love this with a spice cake but Penoche boy loves it on a yellow cake.  Mom would slather it on a layer cake, but I love the way it looks on a bundt cake.  So many options!

I think my love affair with penoche started when I tasted the penoche fudge when we visited Canon Beach on the Oregon coast.  We went to the coast every summer.  When people ask me about my early memories, walking to Haystack Rock is one of my most vivid.  We would walk the arcades at Seaside.  It was a total beach town.  The fudge shops with their big copper pots were amazing.  And the fudge they produced was achingly sweet, my favorite kind.

Mom’s recipe card calls this 1 Minute Penoche Frosting.  However, if you go on-line, it’s spelled penuche.  Now, who are you going to believe, my mom or the Internet?  I know I’m sticking with my mom; the woman knew her sweets.

So, the next time you’re bored with the same old chocolate frosting, think about penoche.  With 5 ingredients and only a few minutes of prep, you can’t go wrong.

2 cups brown sugar or (2 2/3 cup)

1/2 cup milk or (2/3 cup)

1/2 cup Crisco or (2/3 cup)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Mix all ingredients except the vanilla in a saucepan.  Stir over low heat until shortening melts.  Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and beat until lukewarm and smooth.  Beat in vanilla.  The ingredient amounts on the left are enough for a bundt cake or a 9 x 13 inch pan.  The amounts on the right are enough for a 2 layer cake.

and remember:  As Nora Ephron said:  Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there.  And, I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women.  Big kiss, Lynn