Icings were traditionally prepared for special company or were simple additions to those cakes that seemed to need something extra. “We often ate our cakes without icing, just dusted with 10X sugar,” commented a woman in her early 40s. A woman 10 years older explains her method, “Just beat margarine or shortening with 10X sugar and a little milk and vanilla. That’s what we used to do and what I still do.” That traditional unwritten recipe has been transcribed for those who don’t cook “by feel.”