 Barked: Sat Dec 3, '11 9:27am PST |
 | |  | | I'm a former pastry chef (people food) and even though I don't make doggie pastries, this idea appeals to me. I know that you want to avoid sugar or high fructose stuff, but to make something like fondant or icing, you typically need the sugar to provide the flavor, as well as help make the icing set up properly. So it's not *solely* for flavoring, but that's the main reason people think it's used. If you didn't have the sugar, then it won't set up properly.
That being said, I think it can be done. I know eggs are good for dogs, and in good frostings/icings, you can make a meringue-base for them using whipped egg whites. Marshmallows (quite simply put) are nothing more than meringue with gelatin in it.
If you can stand a *small* amount of sugar, a meringue would work nicely. Meringues are usually something around 6 egg whites with a pinch of cream of tartar (to stabilize) and maybe about 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. You bake that at a very low heat to cook the egg white (it'll be crunchy) without chaining its color. 2 Tbsp sugar isn't that much, because 6 egg whites would give you enough yield to front an 8" 2-layer cake, so it would frost a LOT of cookies.
But if you anted to go sugar-free, you could do something like (and this is off the top of my head -an alteration of my favorite Italian meringue recipe)... Bring 6 egg whites to room temperature (put em in a bowl for about an hour). Get 1/2 packet of Knox gelatin. Pour it into a cup with 2 Tbsp cold water and let set for 10 minutes. After it's set, put it into a metal bowl, and place over a small pot of boiling water. It'll melt. Won't take long. While that's melting, start whipping your whites. when the whites are just foamy and the gelatin has melted, slowly incorporate it into the white while whipping vigorously. Kind of pour the gelatin in, a bit at a time, in a slow narrow stream (you don't want it to clump). Keep whipping until it reaches stiff peaks. You should then be able to frost the cookies with this. The gelatin will keep the egg whites very stable. If you'd like to cook it, you can put the frosted cookies on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven at a very low temp (about 150° ), but if you do it like that, I'd recommend putting the rack up as close the the top as you can get, and making sure the frosting layer is very thin, because the thicker it is, the longer it'll take to cook, and your cookie part will get ruined.
It won't be "flooded" cookies (where the icing is smooth), because it'll have that fluffy meringue consistency - but you *could* put it in a piping bag (with a small tip) and frost like that/add pictures. That would probably work, and you would be avoiding the sugar. And if you don't want to bake it, you don't have to, but the meringue will be soft and gooey/fluffy instead of crunchy.
Another idea would be to use fruit pectin (used in canning) instead of gelatin... That would work, too.
Hope that helps  Edited by author Sat Dec 3, '11 9:28am PST
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