Chocolate Sugar Icing

To make chocolate sugar icing, pour sugar into a small saucepan, add hot water, mix, and place the saucepan on the heat. Cover the pan with a lid for 2-3 minutes before boiling. Cook the syrup until it reaches 115-117 degrees Fahrenheit. When the syrup is almost ready, add lemon juice. If you don't have a kitchen thermometer, cook the syrup until it reaches the soft-ball stage. Take a little syrup with a teaspoon and drop it into cold water. If the cooled syrup forms a soft ball, it's ready.

Quickly cool the prepared sugar syrup to a temperature of 104-122 degrees Fahrenheit. To do this, place it in icy water. Then whisk the sugar syrup with a hand whisk or spatula until it forms the icing (this will take about 8-10 minutes). When the icing starts to whiten, it means you're almost done whisking, just be careful not to overbeat. If that happens, the icing will become hard and brittle, whereas we need a pliable and stretchy mass. Allow the icing to cool completely (it will turn into a solid mass) and let it rest for a day or at least 15 hours.

The next day, heat the icing until it becomes liquid again. Then add sifted cocoa powder, mix well. Also, add cognac and vanilla. If the icing is too thick, you can simply thin it with hot water.

Pour the hot chocolate icing over the cake or cupcake. Spread it evenly with a spatula and let it drip freely (for larger confectionery items). For smaller items, dip them directly into the icing. The surface glazed with icing becomes smooth and shiny.