What is the difference between icing and frosting

It's the icing on the cake When it comes to finishing and decorating favorite cakes , cupcakes , cookies , and other baked goods, when do you use icing and when do you use frosting-and what's the difference anyway? To add to the confusion, you've probably heard the terms "frosting" and "icing" used interchangeably. However, there is a distinction between the two.

In broad terms, frosting is thick and fluffy, and is used to coat the outside and often the inner layers of a cake. Icing is thinner and glossier than frosting, and can be used as a glaze or for detailed decorating.

The most popular kinds of frosting are traditional or American buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, Swiss meringue buttercream frosting, and and Italian meringue buttercream frosting.

Typically, icing is much thinner and glossier than its cousin frosting. To make icing, mix sugar and a liquid, usually melted butter or egg whites, and you can flavor it or color it with food dye. Icing is popular when topping cookies, especially sugar or lemon. It does, however, go great with a donut or a cinnamon roll.

If you want more of a buttery taste, frosting is your best friend. Colors are added to the cream before decorating. Icing is typically made with a sugar base, although it can also be made with egg whites, butter or cream. Colors are added to the sugary base before it hardens up. Frosting is thick and gooey, and can look fluffy. It is opaque.

It can also hold shapes, like rosettes and shells. It is soft to the touch and creamy. Icing is thin and glossy. It is usually, but not always, opaque. Ideas for How to Use Icing Dip a fork in icing and drizzle it over your cookies in a zigzag motion for a lovely minimalist look.

Pipe a thin line of frosting around the border of your cookie, let dry, then fill the open space with thinned icing for a super-even coating. Buttercream base. Powdered sugar base.