20 Frosting and Icing Recipes To Mix and Match With Cookies and Cake

Is there a difference between frosting and icing? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Generally, we use “frosting” to connote thick, fluffy toppings for cakes or cupcakes and “icing” for thin, glaze-like finishes on cookies, but that’s not always the whole story. Often the two words are used interchangeably, particularly for cakes and particularly in the South, and then to muddy the waters further, sometimes you’ll be instructed to “frost” cookies with icing! Let’s not get too bogged down in semantics. Both make delicious and essential finishing touches for desserts that can contrast or heighten the flavors already present, depending on what you’re aiming for. Here’s our list of all the essential kinds to master (from buttercream to roayl icing) so that you’ll have all your sweets covered.

The name says it all: This is the quickest form of a buttercream frosting, in essence confectioners’ sugar and butter beaten together until thick and fluffy. If you want to assemble a cake in a hurry and serve it right away, this frosting is the ticket; even kids can manage this recipe.

Yes, the words “icing” and “frosting” can be used interchangeably, and here Ina applies it to this peanut butter frosting that comes together so simply and can complement a wide variety of cakes—but who are we kidding? This icing was born to crown chocolate cake. Some chopped peanuts on top—we like salted, but any kind are fine—are the icing on the cake.

Royal icing is key for cookie decorating. This easy-to-make icing can be tinted with food coloring and hardens to a shiny finish when it dries, making it ideal for adding detail to cookies.

You know a birthday cake from Alex Guarnaschelli is going to have something a little unexpected and a little extra special, and here, though we admit, the chocolate chip cake layers go a long way, the frosting will be your takeaway home run. It’s based on old-school seven-minute frosting, so named because, well, you can guess roughly how long you have to beat the mixture to get it to the proper temperature. The result is a super-fluffy, intensely white frosting that yes, tastes just like marshmallow, and is thoroughly delightful atop just about any flavor cake. We love it paired with devil’s food, but it really does go wonderfully on this chocolate chip cake.

Ina Garten offers a buttercream for a baker with just a bit more experience, since it is a meringue buttercream—one blended with cooked whipped egg whites—that offers more stability and lightness. Using chocolate, as opposed to cocoa powder, keeps things creamy and fudgy, and of course Ina will always slip in some little secret touches for added decadence, here, nips of espresso and dark rum.

Let’s not forget the power of one of the simplest frostings of all, one made from whipped cream. It’s remarkably stable, able to hold its shape and sit at room temperature for up to 6 hours, all with the unparalleled flavor of fresh cream. The key is to get it all the way to those soft peaks. Keep a little extra cream on hand. In case your whipping accidentally takes in to the broken, butter direction, you can add a touch more cream to bring it back to glossy peaks.

French buttercream may not be as popular as the Italian or Swiss variety, but it is just as light and creamy. Plus, it is richer and a deeper shade of pale yellow from extra egg yolks. It makes a great cake filling and frosting.

You’ll swoon over this combination of moist, dark and rich cake slicked with just the thinnest layer of a very sweet caramel icing. Though you will need a candy thermometer to get the caramel to just the right temperature, you can ice the cake in a snap, simply pouring it over the top. The rustic look of the thin icing with the edges showing through is the whole point.

This is just a no-brainer, excellent frosting that should be your first stop for red velvet, hummingbird and carrot cakes, along with any nutty, sweet cakes that have a lot going on. It’s a thick, rich frosting that holds its shape very well, and a good choice for a cake that will sit at room temperature for a while.

This classic Latin American dessert is so named because of the three dairy ingredients: cream, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. The cake is soaked in the sweet dairy mixture overnight, resulting in a dense, wet and very sweet cake. Here, some seven-minute frosting provides a light counterpoint, and dollops of dulce de leche, a caramel also made with condensed milk, nods to its pedigree.

This light and fluffy buttercream is super-stable, thanks to a sugar syrup. Italian buttercream makes a great cake filling and frosting—and it should also be your go-to when you're piping decorations.

Cream cheese frosting is often paired with cakes that contain pineapple, as the two have an affinity for one another. Here, pineapple juice brings its brightness and tang to the cream cheese frosting in a way that, more than anything, pumps up all the tasty qualities of the frosting without overtly tasting of pineapple.

Ganache ranks as perhaps the item that seems most heavenly and most revelatory when you encounter it for the first time as an eater. Its flavor is not quickly forgotten, the depth of the chocolate lingering on your tongue from the heavy cream. What a wonder, then, to discover that it is also one of the easiest frostings to make. Ganache can be deliberately thinned so that it may be poured, like a glaze, over cakes or petits fours (just pop the cake on a rack set in a jelly roll pan to catch the drips); this version from Alton Brown is supremely simple—thick enough to whip and frost a cake with a spatula. Choose the best-quality chocolate you can, to really take it over the top.

What makes it Mexican hot chocolate? Yes, there’s some chili powder in there, which does contribute heat, but the name is actually a nod to the warm beverage from which it gets its flavor profile. Typically, this denotes some ground cinnamon and something spicy, usually chili powder or cayenne. Here, in frosting form, it is a total delight for a chocolate lover who’s ready to go beyond the expected, and it takes your ordinary chocolate cupcake recipe to one that will make you feel like one edgy enough to serve adults.

This white chocolate frosting seems fancy, but is truly no more effort than a cream cheese frosting. The white chocolate mellows the cream cheese and transforms the frosting into more of a blank canvas, carrying the flavors of the cake layers to the fore.

This frosting is one of those brilliant, silly-simple recipes you'd never know was made with just two ingredients: canned pumpkin puree and chopped up chocolate. You start by cooking the pumpkin to concentrate its flavor and thicken it, then simply stir in the chocolate until it melts. The sweet and tangy results are the perfect complement to cake, and the creamy consistency spreads easily into gorgeous swoops.

Everything cream cheese frosting can do, mascarpone frosting can do, well, we don’t want to say better (we love cream cheese frosting!) but let’s say with more subtlety. A little creamier, a little lighter, and still with a nice low-key tang, it will be rich without going too far. Make it once and you will surely have anyone you share with asking for the recipe.

Royal icing is a supremely-useful cookie icing to use anytime you want a fanciful cutout—any of those decorated themed cookies you’ve seen at parties and showers were likely covered in royal icing. You can make it thin or thick depending on the usage: When outlining, you’ll want a thickness to hold the shape of the piping tip. When “flooding” (coloring in an outlined section), a little more liquidy is better. Either way, the icing will harden to a crisp sugar shell in a few hours so that they can be packed inside favor bags or arranged on a cookie plate (but do make sure they are fully dried before putting them away; exposure to air is essential for proper hardening). The main ingredient is egg white, but it is not cooked, so here, Alton Brown offers a version to use when food safety is a particular concern.

If you can’t decide whether you’d like that thick, tangy and rich frosting that you get from cream cheese or the airy, white marshmallowy one that you get from a seven-minute, you can go the Bobby Flay route and combine the best qualities of both by—combining them both!