# Frosting or icing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 2, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366 "2024-03-02T19:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/41 "2024-03-04T21:38:30Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > No idea what you find unpleasant about that. Same ingredients as meringue. I don’t care much for meringue, either. I find sweet, bland foods offputting for some reason. I also hate tapioca. > [@Kimstu](#): > > Eh, some people really don’t like the texture of royal icing. Too shardy and shattery for them. Yes, and this, too. I still remember a cookie I was given when I was in kindergarten, and it had royal icing. It put me off royal icing for life! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/42 "2024-03-04T23:54:47Z")
Is royal icing the stuff Commercial bakers put on wedding cakes? I’ve heard it called Fondant. It looks very pretty. There’s almost no flavor? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/43 "2024-03-05T00:24:43Z")
I think that’s the distinction I basically make. Buttercream? Frosting. Does it involve cream cheese? Frosting. Is it just basically powdered sugar and milk or cream? Icing. Can you pour it? Icing. Only spread it? Frosting. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/44 "2024-03-05T01:17:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Is royal icing the stuff Commercial bakers put on wedding cakes? > > I’ve heard it called Fondant. I think you’re referring to “rolled fondant”, which has a lot of other stuff in it making it kind of like clay and not pleasant to eat. Most people eat around it. It’s rolled out into a flat layer and draped over a cake with the sides pressed flat. Then it gets decorated. Royal icing is what you see on decorated cookies and lace work on wedding cakes. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/45 "2024-03-05T01:48:47Z")
Thank you for clearing that up. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/46 "2024-03-05T09:37:21Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I don’t care much for meringue, either. I find sweet, bland foods offputting for some reason. I also hate tapioca. Don’t make that “marshmallow” frosting then. It’s basically pure SWEET (though it can be jazzed up a bit with different extracts, and the time I served it with peppermint sprinkles it was a real hit). It definitely doesn’t have the same satisfaction or mouthfeel as a halfway decent buttercream. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/47 "2024-03-05T09:43:35Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I think you’re referring to “rolled fondant”, which has a lot of other stuff in it making it kind of like clay and not pleasant to eat. Most people eat around it. It’s rolled out into a flat layer and draped over a cake with the sides pressed flat. Then it gets decorated. > > Royal icing is what you see on decorated cookies and lace work on wedding cakes. Example of what fondant looks like: [Satin Ice 5 lb. Red Vanilla Rolled Fondant Icing (webstaurantstore.com)](https://www.webstaurantstore.com/satin-ice-5-lb-red-vanilla-rolled-fondant-icing/725S10019.html) It’s what you’ll see on bakery sites for really fancy decorated cakes. It’s perfectly edible, but not tasty. You can also make a sort of fondant from scratch using melted marshmallows and additional sugar, I think. Royal icing is quite different. > **[My Favorite Royal Icing - Sally's Baking Addiction](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/royal-icing/)** > > This is, hands down, my favorite royal icing. It's easy to make with meringue powder, dries quickly, and fun to decorate sugar cookies! You can make it with meringue powder (which is basically powdered egg whites); I think you can also make it from scratch starting with egg whites, but the one time I ever made royal icing, I used the meringue powder. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/48 "2024-03-05T14:17:13Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I think you’re referring to “rolled fondant”, which has a lot of other stuff in it making it kind of like clay and not pleasant to eat. Specifically, fondant contains the basic buttercream ingredients (confectioners’ sugar, some form of shortening, vanilla) along with small amounts of gelatin, glycerin, and glucose syrup to provide the pliable texture. It can be flavored, like any other frosting/icing. Personally, I find (good-quality) fondant just as edible as any other (very sweet) frosting/icing, though I get it if the more marzipan-like texture is off-putting to people who were expecting a more “frosting-y” fluffier buttercreamish mouthfeel. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366/49 "2024-03-06T14:58:30Z")
Minnesota - We always say frosting. I don’t think I ever heard the word “icing” used when I was a kid. If I did, it was for something quite fancy! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frosting-or-icing/998366.md?page=2)