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Frosting
What frosting means depends a little on where you are, and a probably a whole lot on what your Mum thought it meant.
In the UK, usually only the term "icing" is used.
In America, "icing" is used colloquially, but people tend to use frosting in writing, because it sounds like a more proper word. Fannie Farmer (The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. 1918) used the word frosting over 30 times to mean both thin and thick toppings, and used the word icing only once. The Joy of Cooking (1964 edition), however, didn't use the word "frosting" at all; it used "icing".
Canadians tend to use both icing and frosting interchangeably. However, if anything, they tend to think of frosting as being thicker, because the American Betty Crocker stuff in the tins is thicker and is called "frosting".
In some North American minds, a difference between the two terms is emerging. In this thinking, Frosting is fluffier than icing, and has more volume because air is whipped into it, and won't dry hard like icing. Icing is more like a glaze, is thinner, isn't whipped, and will dry harder.
Debate over which word to use isn't very heated, perhaps because people don't want to reveal their own uncertainty. They will debate, however, whether butter or shortening is better to use. While butter gives better flavour, it will influence the colour. Shortening, being white, won't influence the colour as much as butter will and holds up better in warm weather. And while the trans-fats in shortening are a downside health-wise, they do make it a bit easier to work with than butter because it is always the right consistency.
Quick icings are made with room temperature ingredients; boiled icings used a hot sugar syrup.
To Frost
The word frosted is also used to mean a thin icing glaze, as in a frosted doughnut, or to apply frosting or icing.
Literature & Lore
There is an expression, "well, isn't that just the icing on the cake"? To Brits, Canadians and Australians, that means "that's the last bloody thing we needed". Americans, however, interpret it to mean that a bonus extra is coming their way. You could say either that they always look on the bright side, or that they are a people whom irony is lost.
See Also
Royal Icing
Other entries for Cakes
Aboukir, Alaska Florida, Apple Potato Cake, Baked Alaska, Banbury Cakes, Boston Cream Pie, Boston Favorite Cake, Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake, Christmas Cakes, Clafoutis, Coconut Squares, Coffee Cake, Cupcakes, Eccles Cakes, English Madelines, Fairy Cakes, Flan, Frosting, Genoa Bread, Genoa Cake, Jaffa Cakes, Kugelhopf Cakes, Lamingtons, Marzipan Potatoes, Melton Hunt Cake, Mustacae, Napolitain Cakes, Pasta Margherita, Pasta Paradiso, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Pound Cake, Sheath Cakes, Sheet Cakes, Simnel Cake, Slab Cake, Sponge Cakes, Tipsy Parson, Torte, Tranche Napolitaine, Twelfth Night Cake, Twinkies, Upside-Down Cakes, Whirlin Cakes, Yule Log
Other entries for Desserts
Aboukir Almonds, Angel Delight, Applesauce, Bananas Foster, Bangbelly, Belgian Waffles, Bhapa Doi, Bizcocho Borracho, Blancmange, Cassata Gelata, Cassata, Cassatelle di Ricotta, Cherries Jubilee, Chiboust Cream, Compote, Cookies, Cream Tea, Crème d'amandes, Crème Plombières, Cumberland Rum Butter, Custard, Doughnuts, Dream Topping, Dream Whip, Dutch Crunch Topping, Eton Mess, French Toast, Fürst-Pückler-Eis, Halvah, Ice Cream Cones, Marshmallows, Meringue Italienne, Meringue Powder, Meringue, Mishti Doi, Moonpies, Nanaimo Bars, Nun's Tummies, Orange à la Norvegienne, Pastry Cream, Pies & Tarts, Poor Knights of Windsor, Poutine au Pain, Poutine à Trou, Puddings, Spumoni, Syllabub, Timbale Brillat-Savarin, Tiramisù, Tortoni, Trifle, Vark, Waffles, Wagashi, Warabi Mochi, Zuccotto
Other entries for Dishes
Dumplings, Ozoni, Salads, Savoury Dishes, Zoni
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