Two people can look at the same cake, call it by different names, and both be right. In everyday English, frosting and icing are the same word, and the dictionary says so. In a working kitchen they are two different things, and the line between them is fat, not sweetness and not how fancy the cake looks. Once you have that test, the rest sorts itself out, including the question you came to settle. Buttercream or fondant.

What is the difference between icing and frosting?

Frosting is fat based, which is why it stays soft and holds a piped shape, and icing is sugar based, which is why it goes on thin and sets firm. That is the whole distinction, not sweetness.

KitchenAid files frosting as "Fat based" and "thick, fluffy and opaque", and icing as "Sugar based" and "smooth and glossy". Mental Floss agrees, calling fat frosting's most seminal ingredient.

The behavior follows from the base. Martha Stewart Living puts it simply: "Icings set quickly and stiffen as they dry." Frosting does not. Wilton reminds cookie decorators that "buttercream frosting does not dry hard", which is why a frosted cake still takes a fingerprint hours later. Glaze, the thinnest of the three, is the third thing on the shelf: KitchenAid says "it will set but won't harden as much as icing."

Why do people say frosting and icing are the same thing?

Because in ordinary English they are the same thing, and the dictionary says it out loud. Merriam-Webster defines icing as "a sweet flavored usually creamy mixture used to coat baked goods (such as cupcakes)" and notes it is "called also frosting". Its first sense of frosting is one word: "icing".

So the person correcting you at a birthday party is wrong, and the pastry cook telling you the two are different is also right. Those are two conversations at once: one about how people talk, one about what is in two bowls on a prep table.

There is a regional layer too. American English leans toward frosting, and British, Irish, Canadian and Australian English lean toward icing. Treat that as a tendency rather than a rule, since plenty of Americans say icing without a second thought. The words are synonyms in conversation and separate categories on a professional prep list. You only need to know which conversation you are in, and at a bakery counter it is the second one.

How can you tell frosting from icing without a recipe?

Press it, and see whether it gives. That works on a cupcake, a cookie, or a slice on your own plate.

One trap: sugar based does not mean sweeter. American buttercream is a frosting, and King Arthur Baking calls it "very sweet and heavier than European-style buttercreams". Sweetness is a recipe decision, not a category.

What are the main types of frosting?

There is no official list and no canonical count, which is why you will see "the 6 types" and "the 7 types" used interchangeably. The families below cover nearly everything you will meet on a cake.

American buttercream is the fastest and most familiar, and King Arthur Baking calls it "one of the simplest frostings to prepare". Swiss and Italian meringue buttercreams are the European-style ones it gets compared against. King Arthur describes Swiss as "smooth and silky" but "not quite as stable" as Italian, which it lists as best for "Piping any kind of shape, roses, or decorations".

Here the sources genuinely disagree, which is worth knowing rather than smoothing over. King Arthur treats Swiss meringue buttercream as a normal choice for icing and piping. Wilton's chart marks its consistency "Thin" and piping "No", steering it toward "Icing cakes and cupcakes and filling cake layers". Two experienced sources, no clear winner.

Cream cheese frosting is the tangy one, and King Arthur calls it the ideal partner for carrot, pumpkin and apple spice cakes. Whipped ganache is rich and mousse-like, best used right after mixing. Royal icing is the odd one out, since it is not a frosting at all: Wilton says "royal icing dries hard", which is why it belongs on cookies you plan to package or mail.

What is the difference between buttercream and fondant?

Buttercream is a fat-based frosting and fondant is a sugar-based paste, which by the test in this article makes fondant technically an icing rather than a frosting. That surprises people, since fondant is rolled rather than poured, but the fat rule does not care about thickness.

Craftsy describes fondant as "composed primarily of confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, and water, which are melted together and then formed into a paste which is somewhat clay-like in consistency." Fine Dining Lovers sets the pair side by side: fondant is "a sculptable paste made from sugar and water", buttercream "a whipped, fluffy frosting made from sugar and butter". MasterClass notes fondant "dries and completely hardens". No fat, so it sets.

For your cake that means this. Fondant gives you a sculpted surface with sharp corners and molded shapes nothing soft can hold. Buttercream gives you piped detail, borders and flowers, and Fine Dining Lovers notes it is "easier to add writing" on, while fondant is "great for detailed decoration".

Fondant also costs time. Craftsy notes that while it is "not extremely difficult to make", it "requires much more time and effort than making buttercream", adding that "Even many cake professionals will purchase premade fondant rather than making their own." Detail costs time whoever is doing it, which is why any bakery quotes a longer lead time for an intricate design than for a plain one.

Does fondant really taste bad?

It is not a rumor, and the reason is structural rather than anyone doing it badly. Fondant is essentially set candy, so it tastes like candy rather than like frosting.

The sources say so without hedging. Craftsy writes that "in terms of flavor, many people prefer the flavor of rich buttercream to the candy-like flavor of fondant." Fine Dining Lovers goes further, calling fondant "basically one huge piece of candy, which a lot of people can find sickly", while buttercream "has a rich, creamy taste that most people prefer to fondant". If you have ever quietly set a sheet of it aside on your plate, that is why.

Be fair to fondant, though. The complaint is about flavor, not failure. Fondant exists because nothing else produces that surface, and if your design needs crisp edges or a molded figure, no soft covering behaves the same way. Plenty of guests peel it off and eat the cake underneath, which is a fine way to have the look at the table and the flavor on the fork.

Which finish holds up best at a party?

They do not fail the same way, so the honest answer is that it depends on whether your risk that day is heat or humidity. Anyone who says one finish simply wins is skipping half the evidence.

Here is the disagreement. Craftsy says buttercream "can be more susceptible to the elements, such as heat and humidity" than fondant. Yet Craftsy's own humidity guide says "The humidity in the air can cause condensation on the fondant, which can lead to weird, irregular drips down the sides or bleeding colors." And King Arthur Baking calls cream cheese frosting, a fat-based frosting, "Surprisingly stable in hot weather". Read together, the sources support a conclusion and not a winner: fat-based finishes soften and slump when it is hot, and sugar-based coverings sweat and bleed color when it is damp.

Worth knowing that sweetness and safety are related in a way most people never hear about. University of Minnesota Extension treats uncooked dairy frostings as shelf stable only when the "sugar concentration is above 65% soluble solids (°Brix), and water activity is 0.85 or lower". That is a refrigeration rule rather than a heat-performance rule, so it tells you nothing about whether a finish will slump in the sun. If a cake has to wait, refrigerate it and let it come back toward room temperature before serving.

In Los Angeles the trip matters as much as the table. We hand-deliver across the greater LA area, and tiered cakes include careful transport and on-site setup, because a cake set up in place has already survived the riskiest part of the day.

What should you ask for when you order a cake?

Ask for the finish you want by describing what it should do, not by naming a product. A decorator can work from an effect. Three questions come up at the counter more than any others.

On photo cakes, an edible sugar image needs somewhere flat to sit, so the surface and the image are one decision. We print a photo on your cake with your picture, logo, or message printed on edible sugar paper, and you can add a piped banner message, a cake topper, or a gold number.

Then the part people miss: flavor and finish are separate decisions. We offer 16 handcrafted flavors and fillings, and any design can be made in any flavor, so choosing Chocolate Mousse or Carrot Cream Cheese does not lock in how the outside is finished. Give the design its time: 2 days minimum so every cake is baked fresh, 4-7 days ahead for detailed designs, 2-4 weeks for tiered wedding cakes. Have a rush event? Call us and we will tell you honestly what is possible.

The argument at the party table is a dialect argument. The argument in the kitchen is a fat argument. They are not the same argument, which is why nobody wins the one online.