16 Types of Frosting (and Icing) to Take Your Cakes, Cupcakes and Cookies to the Next Level

If you’ve never, ever made frosting, start with American buttercream. It’s impossible to mess up—just combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, cream, salt and your desired flavoring, then frost away. That said, this type of frosting can lean toward cloying, so pair it with a less sweet base to offset the sugar rush.

Skill level: Beginner

Uses: Frosting cakes, cupcakes, bars and cookies

Variations: Chocolate, food coloring, nut butters, fruit purees, extracts

Light, smooth and not too sweet, Swiss meringue buttercream is made by heating egg whites and granulated sugar, whipping the mixture to stiff peaks and slowly adding butter. It’s extremely stable, easy to pipe, takes food coloring well (it’s very white) and since the egg whites are cooked, it’s safe for sensitive groups (aka young kids and older folks).

Skill level: Intermediate

Uses: Piping, frosting and filling cakes and cupcakes

Variations: Chocolate, food coloring, extracts, fruit purees, caramel

Like Swiss buttercream, Italian meringue buttercream is smooth and buttery, and relies on a meringue for stability. But it’s made with an Italian meringue, which involves pouring hot sugar syrup into egg whites and whipping the mixture to fluffy peaks. The result is an extremely smooth, stable frosting that will hold up in hot temperatures and for long amounts of time.

Skill level: Difficult

Uses: Decorating cakes, especially for events

Variations: Extracts, food coloring, the water in the sugar syrup can be swapped for any liquid

This buttercream variation is made by combining pastry cream (an egg-based custard containing milk and starch) with butter for a light and rich frosting that’s popular for cake fillings. Because it contains egg yolks, it has a custardy flavor similar to ice cream and a delicate yellow color.

Skill level: Intermediate

Uses: Filling and covering cakes

Variations: Fruit puree, chocolate

Unlike Swiss and Italian buttercream, French buttercream contains egg yolks for richness. It’s made by pouring boiling sugar syrup into whipped egg yolks, whipping the mixture to a foamy consistency then adding butter and whipping until light and creamy. It’s very rich and soft, so it’s better for filling than for piping.

Skill level: Advanced

Uses: Filling pastries and frosting cupcakes

Variations: Extracts

Also known as condensed milk buttercream, this two-ingredient wonder is silky, fluffy and, if you ask us, underrated. It’s made by whipping butter and sweetened condensed milk together into an ivory frosting that’s extremely smooth and ideal for piping.

Skill level: Beginner

Uses: Filling and decorating cakes, piping onto cupcakes, filling macarons

Variations: Vanilla extract, cocoa powder, food coloring

This type of frosting is an old-fashioned recipe that looks, acts and tastes like buttercream but is made with a mixture of cooked milk, sugar and flour that’s whipped into butter. The flour makes it stable without the need for egg whites, and the texture is lighter than buttercream.

Skill level: Easy to intermediate

Uses: Piping and spreading onto cakes and cupcakes

Variations: Chocolate, food coloring, extracts

Cream cheese frosting is actually just a variation on American buttercream, with some of the butter swapped out for cream cheese. With confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, this type of frosting is relatively sweet but with a bit of tang from the cream cheese. It’s soft by nature, making it good for filling and covering cakes in casual swoops.

Skill level: Beginner

Uses: Filling and frosting cakes and cupcakes

Variations: Chocolate, mascarpone cheese

You know it, you love it and you can frost a cake with it. Lightly sweetened whipped cream makes an elegant, versatile topping for cakes and cupcakes, and it pairs well with myriad flavors. Just keep in mind that it won’t hold much shape, so it’s better for swooping and swirling than it is for piping.

Skill level: Beginner

Uses: Frosting cakes, cupcakes, shortcakes and cream pies

Variations: Honey, maple, extracts, spices

Falling somewhere between frosting, glaze and icing, ganache is a chocolate-based sauce made by stirring chocolate with warm cream. It can be used as a smooth, pourable glaze, or cooled and whipped into a smooth, decadent chocolate frosting for covering and filling cakes. (It can also be made with any type of chocolate.)

Skill level: Easy

Uses: Glazing cookies and cakes, frosting and filling cakes

Variations: White, milk or dark chocolate, extracts

Decorators’ buttercream is similar to American buttercream but made with shortening instead of butter. This means it’s stiff enough for piping well-defined borders and flowers (unlike meringue-based buttercreams) and takes coloring well (unlike yellow, buttery frostings). What it lacks in flavor it makes up in versatility.

Skill level: Easy

Uses: Piping intricate and well-defined designs, vegan recipes

Variations: Food coloring

This marshmallow-like frosting is fluffy, bright white and a lot like Swiss meringue buttercream. The only difference is that here, the egg and sugar mixture is whipped over the heat for approximately seven minutes (hence the name). This type of frosting will develop a hard shell as it cools, so it’s best the day it’s made.

Skill level: Intermediate

Uses: Piping and frosting cakes

Variations: Brown sugar

Rolled fondant looks and behaves like modeling clay. It’s made from sugar, water and sometimes gelatin or glycerin, and can be molded into shapes or rolled into sheets for covering cakes. And while it sure looks neat, it doesn’t taste quite as delightful as buttercream. (TBH, we usually leave it behind on our plate.)

Skill level: Intermediate

Uses: Covering cakes, sculpting and decorating

Variations: Food coloring, extracts

Royal icing is a hard white icing made from softly beaten eggs whites and powdered sugar. It’s bright white and takes food coloring beautifully, plus it sets up hard, so it’s the ideal choice for making intricate designs and effects.

Skill level: Intermediate

Uses: Decorating cookies, gingerbread houses and sometimes wedding cakes

Variations: Food coloring

When you don’t plan on piping elaborate designs but still want to dress up a batch of sugar cookies, a simple glaze of confectioners’ sugar and water (or milk) will get the job done. It’s great for dipping and swirling with food coloring, and if you add a few teaspoons of corn syrup, it will dry shiny.

Skill level: Beginner

Uses: Icing cookies

Variations: Food coloring, extracts

You know those gorgeously shiny, smooth cakes you find in fancy bakery displays? They’re coated in mirror glaze, which is a pourable glaze made of melted chocolate (or white chocolate), gelatin and sweetened condensed milk, along with flavorings and food coloring for pizazz. The results are dependent on the smoothness and temperature of the cake and the glaze, so it can be tricky to work with.

Skill level: Intermediate to advanced

Uses: Glazing cakes and petit fours

Variations: White chocolate, dark chocolate, food coloring