Frosting

'frɒstɪŋ

nounBeginner📊CommonGeneral
2 meanings3 questions

Definitions

2 meanings
1

A sweet, often creamy, substance used to decorate or coat cakes, cookies, and other baked goods.

'frɒstɪŋ

nounpositiveBeginner
General

A sweet, creamy topping for cakes and other baked goods.

The baker used pink frosting to decorate the cupcakes.

💡 Simply: Frosting is like the yummy icing on a cake or cupcake! It makes everything sweeter and prettier. Imagine you're decorating a cupcake and put on some sprinkles and frosting – super fun and delicious!

👶 For kids: Frosting is the yummy stuff you put on cakes and cupcakes! It's sweet and makes them look pretty.

More Examples

2

I always scrape off extra frosting because it's so sweet.

3

She spent hours making the perfect frosting for the wedding cake.

How It's Used

Culinary

"She meticulously spread a thick layer of chocolate frosting on the birthday cake."

Informal

"I can't wait to eat the frosting first!"

2

To cover something, especially a cake or cookie, with frosting or icing.

'frɒstɪŋ

verbneutralmedium
General

To apply a sweet, creamy topping.

The children loved helping their mother frost the gingerbread cookies.

💡 Simply: When you 'frost' something, it's like you're giving it a sweet, creamy makeover with frosting. Think of frosting a cake or cupcake.

👶 For kids: When you frost something, it means to put frosting on it, like a cake or cupcake!

More Examples

2

The pastry chef was carefully frosting the layers of the cake.

3

She decided to frost the cupcakes with a swirl of chocolate ganache.

How It's Used

Culinary

"She began frosting the cookies with a delicate vanilla buttercream."

Tip:Imagine spreading frosting on a cake, covering it completely.

Synonyms & Antonyms

From the verb "frost," which initially meant to cover with ice or frost. The suffix "-ing" indicates a continuous action or a result of the action. The term's application to a sweet topping for cakes and pastries evolved to resemble the appearance of frost.

Historically, the term 'frosting' emerged in the mid-19th century to describe this sweet coating. Before that, similar toppings were often called 'icing'.

Memory tip

Think of a cake covered in a beautiful, sweet, white layer. That's frosting!

Word Origin

LanguageOld English
Original meaning

"To cover with ice or frost"

chocolate frostingvanilla frostingbuttercream frostingapply frostingspread frosting

Common misspellings

frostinggfrostingzfroasting

Usage

60%Spoken
40%Written