Icings you need to have on high rotation

We might call it a celebration 'cake', but we all know everyone's just here for the icing.

Hummingbird cake with cream cheese frosting, dried pineapple and toffee pecans Source: Petrina Tinslay

Remember as a kid, eating the icing off the top of the cupcake and then leave the cake behind? Yeah, we still do that.

Baking cakes is fun and all, but they are really just an elaborate vehicle for the sugary stuff (carrot cake, we're looking at you). Great slabs of icing, fluffing up the top, the thicker the better. That heavenly feeling when you slide your tongue right through the lot.

A quick note on fondant icing. We'll include a recipe for the traditionalists, but, let's be honest, if it requires rolling, it's not our favourite. Give us a swirly buttercream any day of the week. Or every day of the week. We'd like that.

Buttercream us up

Swiss meringue buttercream is everything we could possibly want in frosting form. Source: Alan Benson

This frosting is the ultimate slatherer. It's basically a meringue with added butter, so it holds its shape beautifully and tastes like a dream. Swirl it, pipe it, tint it, drag it and lick it straight off the spatula when you're done.

Nuts about frosting

Peanut butter frosting is perfect with chocolate cake, or any cake. Or just on its own. Source: Chris Middleton

Peanut butter, sour cream, butter and... dextose?. Because we wouldn't want to bump up the calories on a chocolate layer cake any more than necessary, right? Regardless, this nutty sour cream frosting is all the way okay.

Fondant memories

Fondant icing actually shows up in all kinds of lovely places. Source: John Laurie

We promised a fondant recipe, and here it is. Fussy, but good at weddings. Also rather lovely in a peppermint slice biscuit.

1 tbs gelatine powder

1/4 cup cold water

1 1/2 tbs glycerine

1/2 cup glucose syrup

1 tsp vanilla essence

7 cups pure icing sugar, sifted

Dissolve gelatine into water over a low heat without boiling. Remove from heat and stir in glycerine and glucose syrup. Add vanilla essence and set aside to cool.

Sift the icing sugar into a large glass bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the gelatine mixture into the well and stir until combined.

Knead the icing until it is smooth then roll out with a rolling pin to desired thickness.

Simple is good

Bonus orange and poppyseed cake recipe included with this icing. Source: John Laurie

When your grandma/nonna/ยาย/omi made icing, she probably made it just like this. Icing sugar mixed with a bit of lemon or orange juice. It's been lifting cakes around the world since forever.

If you have to

We'd even eat fondant if it was wrapped around fruit cake. Source: Alan Benson

Another of the fussier icings, marzipan has a distinctive flavour that is integral to many of the traditional cakes it wraps. A Sri Lankan Christmas cake just wouldn't be the same without it. There's an easy-to-follow recipe for marizpan here.

Whole 'lotta ricotta

This surprisingly healthy frosting recipe has us very confused. Source: Donna Hay

Fresh ricotta perfectly takes the place of cream cheese in this maple syrup-sweetened ricotta icing. Be extra-generous when slathering. We'll accept nothing less than teeth marks.

Never enough chocolate

The cake that cures everything - with more than a little help from its icing. Source: Murdoch Books

A genius move sees melted dark chocolate whipped through a cream cheese icing that also has added butter. This frosting literally melts on the tongue and could well be our undoing. What a way to go!

Salt your sweet

This accommodating frosting is even a cheat's version so you don't need to make a proper caramel sauce. Source: Alan Benson

Golden syrup is an ingredient in this salted caramel icing and we are here for that. Remember when salted caramel was in everything. Good times.

Regal and a bit stiff

Royal icing is actually very versatile and essential when doing fancy-pants cake decorating. Source: Tara Fisher

Though lacking proper swirl-properties, royal icing is quite nice on biscuits at Christmas time. It gets its stiff upper lip by adding egg whites to icing sugar and beating them into meringue-like submission. Best keep it covered to prevent it drying to a firm lacquer before you use it.

Cheesy good

When you can see more frosting than cake, you know you've got the ratio right. Source: Petrina Tinslay

The only icing that could possibly give buttercream a run for its money is cream cheese frosting. Especially when troweled onto carrot cake, or passionfruit cake, and especially hummingbird cake.

Even better cheese

A red velvet layer cake with fresh raspberries, mascarpone icing and all our hopes and dreams. Source: Petrina Tinslay

This icing will see your cream cheese frosting and raise it with a generous hit of mascarpone. Trust us, when it comes to a red velvet layer cake, it wins.

Coconuts

Lots and lots of icing nicely balances all that fruit. Source: Donal's Asian Baking Adventure

Coconut cream is a worthy addition to a decidedly tropical icing. Whip it through with butter, sugar and passionfruit to send your lucky taste buds on a quick island getaway.

Just add alcohol

Chewy layers of cashew meringue are sandwiched with a rum-spiked buttercream to create this traditional Filipino dessert. We are grateful. Source: Alan Benson

The only thing better than icing is booze. So, this recipe had us at rum buttercream.