Icing or Frosting or Both?

  When I was growing up, it was my grandmother who made the fancier foods.  It wasn't my mother.  Icings or frostings, depending on who you talked to could be one of two types.  The first was a boiled icing while the other consisted of Karo syrup that was beat with the mixer until it was light and fluffy. 

I didn't think I knew about boxed icing mixes until my mother brought home a German Chocolate cake mix with the coconut pecan mix you added butter and liquid to in order to get the topping for your cake and that was for birthdays.

I am used to the two terms being used interchangeably but others tell me they are two different things. According to one source, icing is used more often in the United Kingdom while frosting is more American in use.  In addition, some people will tell you that icing is a glazed finish while frosting is

The earliest record of icing per say appears in the late 1400's as a topping on Marchpanes, an almond and sugar desert but as a topping for cake, its been around since the 1600's when people mixed sugar with egg whites, placed it on the cake and baked it till it created a finish.  Once cooled, it looked like ice, thus the name.  Somewhere along the way, icing was used in France as a way of holding together multi-layer cakes.  Recipes for  frosting using milk, butter, and sugar began appearing in the early 1900's

Around 1840, Queen Victoria designed a huge wedding cake covered in white icing. At this time, white icing indicated wealth because of the cost of using so much sugar. By  the early 1800's, many cakes had a mixture poured over them before they were returned to the oven to produce a nice finish. In the early 1900's Hostess Bakery began mass producing cupcakes but they did not have frosting until the 1950's. It was about the same time Buttercream frosting made its appearance.

The 1950 also was the start of frosting mixes because cake sales hit a plateau and one man suggested that women needed to feel involved in the process.  In addition, magazines, companies, etc provided instructions to create extravagant cakes.   The icing covered the slight chemical taste of the cake mix.

I am unable to find out exactly when the canned frosting actually hit the markets but it seems to have by the 1970's although I found a reference to them appearing in the 1950's.  I just cannot find that information.  I prefer making a cream cheese based frosting because I prefer the flavor. 

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Woke up to a snow storm similar to ones we get in October.  Tried to work at home but no luck.  Have a great day.