The right icing can enhance any baked good, and a bad icing can make a cake almost inedible.  At least in my own experience, icing almost always better homemade.  Yet icing/frosting (depending on your preferred term) is one of those foods that can range from incredibly easy to complicated to make, depending on the specific type.  Luckily for us, simple icing/glaze is super easy and you likely already have all the ingredients on hand.

Simple Icing:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 ½ tbsp milk
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. lemon juice

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients until smooth (I recommend using a whisk). This should make about ½ cup of icing. While I’m calling this a recipe, it’s really more of a guideline.  Depending on the day, you may need to add more milk, or alternately if it’s too loose you may need to add more sugar.  Ideally you want it to be pourable, but not runny.

You can use this icing on pound cakes, pancakes, gingerbread, or cookies (though for cookies you may want to add more sugar to make it a bit thicker).