icing on the cake

the icing on the cake

An additional benefit or positive aspect to something that is already considered positive or beneficial. Having all of you here for my birthday has really been wonderful. This gift is icing on the cake. Sarah really wanted that job, so she said the signing bonus was really just icing on the cake.
See also: cake, icing, on
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

icing on the cake

Fig. an extra enhancement. Oh, wow! A tank full of gas in my new car. That's icing on the cake! Your coming home for a few days was the icing on the cake.
See also: cake, icing, on
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

icing on the cake

Also, frosting on the cake. An additional benefit to something already good. For example, All these letters of congratulation are icing on the cake, or After that beautiful sunrise, the rainbow is just frosting on the cake. This metaphoric expression alludes to the sweet creamy coating used to enhance a cake. [Mid-1900s]
See also: cake, icing, on
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the icing on the cake

BRITISH, AMERICAN or

the frosting on the cake

AMERICAN
COMMON
1. If you describe something as the icing on the cake, you mean that it is an extra good thing that makes a good situation or activity even better. To ride for one's country is the ultimate experience. To be in a winning team is the icing on the cake. If it works out that he or she becomes a friend after you have enjoyed a good professional relationship, that is frosting on the cake.
2. You can use the icing on the cake to refer to something which is only a minor part of the main thing you are talking about. Consumer electronics in Japan is now a 35 billion dollars a year business. This is just the icing on the cake. Japanese electronics companies are now generating an annual 200 billion dollars of sales. Finance Minister Vaclav Klaus has dismissed environmental issues as the frosting on the cake.
See also: cake, icing, on
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

the icing on the cake

an attractive but inessential addition or enhancement.
A North American variant of this phrase is the frosting on the cake .
1996 Independent State education is no longer always free. The jumble sale and the summer fair, which used to provide the icing on the school cake, are now providing the staple fare.
See also: cake, icing, on
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

the icing on the ˈcake

something attractive, but not necessary, which is added to something already very good: The meal was perfect, the wonderful view from the restaurant the icing on the cake.
See also: cake, icing, on
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

icing on the cake

n. an extra enhancement. Oh, wow! A tank full of gas in my new car. That’s icing on the cake!
See also: cake, icing, on
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

icing on the cake

An additional benefit to something already good.
See also: cake, icing, on
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

frosting/icing on the cake, the

An extra advantage or additional benefit. This term refers to the sweet creamy topping of a cake and has been transferred since the mid-1900s. A book review in The Listener used it: “All this theology is icing on the cake” (April 3, 1969; cited by the OED).
See also: frosting, icing, on
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • the cherry on the cake
  • the icing on the cake
  • think positive
  • accentuate
  • accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative
  • eliminate
  • eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive
  • negative
  • positive
  • redeeming feature