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Suppose I just had Iced Coffee with hot chocolate cake and I want to describe it to others.

I can use "I had an ice cold coffee" but then I'm stuck with the second part. None of the things I can think of really fits, e.g. "steam hot", "sun hot", "oven hot", etc.

Is there any noun I can use in this context to describe something hot?

Nathan Tuggy
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Shadow Wizard Love Zelda
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    Scalding would be the one I'd use for liquids. Piping for food. – John Clifford Mar 13 '16 at 13:46
  • If you really like similes I think you can go with "hell hot". It's not very idiomatic though as far as I know. – M.A.R. Mar 13 '16 at 13:48
  • Thanks @John never thought of that word. Think it fits an answer, isn't it? – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 13 '16 at 13:48
  • @IͶΔ yeah, not "professional" enough, I'm afraid. :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 13 '16 at 13:49
  • Thy will be done. – John Clifford Mar 13 '16 at 13:52
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    I have heard the terms "steaming hot" and "boiling hot" – njzk2 Mar 13 '16 at 16:02
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    Burning hot. That's pretty much the only thing that came to mind. – Iwillnotexist Idonotexist Mar 13 '16 at 16:31
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    Was the cake really hot? Or was it just served warm? To me, hot implies that you have to be careful when you eat it, lest you burn your tongue or the roof or your mouth. I've had hot soup, and I've had hot pizza, but I don't think I've ever had hot cake. – J.R. Mar 13 '16 at 18:54
  • "Steaming hot" is the comparable phrase, though it is typically used for drinks. – Jason Patterson Mar 13 '16 at 19:42
  • One I thought of since I posted my answer is flaming hot, but the main place I've seen it used is a flavour of Monster Munch, to be fair, and it's more suited to spicy food than a cake. (just noticed someone else already posted that as an answer) – John Clifford Mar 13 '16 at 20:04
  • A common phrase along the lines of "hell hot" would be "hot as hell" or "hotter than hell". As noted, it's not at all professional. – GargantuChet Mar 13 '16 at 23:00
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    @J.R. I'm talking about something like this - to be technically accurate, the cake contains a super-hot liquid chocolate, while the cake itself is only warm. Since the dish is known just as "hot chocolate cake", didn't want to get into too much details and trouble. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 13 '16 at 23:06
  • @ShadowWizard - I'm unfamiliar with the dish, so I appreciate the clarification. (I wasn't sure if it was parsed as [hot] [chocolate cake] or [hot chocolate] [cake].) Now that I know what it is, I'll have to try to find some to taste! – J.R. Mar 14 '16 at 07:52
  • It's called a "chocolate lava cake", because the chocolate on the inside pours our like lava from the earth when you cut it open ;) – Johanneke Mar 14 '16 at 13:59
  • @John huh, true! Still, "lava hot" might fit only this... :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 14 '16 at 14:17
  • There's an ambiguity here - was the cake hot in temperature, or was it hot in spices? Former cow orker used to make chilli chocolate cakes sometimes, they were "hot-hot-HOT!" while remaining chilled. – Criggie Mar 14 '16 at 19:29
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    @Criggie hot in temperature, I thought it should be clear enough since it's used along with "ice cold coffee". – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 14 '16 at 20:12
  • Try molten. Works for both Lava and Chocolate. – David Bullock Mar 15 '16 at 02:32
  • Are you trying to say that the cake is exceptionally hot? Most people prefer ice cold drinks, but only warm cake. Using a superlative hot temperature implies that the food might be dangerously hot. –  Mar 15 '16 at 06:21
  • @BaileyS see this comment I wrote earlier. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 15 '16 at 07:13
  • Virtually everybody is missing that OP asked for a noun, not an adjective. – Zbyněk Dráb Mar 15 '16 at 14:11
  • @ZbyněkDráb true (well, except one - lava), I just assumed there is no such noun and actually many of the alternatives make sense. If there is also an actual noun that can be used feel free to post it as answer. :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 15 '16 at 14:14
  • Another common one is "red hot", even though it uses a color rather than a temperature-specific object. When things heat up to a high degree (heh) they often turn red/orange and start to glow, hence the term. – TylerH Mar 15 '16 at 14:20
  • @TylerH yup. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 15 '16 at 14:23
  • If you're enjoying chocolate cake en flambe' an appropriate term would be "flaming hot". – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні Mar 15 '16 at 16:20
  • @ZbyněkDráb I'd argue that the "ice" in "ice cold" is actually acting as an adverb, because it's modifying the adjective "cold". Think of "ice" acting in a grammatical role similar to "frigidly" in "frigidly cold". English is often extremely loose with word inflections - in this case "ice" looks like a noun, but acts as an adverb without changing form. Interestingly, "piping hot" seems like an idiom, because "piping" by itself doesn't indicate high temperature. – Kelvin Mar 15 '16 at 16:49
  • I was unfamiliar with this meaning of the phrase "hot chocolate cake". If you wrote "chocolate lava cake" instead of "hot chocolate cake" I would have a better sense of what you meant; any attempt to modify the word "hot" actually gives me a worse understanding of the thing you were trying to describe. I'm not convinced you should attempt to parallel the phrase "ice cold" when describing the cake. – David K Mar 15 '16 at 17:57
  • @ShadowWizard I see what you are talking about now, and that you are actually searching for a noun describing a hot thing generally. If you said, "chocolate lava cake", I would imagine a cake with hot viscous chocolate sauce inside. –  Mar 15 '16 at 23:01
  • @BaileyS thing is, I wasn't intending to describe the exact cake. The outer side of the cake was not hot, only the inside (not sure how, injected perhaps, or microwave, doesn't really matter), so the final result was a hot cake. Didn't include details in the question so far to not complicate the simple request. Other times I have ordinary chocolate cake, which is simply served hot - not searing, just warm, but compared to the cold coffee, it feels hotter than it actually is. :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 15 '16 at 23:05
  • burning hot sounds much better to me – bantandor Mar 22 '16 at 11:39
  • @bantandor same here, but like I said, I was looking for noun, and if anything "scalding" which is given in top answer sounds even better. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 22 '16 at 11:43

10 Answers10

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If you're describing liquids that are too hot for you, use scalding:

very hot; burning.
e.g. Watch out, the tea is still scaldingly hot!

For food or liquids that are a pleasant temperature, use piping:

(of food or water) very hot.
e.g. "The food's piping hot!"

John Clifford
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    "I had an ice cold coffee just now, with a piping hot cake". Sounds quite good, thanks! :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 13 '16 at 13:53
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    When describing a liquid, you can also say "boiling". – JavaLatte Mar 13 '16 at 14:22
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    Note that one other difference between these is, "scalding" implies negative (too hot, so hot it'll hurt) while "piping hot" is more positive (appropriately hot, hot like it's freshly made). Even if you're talking about liquids, use "piping hot" if you're happy that it's hot (e.g. MW use the example "the appeal of piping hot cocoa after an afternoon of shoveling snow"). "I had an ice cold coffee just now, with a scalding hot cake" might sound like you're unhappy that it was so hot, or that the contrast in temperature was too much. – user56reinstatemonica8 Mar 13 '16 at 18:11
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    @ShadowWizard If you are wondering why the word "piping" means "very hot," it refers to the sound of steam rising from hot pastries as they come out of the oven. The expression dates back to at least the 14th century: it appears in the Canterbury Tales, in a story where a young man offers piping hot waffles to a lady of interest. – Crashworks Mar 14 '16 at 03:12
  • @Crashworks that's useful trivia, thanks! I didn't really wonder, just took it for granted actually. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 14 '16 at 07:10
  • @Crashworks Since when does rising steam make any sound at all? – Nuclear Hoagie Mar 16 '16 at 10:33
  • @Matt Apparently very hot food makes a whistling sound when steam escapes from it, similar to the sound of high-pitched musical pipes. – John Clifford Mar 16 '16 at 10:34
  • @Matt It's most noticeable with pastries that have a hollow space inside them or frothy batters (eg waffles) - listen closely and you can hear a quiet peeping sound for a short while after you've pulled them out of the oven, until the food cools below the boiling point. – Crashworks Mar 20 '16 at 00:36
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Since you yourself suggested 'steam hot' - the correct version would be steaming hot, so hot that steam is rising from it:

adverb

(as submodifier steaming hot)

Extremely hot: a steaming hot night

[...] He thinks, too, of pumpkin pie and fresh harvested honey and steaming hot cocoa.

according to the OED.

"I just had an ice cold coffee with some steaming hot chocolate cake".

CompuChip
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  • Guess the "ing" is what I missed when thinking it over, thanks! :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 13 '16 at 18:32
  • Not sure about a "steaming hot cake", it sounds a bit odd... However, "steaming hot pudding/pie/soup", i.e., something with some liquid in it, sounds OK, or even, "Would you like a steaming hot piece of steamed sponge, dear?" (I can imagine my mother saying that, TBH). The more I think about it, the more the entire premise of a hot cake sounds less appealing. :-) – Greenonline Mar 15 '16 at 02:16
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With a certain amount of hyperbole at play, you might refer to something as being red hot.

My coffee machine only makes drinks that are ice cold or red hot.

Richard
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    or white hot, which is even hotter; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-body_radiation – Shane Di Dona Mar 13 '16 at 20:24
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    @ShaneDiDona - That may be the case, but white hot (at least in British English) is not a common expression. – Richard Mar 13 '16 at 20:36
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    @Richard it's not unheard of, I think it's rare, but not non-existent. – tox123 Mar 14 '16 at 00:32
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    White hot is idiomatic in AE. – Era Mar 14 '16 at 00:49
  • @ShaneDiDona: white hot is commonly used where I live (north of England), so maybe usage varies by region for BrE? –  Mar 14 '16 at 11:34
  • @Bad_Bishop - Interesting. I live in the North of England. The only time I've ever encountered "white" as being indicative of heat is in reference to technology – Richard Mar 14 '16 at 11:40
  • @Richard: That might explain it's usage in my area. The local economy is dominated by printing presses. –  Mar 14 '16 at 12:34
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    I've heard of "white hot" but never to describe food or drink. Molten steel, sure. – Lightness Races in Orbit Mar 14 '16 at 12:51
  • Well, it's like "blue cold" - sounds weird, but guess "legit" in a sense. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 15 '16 at 14:24
  • @Era: I disagree that white hot is idiomatic in American English. It's a meaningful phrase, certainly, if used literally or almost-literally, but it's not used for describing food or drink, or really anything that would turn to cinders long before it could get white-hot. – Martha Mar 15 '16 at 18:03
  • @Martha Ah, I should have clarified what I meant. It's a (relatively) common expression (as compared to, say, "orange hot" or the like) and can be used figuratively similarly to "red hot" (as in e.g. describing anger or passion), but it's not the right word for the context of this question. Re: this particular question, I concur with the top answer. – Era Mar 15 '16 at 18:09
  • +1, This was the answer I had in mind from the title, but it isn't a perfect match for food. – DCShannon Mar 15 '16 at 22:16
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I'm surprised that no one has suggested boiling hot. Maybe it is a British English idiom:

Be careful with that cup of tea, it's boiling hot... I've only just poured it.

Also, as an example

Can you open the window? It's boiling hot in here!

or

Can you open the window? I'm boiling hot!

It can also be used for objects that do not actually physically boil, for example:

Be careful of those sausages, they are boiling hot and you will burn your mouth. They have just come off the barbecue.

I would add that, in British English at least, scalding hot sounds a little too old fashioned, and something that you might read in a old (30's-60's) children's story book, or your grandmother (or someone born in the 20's) might say (at least that's what springs to my mind).

However, having re-read your question, for a professional context, John's answer could be more appropriate, as boiling is somewhat colloquial.

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Greenonline
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    Thanks, but boiling fits only liquids, i.e. something that can really boil, no? "I had a boiling hot cake" doesn't sound right, at least for me. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 13 '16 at 23:01
  • @ShadowWizard - good point, I hadn't noticed the cake as I had got distracted by the coffee... "boiling hot cake" does, indeed, sound ridiculous :-) Nevertheless, there is a limited set of things that can be described as boiling hot, which don't actually boil, but again, you wouldn't employ them in a profession sense. – Greenonline Mar 13 '16 at 23:30
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    @ShadowWizard - I think boiling hot could work even for hot chocolate cake. In that case, boiling would be viewed as an adjective with some presumed hyperbole. See YD's definition, e.g. (It works in AmE, too, btw.) – J.R. Mar 14 '16 at 07:58
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    @J.R. thanks, since English is non-native language for me guess that things which sound weird to me can be correct sometimes. :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 14 '16 at 08:04
  • @J.R. - Thanks for confirming, I was sure that one could, I just started doubting myself. However, I must be honest and say that I have never said "boiling hot cake" in all my life, but then again, I have never seen a boiling hot cake... Cake is not quite the right word or food to apply that adjective to, but you could definitely use them for sausages, for example, that have come straight off a BBQ. I shall update my answer. – Greenonline Mar 14 '16 at 09:56
  • @ShadowWizard: Yeah, at least in BrE, yeah. It's boiling hot outside despite there basically only being air and trees therein. "Boiling" in that context doesn't have much to do with science, only to do with the notion of being really, really hot. – Lightness Races in Orbit Mar 14 '16 at 12:52
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    Thanks @Barry. Actually, in Hebrew we use the term "חם רצח" which translates to "murderously hot" - didn't even think of using it, lol. :) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 14 '16 at 12:54
  • I mostly agree with Greenonline. However, it sounds fine for any usage in America, so I disagree with it being a British idiom, or less professional. When describing something that isn't liquid, the assumption is that this is probably meant as a comparison to boiling water; specifically, it's too hot to touch (at least desirably). – TOOGAM Mar 14 '16 at 16:46
  • As a native speaker of American English, if somebody described something as "boiling hot" I would expect it to actually be boiling, and it would sound very odd describing anything not liquid. – DCShannon Mar 15 '16 at 22:17
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Fiery hot or flaming hot work. "Flaming hot" best if there's actual fire involved, e.g. "a flaming hot skillet of fajita toppings". While "fiery hot" might describe the extra spicy sauce for said fajitas. Not sure I'd use either of them for a cake though.

Darrel Hoffman
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This doesn't fit the noun requirement, but "smoking hot" came to mind for general informal use. It suggests an exceptional amount of heat.

In a more formal context, I'd go with "steaming hot" or "piping hot". If you want to imply that it was too hot to safely eat, "scalding hot" could work nicely.

"Ice-cold" does refer to a noun. The term is used a lot in reference to beverages that have been chilled by adding ice, or have been chilled nearly to the freezing point of water. Ice is probably the coldest thing we normally encounter.

On the other hand there are many levels of heat. "Hot" could refer to a shower, coffee, boiling water, a heating element that's started glowing, fire, and so on. Any of these could be encountered between waking up and eating breakfast, so there's not one that seems to stand out as an ideal reference point. It's more about what you can observe; something could be releasing steam, hot enough to burn your mouth, hot enough to emit smoke, or actually on fire.

GargantuChet
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    As a side note, I hear "smoking hot" (or just "smoking") used more often with people than food. I'm not sure if it's a dialect thing, but it's worth mentioning. –  Mar 14 '16 at 04:58
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    I would agree with @QPaysTaxes - Smoking hot is normally used in a context of [often sexual] desirability, usually people, or provocative actions made by people. It can also apply to cars [again from the desirability aspect], i.e., That sure is one smoking hot Lambourgini, or even commercial sales thereof (see U.S. Vehicle Sales Smoking Hot in July, But Will the Trend Continue?). – Greenonline Mar 14 '16 at 23:17
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Blazing Hot

From reverso it says

Blazing sun or blazing hot weather is very hot.

Alan Carmack
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Cary Bondoc
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The most common adjective I've seen is "searing" hot:

marked by extreme intensity, harshness, or emotional power

Cloud
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    That's not terrible, but for food it's not all that common. – Nathan Tuggy Mar 14 '16 at 03:38
  • @NathanTuggy - I agree with your comment, with the possible exception of steaks and chops. – J.R. Mar 14 '16 at 07:55
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    @J.R But chops and steaks are cooked on a searing hot grill, they aren't themselves searing hot. They might be sizzling or steaming hot. – ColleenV Mar 14 '16 at 15:14
  • @Colleen - I only meant to point about that I have less of a problem with "searing hot steak" than with "searing hot cake." And if you can't imagine eating a searing hot steak, then maybe you should eat at Mo's. :-) – J.R. Mar 14 '16 at 18:06
  • @J.R. Interesting - I can see how it might make sense. The picture doesn't really look like that steak is "searing hot" It would make a lot more sense to me if the steak were crusted with Thai chili peppers. That's what I think of when I hear food described as "searing hot". Usually "searing hot" is for pain or summer weather though. – ColleenV Mar 14 '16 at 21:50
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"boiling hot"

"This drink is boiling hot." Corresponds quite nicely to the "This drink is ice cold." Perhaps generally used for describing liquid.

(Other than this, I would say CompuChip's answer: "steaming hot" is the other option that seems to be most directly similar to "ice cold" if you're trying to describe a drink. Many of the other answers, like "blazing hot", are also good for describing hotness, and might even be better in some other contexts. For instance, a Fudgsicle (a Popsicle made of chocolate/fudge) might be quite literally "ice cold", but super-spicy food might be described as "blazing hot", possibly trying to reference the flames on a grill).

TOOGAM
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A way to compare to the illustration created by ice cold, could be to go for another natural hot liquid.

Consider "lava" hot. This term is used in foods like "lava cake" which is a chocolate cake that has hot chocolate syrup in it.

This "equates" better if you are trying to create a mental picture using natural forces.

Everett
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    Not sure. "I had a lava hot cake" just doesn't sound right to me. (If you'll notice, mentioned it in the question itself. :)) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Mar 13 '16 at 15:20
  • I've heard of "lava cake" before. It's a flavor/style. If I heard "lava hot cake", I might treat that as two adjectives (like "chocolate sweet cake" or "raspberry-filled white cake"). That's specific to cake (which Everett identifies as a known example). For this type of coffee drink, "lava java" may be a particularly good match of words. Though lava may be appropriate metaphor for some other foods, I don't think I'm familiar with it being common. – TOOGAM Mar 14 '16 at 16:36