Cake advice

[michaelsbride]

Hey everyone-

I was just reading about the cool cake picture that steven posted....

FYI, he said they used FONDANT. Definitely go taste this somewhere. It is VERY sweet....

basically it is sugar water and flour that kind of makes a dough. its kept cold to store but when they put it on the cake they roll it out and make it pliable. then they put it on the cake where it hardens.

the big problem (i researched it with a local bakery because i LOVED the way it looked) is that once it hardens, it has a tendency to crack when its cut. and it will crack ALL over the place because it becomes almost a candy shell like on an m&m. If you dont mind the taste and dont mind it cracking, go for it. but i think a lot of people go for the look and dont consider the taste.

SO try it out... go to a grocery store even that has a bakery.

Just some friendly advice... for those who had it share your experience... and if you love sweets, that might be the cake for you!

[Marrying_the_Good_Husband]

That's interesting. I thought I heard that it STAYS pliable. I wonder if that has to do with HOW it is made or how LONG it sits. Lisa Marie???? (Gymrat is our resident cake expert.) I'm sure others will chime in with their fondant experiences.

[feb-bride]

My fondant experience is that it doesn't taste very good. My best friend had a fondant-covered cake. I scraped the cake out of the "fondant shell" before I ate the cake. I tried the fondant, and it just seemed chewy and rubbery. Yuck! Don't remember if it cracked, though. I thought it was supposed to stay pliable, but I don't use it to decorate, so I'm not sure.

[Jennifer]

My experience was that it was chewy...almost gummy. It didn't crack...but it didn't taste good either. So if you get it...make sure they put some good icing underneath.

[rosefeather]

the first cake I picked out had that. My aunt who was making the cake, sent us a little mini cake with that on there. I took one bite and said EWWWW. We ended up choosing a different cake because of that. You know what though, I don't think I had more than a bite of my wedding cake. Darn!!

[555Ann555]

Whether it cracks is completely dependant on how long it sits after it is iced. They can ice it weeks in advance if they're using a lot of preservatives in the sponge or using a rich fruit cake, in which case the fandant will dry out more, and there is the possibility of it cracking. But if you've only ordered enough cake to serve your guests then this won't be a problem because it'll all be getting cut up anyway!

I personally don't like the taste of fondant at all but my cake will have fondant icing because I much prefer the smooth look it gives, I always pick the icing off my cake and don't eat it anyway so it really doesn't make a difference to me! The most important factor to is that it looks good for my photographs and that I like the cake inside

[kenzies_mama]

I used it to make a replica of my parents wedding cake for their 25th Anniversary. We put a layer of icing between the cake and it so most people did not really eat the fondant, but it stayed pliable the whole time.

[gymrat]

Just checking in briefly and I saw the title....

It does stay pliable for awhile. Though, if you let it sit out for a LONG time it does turn hard.

What the original poster wrote sounded more like royal icing. Royal icing is frosting that is like buttercream at first but when you let it dry it turns rock solid. The candy decor in the grocery store that is hard and in different shapes/characters is royal icing usually.

The majority of people I know and have talked to dislike the taste of fondant. Though, many home bakers like myself (sure some bakeries use it too) know of rolled buttercream (tastes like buttercream but is rolled out), marshmellow fondant (made with marshmellows and can be flavored), and chocolate clay (usually chocolate chips mixed with corn syrup I believe to make like a tootsie roll like rollable covering) which are similar to regular fondant but taste SO MUCH BETTER!

Originally Posted by Marrying_the_Good_Husband

That's interesting. I thought I heard that it STAYS pliable. I wonder if that has to do with HOW it is made or how LONG it sits. Lisa Marie???? (Gymrat is our resident cake expert.) I'm sure others will chime in with their fondant experiences.

Thanks for thinking of me MTGH!