What Is Fondant?
Covering cakes with fondant creates the most beautiful designs. Here's a deeper look at how fondant is made and why it's beloved by cake artists.
Fondant is a form of icing that’s both familiar and rare. It’s a style of cake decorating that the average shopper won’t see in the bakery department. Yet, we’re used to seeing luxurious cakes adorned with fondant - when watching cake competitions or weddings. Typically, fondant is reserved for special occasions.
Rolled fondant is a form of icing that’s essentially a blank canvas. It can be dyed, rolled, and sculpted into small decorative pieces. Gum paste is a paste used for molding decorative pieces. Modeling paste or flower paste are other terms for gum paste.
Sugar flower artist and food blogger, Kelsie describes the different types of gum paste and the ways you can use it. Kelsie explains that gum paste doesn’t have a pleasant taste in her blog post “What Is Gum Paste?” For this reason, gum paste is ideal for decorations on top of the cake. Often these cake decorations are made with a 50/50 blend of gum paste and fondant. This paste can be purchased at craft stores or made from scratch. Sometimes gum paste is used with fondant for molding accents.
Historically, fondant was used by wealthy people during the 16th century. Pamela Siegel is a journalist for Mashed. In “The Roots Of Fondant Cake Decorating” she said:
“The rolled variety reportedly originated in the 1500s and originally used sugar, rose water, egg white, lemon juice, and gum tragacanth in the recipe. Poured fondant — the kind used to decorate fancy tea cakes — came about in the 1800s, according to The International Sugar Art Collection by Nicholas Lodge.”
The way that bakers use fondant has evolved for over 500 years. Over the centuries bakers have created cakes with impeccable detail. Most importantly, illusion cakes are far more refined and polished.
What is tylose powder?
Tylose powder which is also known as carboxymethyl cellulose, turns your fondant into gum paste. This powder thickens the sugar paste. As a result, molded pieces are more durable and maintain their structure.
The YouTube Channel Sweet Wise uploaded a video titled “Tylose Powder”, which demonstrates how to use it and when it’s most beneficial to use tylose powder.
What is edible glue?
Edible glue is made with food-grade tylose powder. Bakers use edible glue to put together fixtures made with gum paste.
What is piping gel?
Piping gel is another form of edible glue that’s sweet and clear. It works for molded fondant or gum paste.
Fondant Resources
How to make rolled fondant from scratch?
The book The Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating by Autumn Carpenter includes recipes for rolled fondant, edible glue, and gum paste. This book also provides tutorials for covering a cake in fondant, painting and coloring on fondant, and many other step-by-step cake tutorials. You can check your local library for the ebook or physical book.
From movie themes to optical illusions, fondant provides bakers with a method for expressing their creativity in new and innovative ways.
Substack Spotlight
“The ‘Perfect’ Recipe Won’t Make You A Better Baker” - Bake Chats
“Free Birthday Gift From Sephora” - The Review Of Beauty