I am SOOOO afraid of all 3 of these!!

I have never worked or tasted any of these icings....I have heard fondant is not good tasting...but I notice a lot of ya'll use fondant instead.

How hard are any of them to work with...which tastes better.....do I have reason to be afraid!

Don't be afraid! There are different mediums to work with when cake decorating, cookie decorating, and other confections! Most of us here on CC use MMF (marshmallow fondant). The recipe is here on CC!!

Buttercream is of course a popular one! You can achieve different consistencies of buttercream to create flowers and a variety of borders, etc. on your cakes.

Regular fondant and MMF can be used to cover a cake, cookies, and used for making flowers and molding into figurines and all sorts of embellishments for your confections.

We have so many professionals in every technique here on CC!! There are tutorials to help you achieve that look you want and even the forums here will help you if you have questions.

I'm still learning myself so this is the only place to be to get the info you want on each of these icings. Don't be intimidated!!!!! Just dive right into it and you'll find you'll love it or either hate it. Pretty sure you'll love it!!!




Amy

Wilton fondant tastes nasty in my opinion.Marshmallow Fondant tastes good and is fairly easy to work with, it depends on who you ask.Rolled buttercream tastes even better, in my opinion, but I haven't tried to cover a cake with it.The MMF stretches and is easy to cover a cake, the rolled buttercream isn't that forgiving.I have just started using both of them and so far haven't had any problems.You never know how you will do with something until you try.I had to make my very first wedding cake with fondant!I never even made a wedding cake before.I just made a few practice cakes and all went well.Just make a few batches and mess around a little.Try the no fail sugar cookies with the rolled fondant.Yummy, and super easy!

Just to add about rolled buttercream.........I have never made it but my sister said she almost burned out her KA making it. She said she'll never do that again. I'm sure there's an easier way. Someone here is bound to know the true technique to rolled buttercream. I wouldn't mind knowing myself!!!



Amy

I made my rolled buttercream on my standard Kitchen Aid and had no problem.Maybe if your mixer starts bogging down, you might be able to just take the dough out an knead the rest of the pwd. sugar in by hand.I have seen a recipe that calls for making the MMF in a mixer as well, which I always do mine by hand.Maybe it would be easier for some to do the rolled buttercream that way.

Ok I have read everyone's post about this Rolled buttercream icing... Sounds interesting! I live in the Tulsa area where they just had the sugar arts festival and OMG at the cakes! KUDOS to tose who had one in it! Anyway I feel the same way twinsline.. Im afraid to try it as well. My question is? Does rolled buttercream work the same as Fondant ? Can you make little the little figurines and what not out of the rolled buttercream as well? Inquiring minds want to know!

I've used my Artisan KA to make my rolled buttercream. I didn't have a problem. Trying to make MMF in my KA is different though. I seem to have to knead the stuff by hand after it's not so sticky.

I don't think the buttercream has the same elasticity as the MMF.I haven't tried to cover a cake, but I have seen some covered in rolled buttercream.I think the RB is more greasy[the crisco} than the fondant and the figures might be too soft to hold up.I rolled mine out with pwd. sugar and when I put them on the cookies and they still have a glossy look.Not that flat powdered look that fondant has.

I am going to have to try the rolled buttercream! Any good recipes!!!!!!!


Amy

I agree with mum. The rolled buttercream is a bit more oily but I LOVE the taste of it. It reminds me of candy corn. I used the recipe on this site. Mine turned out a little soft though and I had trouble rolling out figures with it. I don't know if my consistency was quite right or not. I think I'll try again.

Wilton fondant is the grossest thing out there. Use it to make cake dummies (it's great for that!) but don't try serving it to anyone. I use Satin Ice fondant when I want it to taste good, and it does taste good. It's more expensive, but if the bride really, really wants it, she'll pay for it. I keep some on hand for tastings. My boss at the chocolate shop just bought some French rolled fondant, and I tasted it and it literally melts in your mouth. I haven't worked with it yet, just sampled it, but he says it costs about the same as Satin Ice. I'll have to let you all know later how it works out. Remember that you can mix fondant half-and-half with modelling chocolate for better flavor.

Deanna

Thank you all for your answers!! You've helped alot....I was just going to ask which tastes better!

I'm working up the nerve to try it...I just read the directions for MMF and think I might try.

In ya'lls opinion which do you think a better one to "start out" with?

TooMuchCake:

French rolled fondant?? never heard of it... and not where to be found on the net....
Can you elaborate just a bit? is it actually called that? Where did you boss get it from?
thank you

ciao

LOL, I meant he got it imported from France, not that the brand name was French. I don't work there any more, so I don't remember the brand name (too many months ago!), but I do remember that the bucket had a blue label. He has someone else doing cake for him now and I don't want to call over there and ask what it was. He gets a lot of his ingredients from wholesale importers, stuff from Belgium and France mostly.

I know that's not much help... I'm trying to picture the bucket and see if I can "see" the brand on it, but I can't remember.

I use Satin Ice for fondant that will be eaten, but I don't have a local supplier for Chocopan or I might switch to that. I tasted it at the Oklahoma cake show, and it was great.

Deanna

thank you TooMuchCake

I have relatives in France; maybe I will ask them to look around for me.
I can see that it would be more expensive... transportation from Europe is not cheap.

I am in Montrreal & I have never seen Satin Ice (I found it online, but I don't want the hassle of international shipping;

I have used Chocopan, it is wonderful to work with & does taste great.

ciao

I must agree with everyone else.....Wilton fondant is really gross, but good to use on cake dummies! I've made lots of MMF and it tastes pretty good and has a very good texture! I've also made LOTS of rolled buttercream. It tastes wonderful, takes gel colors very well, but is greasier than MMF and other fondants because of the shortening content. I only use it on my cookies....as it's much softer than regular fondant and may not hold up as well to molding figurines. I mix it in my KA (600 watt pro) and have never had a problem, but finish the kneading by hand on my silpat mat. I must say I bought some white chocolate CHOCOPAN today at Sugarcraft and I could literally eat the entire 4 lb pail with a spoon! It tastes exactly like white chocolate and melts in your mouth! I'm going to play around with it and if I lilke it, I'll offer this to brides in the future! I paid $19.50 for 4 lbs.

TooMuchCake,

I found this fondant on a website - might this be what you were remembering?

If so, here is the link: http://www.lepicerie.com/customer/product.php?productid=139301&cat=0&page=1


~Chelle


P.S. Apparently I can't attach the photo, but if you click the link you'll see it.

Chelle, that's it! It is very delicious, but we did have to knead some extra sugar into it to roll it out. We thought it would be best for fondant candy centers, but I don't think he ever got around to making anything with it after I left the chocolate shop. Which is a shame, because it sure did taste good.

Deanna

I've only used fondant once, and I really screwed it up. But, it was the Wilton primary colour fondant and I paid an arm and a leg for it thinking that it at least might taste good. Nope. Reminds me of uncooked pie crust.

Anyway, I'm going to try some MMF with the directions and recipe on here. I am wondering what you do, though, once the MMF is on the cake to make it smooth. Mine kept buckling when I tried.

Also, if you are using a colour other than white, what do you do about all the cornstarch you have to use when rolling it out? I mean, it must leave the cake pretty dusty. Do you wash it off somehow?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I'm hoping someone can help.

I don't know how much it usually costs but the Satin Ice can be found on Ebay for 2lb container for 14.99. It might be cheaper on www.intheoven.com. I just saw some for 12.74 for the same weight. I am going to have to try this. I love this site. Thanks for all the info.