Who is "they"? I can ice a buttercream cake just fine. I learned to do it lickety split during my nightmarish stint as a grocery store cake decorator. That and icing every single fondant cake before the fondant goes on.
I hate messing a finished buttercream cake though. The slightest touch can make an awful blemish. If there's a bad place on a fondant cake, you just slap on a bow or a leaf or something 
. That was a joke by the way.
I can't stand the chew and smell of store bought fondant. Smells like play doh, talk about chemicals. If you roll it thin, there isn't much "chew" it dissolves into the buttercream. I think a lot of people have tasted thick, crappy fondant and think it all tastes that way or that's how thick you have to roll it. That's like saying all cuts of beef taste the same.
I'm so used to smelling it that I don't notice it, but I can walk into a pizza place with a cake and have people smell the cake before they see it coming in. And they ooh and ah about it. Which is not to be interpreted as my saying in that i think the stuff is for eating :-)
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Original message sent by howsweet
Who is "they"? I can ice a buttercream cake just fine. I learned to do it lickety split during my nightmarish stint as a grocery store cake decorator. That and icing every single fondant cake before the fondant goes on.
I hate messing a finished buttercream cake though. The slightest touch can make an awful blemish. If there's a bad place on a fondant cake, you just slap on a bow or a leaf or something :D . That was a joke by the way.
"They" would be 98% of the people who have started doing cakes because of how much fun they have on the cake shows on tv, but who don't want to learn how use a piping bag because that takes time and practice. Most of what I do is buttercream, so my comment was also a joke (sort of not really).
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"They" would be 98% of the people who have started doing cakes because of how much fun they have on the cake shows on tv, but who don't want to learn how use a piping bag because that takes time and practice. Most of what I do is buttercream, so my comment was also a joke (sort of not really).
I do completely agree that the art of piping is something practically no one is learning. Myself included. I wouldn't even consider taking an order like this cake below. But I also don't think I could ever get good at. I have some kind of weird brain thing where I can't do things like knit or crochet evenly, write or even type consistently (that's why all the typos). Or pipe decorations
AThat is impressive that cake!! I started out learning with buttercream. I came to fondant much later. There's a colleague of mine in the same town who can't do a shell border. I was shocked. But with the inventions of molds and impression mats (all of which I have and like) people just don't bother anymore.
Rarely do people ASK for fondant with me..if I can do it with buttercream I try to do so
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I could be wrong but that cake looks royal iced to me, I just couldn't imagine being able to get extension work to hold in buttercream. If they did I want to learn from them as that would be amazing.
I was about to say the same thing , I don't think it is buttercream either.
By the way I don't see the attraction in the taste of buttercream , NASTY STUFF YUK. I refuse to use it. IF I am served a cake with it on I eat the cake and leave the nasty buttercream on the plate yech.
If the fondant is chewy it is too thick. Everyone always likes the fondant I use and love the way it melds with the ganache I use to coat my cakes. I am about the only one that does peel it off. I don't have a sweet tooth though and I would rather have a cheese board than cake .
I don't like fondant personally , I have always peeled it off , I would rather just eat the delicious fruitcake as a kid. My cousin always liked the fondant. She had mine and I had her cake at all of the family weddings.
Oh I am also not afraid to day to customers that have spent too much time on pinterest looking at buttercream cakes , that they want in summer in Queensland heat . That I am not their decorator. It is ganache and fondant or nothing with me.
I will just mention again , buttercream is Yucky. Blech.
AI've done some fondant cakes, but I bought the Wilton piping class from Craftsy, and at CIA they showed us some piping , and I love it! Even on a fondant cake, I pipe! I'd pipe on my dogs if they stood still long enough! I'm not good, but get better with every cake.
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Original message sent by Mimimakescakes
Oh I am also not afraid to day to customers that have spent too much time on pinterest looking at buttercream cakes , that they want in summer in Queensland heat . That I am not their decorator. It is ganache and fondant or nothing with me.
I will just mention again , buttercream is Yucky. Blech.
I can handle SMBC more than most but I just find them too sweet. I really do not have a sweet tooth at all.
I just googed
I just googled something like amazing piping cake - didn't happen to notice where the photo came from. There were some incredible cakes!
I didn't mean to imply that was buttercream icing. I thought be were talking about piping and decorating skills other than fondant.
I was going to try to find it through tineye but the file name is from this website, so it was easy to find. http://www.theabigailbloomcakecompany.com/main-gallery/
At first glance I thought it was a buttercream cake with Lambeth piping. I probably picked that one because of the nice fondant finish! Good morning all folks. I found a link from our google stats from Cake central and now I've found out why! :)
I can see one of our pictures has been used in this thread regarding fondant and buttercream.
This was actually a fondant covered cake and then piped over with Royal icing.
You can also see another of our cakes with traditional piping on our website - although it is super traditional. Again this was fondant with piped royal icing.
http://www.theabigailbloomcakecompany.com/main-gallery/
(Scroll to the bottom - 'client cakes we love')
In terms of fondant/buttercream argument, I have tasted Satin Ice and to my palette it really is not great at all - in fact quite bad. But that is just my personal preference so I have never used it for a client cake. In the UK, for me, Regalice is without doubt the best tasting with Fondarific coming a close second - although that is imported from the states and is super pricey but is amazing for sculpting. We do get requests for buttercream cakes and in particular naked cakes (no buttercream or fondant) in the last year. However in our taste tests, people didn't like the vegetable fat type of buttercream so our buttercream covered cakes use 90% butter which are far less stable than the American types and don't hold up as well in the super hot weather (we generally avoid doing them in the hottest months for this reason). We also generally have less filling and fillings that don't need putting in the fridge... so really it makes more sense to use fondant. (Hope that makes sense!). However if a client is desperate for buttercream then that is what they will have we just work round it and be incredibly strict with timings/delivery and refrigerating the cake etc.
You're supposed to eat it, no doubt about that at all. Some people leave it on the plate but the majority of people at a wedding are going to get one square of fondant/sugarpaste on the very top. A lot of venues actually square off round cakes before cutting them so NO ONE gets any of the side pieces and therefore no one has to suffer with a 5" piece of fondant.
In the UK and there is no buttercream vs fondant issue, very few brides would prefer buttercream but then you don't try to make the cake look like fondant, it's usually the rustic style they're going for.
Thanks so much CakeBaby2 and Mbalaska - for your very kind words - it means a lot coming from cake minded people! (Sorry for the delay I am not on here as much as I should be). Please do come and say hello on our facebook page if you can. You can find the link on our website. Now all i need is one of the original Lambeth method books - i think they are only £300 odd ! :) x Good luck to all with your creations buttercream or fondant!
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