I have been decorating cakes for several years now, but I am just starting to work with new elements. I am learning to work with gumpaste & marzipan now. Here is what I am wondering...

What is the real differnce in fondant, gumpaste, & marzipan? Besides the ingredients? Is one better than another for certain items? I am really enjoying learning so much here & my husband is hating me! lol

The kids & I stay in the kitchen playng for ours. hehe

TIA
BellaRosa

Marzipan is made of ground Almonds, egg , sugar...

Fondant and Gumpaste has NO ALmonds in it.. it is all sugar, water, corn syrup, but Gumpaste has Gumtex w/c is a hardening ingredient...

They have one thing in common: they are all edible.
YOu can use Marzipan as filling, but not Fondant or Gumpaste. Their purpose is for decorative only...

Fondant and marzipan (except Wilton's) are fairly tasty... gumpaste is not nasty, but isn't particularly tasty either.

Gumpaste dries much faster and harder, and can be rolled MUCH thinner (the instructions I have on some flowers is to roll it thin enough to read the instructions through!)

You can mix fondant & gumpaste to get some of the properties of both.

You can mix fondant & marzipan to get the taste of marzipan (though less intense) with some of the whiteness of fondant.

Marzipan takes a while to dry (due to the amount of oil in the almonds) so you have longer working time, but you cannot make really fine details or delicate pieces.

Thanks guys. Sorry it took me so long to reply. I was just clueless to the actual differences. lol

Bellarosa

Rolled fondant is a cake covering. It is has a "play-dough" like consistency which dries to a porcelain-hard exterior which is soft underneath. It is expected to be eaten. Some modelling and decorative work can be done with rolled fondant, but it may not dry "hard" enough without the addition of a hardening agent.

Marzipan has been around for centuries as a confection: then as a cake covering. It can be used as a top-layer icing, an under-layer base for another icing [rolled fondant and Royal Icing], or as a modelling coumpound for decorations, figures etc.

Gumpaste is a modelling compound that is used to make decorations, figures, flowers etc. It quickly dries very hard. Because of this, and although it is non-toxic in anyway, it is generally not consumed.

I am trying to learn gumpaste too. I noticed that MelC said you could roll it thin enough to read through. My question is - if you roll it that thin, how do you pick it up without tearing it? If you put it on the thin foam it sticks to it.

If you roll it thin, most of the time you are making roses or flowers out of it, so you are picking up and working with a small section.

You wouldn't roll out a sheet of gumpaste and try to cover a cake with it or anything.