The all fondant cake I made looked so very pretty but tonight when we ate it there are a couple of problems. I'm hoping you guys can give some ideas of how to deal with them as they really wanted the fondant cake for the wedding. So glad I'm doing these practice cakes to try out.
First of all the fondant is so VERY VERY sweet....it is marshmallow fondant and in areas where there is overlay fondant...it is just too much to even take a bite. I know right off the bat as soon as we cut it that part of the problem is I didn't roll itt thin enough I think. I've also read on hear about using lemon juice instead of water I think??? Is there anything else I could try? Funny, they pick away at all the left over pieces for days but put it on the cake and they find it all too sweet together. They did like the chocolate syrup frosting that I used for a filling.
The other thing we noticed was that once cut the fondant will completely seperate from the cake. Looked like a "shell" laying on the plate haha. It was also a bit tough to cut with a fork...is this normal for fondant. I can't imagine that it is. I crumb coated the cake with snow white frosting before the fondant. Any idea of what I am doing wrong?
Here is the photo again so you can see. I'd really appreciate any advice you have. While it is important for the cake to look nice it is also very important that it tastes good!!! Thanks for any help you can offer

I am sorry that I am not able to help with your problem but I would also like to know about the sweetness. I made mmf for the first time and it was grossly sweet, Normal??

There is no cure for fondant. It is powdered sugar at levels to make a dough to roll and cover a cake. You sacrifice sweetness for looks. The option is an all icing only cake.

True, all fondant is sweet, but a scratch recipe actually contains less sugar than MMF, and there are a couple of commercially made fondants which are chocolate-based which are quite yummy (Chocopan for one)

I always use Mill Lane (www.creativecutters.com) and I find it to be fairly tasty (but still quite sweet) byt MUCH easier to work with than MMF or scratch fondant.

You DO NOT want to roll the fondant thinner... it will stretch and tear and won't smooth as well... stick to min 1/4" thick for the best workability. I always put a nice layer of IMBC under the fondant, then there's still frosting for anyone who finds the fondant too sweet.

HTH!

Hi fellow Maritimer(acutally I am from Newf)

I use a fondant that is called Satinice. I love the texture and it isn't too sweet. It has a vanilla flavoring. Never had any complaints as of yet. I also have tasted chocpan, very nice, but I found it to be a little pricy. There is one other that I Reccomend, it is called Petonice(not too sure of the spelling) It tastes like butter, really yummy!!

Let me know if I can help any other way.

Good luck.

BY the way, your cake was very beautiful.

the sweetness is normal in homemade fondant because that's practically all it is. maybe someone else will have some tips on how to tone the intensity of it down a bit.

beautiful cake!

Birdlady, I am from Canada as well and have had to order my Pettinice from Country Kitchen in the US. Do you order Satin Ice or Pettinice from somewhere in Canada?

Try the fondant from www.creativecutters.com... they have a Canadian location that I order from all the time, and I LOVE their fondant. Someone told me that it's the same recipe as (I think) PettinIce.

Sorry you had probems with your fondant but that is certainly a beautiful cake!

Advice I've tried before is to add a teeny bit of salt to my ButterCream to cut the sweetness. I've never made MMF, but a bit of salt would probably work. You could also add a drop or two (DROP) of candy oil to add flavor to it. I've kneaded strawberry candy oil in my fondant a couple of times and it is good! And I have only done a couple of cakes covered in fondant (usually just use it for decorations) and I don't have any experience with MMF, but you mentioned it pulling away from the cake and I was wondering if it is because of the marshmallows, the elasticity. If you can, you might want to try a different fondant. Myself, I am lazy, I just buy it! I like Satin Ice.

When i make fondant cakes, we don't eat the fondant we just leave it on the plate. To me it is just to achieve the look, I see no reason we have to eat it. I did a large fondant covered birthday cake and everyone said how delicious the cake was. Some people ate the fondant and some left it on their plates and noone was really bothered by it.

In my experience most people peel the fondant off the cake if they find it too sweet. They even do that with some buttercreams. Some people actually like the sweetness. Not sure how to make it less sweet. I use MMF all the time for my cookies, but roll it so thin that it is actually thinner than if I were to ice with icing. No complaints from my customers on the cookies. One cake I did, I rolled 1/4" thick and some ate it some peeled it off. I personally peel all icing off cake I eat. Fondant or buttercream. Only icing I'll eat is Pastry Pride.

I just started with mmf, but I add only 2 Tbsp of water, so it takes less sugar to make it work. I also add a bit of vanilla and a dab of almond extract, and the almond helped quite a bit. Good luck!

Also, how about something less sweet for the crumb coat, filling, or even cake?

I have never tried MMF - and I mean no disrespect to those who use it... but it's made from Marshmellow Fluff - I would think it would be extremely sweet! It doesn't sound very appealing. I would suggest you try some different brands of commercial fondant - I would not recommend Wilton - not good. I use Satin Ice, it's texture and consistancy is wonderful. The taste is not too sweet. I want to try the PettinIce. You decorate in fondant, not for the taste, but for the look - but you also don't want to gross out your customers! Experiment.

I use pettinice and I don't mind eating a little of it. Others are pretty evenly divided, they either bite right it or peel it off. It doesn't matter which as noone comments on it tasting bad, just some like it and some dont.
But it should not be too tough to cut thru with a fork, if it is pettinice anyway. It will crust a little harder on the very outside, but I have taken cakes to picnics and cut them easily with butter knives.
You can reassure your customers that it is a very popular icing for weddings and people will and wont eat it. I think it is MUCH better than the old days of marzipan and almond paste which a lot of people I know hated.

Thank you everyone for all the thoughts on this. I knew it would be sweet but I think the combination of chocolate cake, chocolate syrup frosting, fondant and overlayed fondant pieces was just tooooo much. I am going to check out the recipe satin ice and the websites you posted. Plus I will just experiment. They REALLY want the fondant look and like you said it is more for the look. When cutting it we can not use the outside edges and then everyone would just have a small top piece to try if they wish. I also think part of my problem with it peeling away was I let the crumb coat dry and I shouldn't have.
I am going to try a set of 3 small cakes as soon as I get my new KA. One will be a vanilla or lemon cake with the MMF (using lemone juice and salt instead of water), another will be of snow white frosting and the third will be a combination of the snow white frosting with fondant overlays. They can taste all 3 and see which they prefer. I really like the ease of the MMF....it just manipulates so well. I do need to roll it thinner though..in some areas it was almost a 1/2" thck including the overlays.
They seem to enjoy just nibbling on pieces of it but put it all together with that particular cake and it was just overpowering.
Thanks everyone for the ideas.