have not been able to find glycerin anywhere....

So I went down to Michaels again today and the whole shelf was full of stuff except for.........glycerin....I guess I'll have to make the mmf again

I need it for this Thursday, bummer.

Does anyone know what would happen if I left it out?

If you have a health food store near you then you should be able to find some glycerin there. It's usually with the "make your own lotion" section. You may have to ask about it. It is sometimes hidden. It comes in much larger containers for a much better price. This is where I buy mine. A 16 oz. container is about $8.

For a substitute try adding a small amount of cooking oil in place of the glycerin. I'm not sure if this will work, but glycerin is a sweet type of oil and helps to soften the fondant. Possibly cooking oil will do some of the same. It's not as thick as glycerin, so go easy with it.

I hope this works. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.

Michele

Thanks Michele, and sorry I spelled your name wrong!

rotfl!!!

i don't mean to hijack the thread, but Michele, i've been wondering, have you used other flavorings besides vanilla and have you had any success doing that and what are your fave flavors? i'm going to try making your fondant this week and i'm thinking i might try making 1/2 a batch size w/vanilla and 1/2 a batch w/almond extract.

pina colada sounds sooo good..please share the results to that..I always say if you have an idea give it a try, how will you know if its good unless you do??My family are my taste testers and if they do not like it, believe me they will tell me...Oh yeah sorry, I just got glycerin from michaels...it took forever to find it but the store I was in had it mixed in with the vanilla flavoring and I almost missed it...

I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere--there really isn't a health food store for at least 50 miles! I actually bought glycerin at our local pharmacy. It was in the skin care section. A six ounce bottle for a little over 3 dollars.

Just thought I'd share in case others don't have the option of health food stores in their area.

I love Michele's fondant for the very reason that I can add whatever flavoring I want. Recently I seem to be making only lemon flavored...with lemon oil. I also really love to add a bit of vanilla with almond...yummy I even added black walnut flavoring to one batch it was delicious with chocolate cake.

I have actually made a pina colada cake in my photos and I made the fondant out of coconut. It tasted great and it smelled even better!

Michele,
For some reason I am not able to find your recipe by doing a search . Would you please share your fondant recipe again?
Thanks

In case Michele's not around here's the link:

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-3663-Michele-Fosters-Delicious-Fondant.html

Just wondering if this will hold up well in high humidity? i've tried MMF and as great as it is it sweats badly in humidity and takes forever to dry even a bit. Can anyone shed some light?
many thanks

The last 3 cakes I've covered I used this recipe and it works great! I'm never going back. Easy to use and tastes good too. Each of the 3 cakes was made on high humidity days and I had no issues.

Thanks for the info, i will try a batch soon

How well do you think think this fondant would go over commercially? Also, does anyone know how I would do this? Of course I think it is good, but would a manufacturer go for it?

Just a thought.

Michele

Hey - if so many people here love it...why not give it a shot?? Wilton just tastes gross and Satin Ice doen't do other flavors - you might have your own little niche!

Watch Donny Deutsch on MSNBC....he'll inspire you!! Go for it!

Ok, I got my hands on some glycerin! I just made it and wow, wow wow!!! Is this stuff yummy!!!

If you want to commercialize this, I'll buy!

I really want to try it, but haven't found unflavored gelatin yet.

Have you tried using strawberry jello if you needed red fondant?

Actually when I went to use the Knox gelatin, something had spilled on the box and the packages were gross ( so besides the mess I had to clean up I had to look for gelatin). I ended up using lemon jello and it still came out white, but yummy lemon tasting, I added cream bouquet for a bigger lemon taste....

I would think using flavored gelatin would make your results less than certain. You know a box of flavored jello has flavorings and fillers and who really knows how much actual gelatin you are getting. I would be afraid to try it...of course I've never had any problem buying the unflavored gelatin so I haven't been desperate to work around the problem. I buy boxes of 32 packages, Kroger brand. Just MHO

Unflavored gelatin can be found at health food stores in the fingernail improvement department. It comes in jars, is cheaper, and easier to measure.

Glycerin can also be found at health food stores, also cheaper. Someone told me that they found some at a pharmacy. Just be sure that it is vegetable glycerin. There is a petroleum based glycerin also. This is very toxic. Even if you accidentally got the wrong type, you would know. It smells awful!
As for commercializing, I have no idea where to start. I'm open for suggestions.

Thanks so much for all of the support.

Michele

Michele, I don't have a food industry business but I own a mortgage company and I would think the process would be similar. Start with research...what's the demand, how many products to meet that demand, what holes are there in the current market. You would have to decide how you want to market the product...have it produced, marketed and sold by a distributor or find somebody to manufacture it for you to distribute yourself...like thru a website. My opinion is that since you are so well known in the caking industry you would probably have good luck selling to fellow cakers without the help of a big distributor. You need to also think of what makes your product so special now...the flavor and the cost...and try to maintain those features as well as market the heck out of them. Those are my initial thoughts. Hope it helped.

Lori, those are some great ideas. I've already started looking for a manufacturer. I'm not sure if I want to be the distributor because I have a part-time job with varied hours and I don't have a whole lot of storage available. I can only imagine what my husband would think if I let fondant take over the house!

Thanks so much for the ideas. I think I will pursue this.

Michele

Michele that sounds like a great idea. I love your fondant it is easy to work with and taste wonderful. Good luck .