I just went to the recipe section and typed in Fondant. WOW! I have no clue where to start. I have never used fondant before and have been seeing a lot of people using it now and wanted to try it. But I don't know where to start. What is the best fondant to start out with? And what should I know about it?
Thanks for any help!
Trisha
I would say go and buy the Wilton Course 3 book. It will have info on how to roll out fondant and work with it. It's probably like $5.
You could get a box of Wilton fondant or make your own Marshmellow fondant (it's called MMF on here and there are many recipes).
Have lots of crisco ready to use...you put it on your hands so that it won't dry out. And lots of saran wrap to cover it up. It dries super fast.
When you are stopping for the night.. rub crisco all over fondant, saran wrap it, and then put it in a ziplock baggie.
Fondant is my favorite medium! Goodluck!
If you want to try a fondant that works really well and tastes great (unlike the Wilton stuff), try Satin Ice. It is very tasty and is super easy to work with.
dogluvr - I like Satin Ice for just that reason. It is more durable, like Wilton, but it tastes better. I have read that some people like FondX and Pettinice, but since I can't get them in Canada (without paying silly amounts of money) I have never used them. I can get Satin Ice here since the spring, and I have never looked back. I don't use it often enough to be a pro with it, and I have no interest in making my own although I know some people prefer that. I have bought other brands that were too soft, and I tossed them.
BTW - I love your name and avatar. I have a fur-baby too, whom I love to the ends of the earth. He's sleeping alongside me now on the couch with his head on my lap. He's got a hard life!
I love the MMF! It's forgiving, EASY to make, tastes good, keeps a long time and customers LOVE the fact the they are getting something homemade! I never tell how easy it is. I also order Satin Ice in Red and Chocolate for certain cakes because MMF is hard to dye dk. red and the Choc. tastes great and works as a great base to get to black.
But for the other colors and pastels, go with the MMF. The more you use it the better you get at it. I find using a bench scraper to fold it over and over helps with the kneading process and its much easier and neater! Less mess on my hands. 
Hope this helps and good luck!
I usually use MMF for covering my cakes and Wilton fondant for small decorations as the MMF is really too soft for detailed sculpting. I just came back from a workshop where some were using Satin Ice and some were using FondX. We all know the taste of Wilton's fondant leaves much to be desired so I sampled both the Satin Ice and FondX. Both taste similar to MMF. The Satin Ice was a little sweeter than the Fondx. The two worked up in similar style and are both a little softer than Wilton. I preferred the taste of Satin Ice and will probably start using that for decorations but will continue to cover my cakes with MMF. The recipe for chocolate MMF on CC is awesome!
Yum, I'm going right there to look it up, thanks...
I have to say that I've used the Wilton Fondant and MMF (haven't tried the other brands yet), but the best tasting medium I have used by far is modeling chocolate. It's super easy to make (easier than MMF in my opinion), but just a slight bit harder to work with in the beginning. However, I have to say the results are definitely well worth the effort. It sets up beautifully with a slight matted sheen (if such a term exists) and looks even better a few hours after sitting in the fridge. You can use the Wilton melting chocolate discs to make it, which come in a variety of colors. If you want to change the colors or make them more vibriant just use the candy gel food coloring, it works great even with the black. I also find the stuff much more forgiving than fondant because it's easier to smooth out seams, bumps, etc. I've successfully covered and decorated 15" cakes with modeling chocolate. Best of all, my family LOVES the taste. Here's a link to a modeling chocolate covered cake that I recently made for the first time:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1275812
Tips: If you decide to try it, use Crisco'd plastic gloves and don't be afraid to dust on the cornstarch (even though most recipes suggest using cocoa with choco modeling chocolate and confectioner's sugar with the white/colored chocolate). The cornstarch works MUCH better when rolling this stuff out, and a bit of Crisco when finished gives it a nice sheen (if desired) and removes any visible cornstarch left w/o modifying the flavor.
I've also found that the easiest ratio of chocolate to corn syrup to work with is 3/4 cups of corn syrup to each lb. of chocolate. Wilton's recipe calls for 1/3 cup of corn syrup, but I find the results discouraging since, at least for me, this dries up too quickly and results in crumbly modeling chocolate. Wilton also suggests keeping it at room temp, but this works way better if stored in the fridge.
I just made MMF for the first time this past weekend and OMG was it easy and TASTY!!!! I used Rhondas Ultimate MMF and then i also made True Black MMF (both in the recipes section) and they were both super easy! and the True black made a GREAT black color with a nice chocolatey taste!
I highly recommend trying the MMF! HAVE FUN!
Very nice cake, anasasi. Are the playing cards also out of chocolate? Is it easy to roll very thin? I may have to try this on my next request for a chocolate cake. I'm still pretty sold on MMF, but a flavor/texture change occasionally would be nice. Thanks
Thanks bettinashoe : ) The cards are made out of MMF simply because I wasn't quite sure how well the food writers would work on the white chocolate and I was pressed for time (no time for re-dos and trying for a clean look).
You can roll it out just like fondant but if it's warm in the house then it's best to make sure it's well chilled so it doesn't get greasy/soft with handling. That's where the modeling chocolate is a little extra work. What I do when I roll it out thin is place in the fridge for a few minutes before additional handling. I tend to roll it out slightly thicker, trying to stay as close to an 1/8 of an inch as possible, to cover the larger cakes because it does have some weight/stretch to it, but the taste and texture is different from fondant so the thickness is really not so much of taste deterrent. Just one of the reasons why I love to use it. Tastes like super smooth fudge with the consistency something like that of a tootsie roll.
Forgot to mention that the ratio with the white chocolate/colored chocolate is different than with the dark chocolate. Instead of 3/4 of a cup of syrup to 1 lb w/dark chocolate, I use 3/4 of a cup to 1.5 lbs with the white/colored chocolate. You can store it in the fridge, well wrapped, for up to 3 weeks.
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