Good Morning,

I would like to purchase a baking mat for rolling my fondant onto. Do any of you use the silpat or fat daddios baking mat for this purpose? I would love to order the mat from sweetwise...but I am having trouble finding it in Canada. Any thoughts on these other two that I have found?

TIA!

I was just looking for this myself last night- they are not inexpensive so any guidance/recommendation would greatly be appreciated- TIA

I don't know what the Fat Daddio's mat is like, but depending on the Silpat you get, it may leave a very slight imprint on your fondant since they usually have a texture. This may come out when smoothing though. I haven't tried rolling out fondant on one...

I do not know what size you girls are using, but my silpat mat is very smooth. The only drawback is that it is small. and also the edges kind of slope down a little. I have no idea what fat daddios is like either, but I do agree these things are not cheap. Mine was almost if not a little over 20. and it is just barely wider than my biggest cookie sheet, but not longer. in fact not as long as. if anyone knows where I can find a big square one I would love to know. TIA.

Mine are 23.5" x 15.75", same size as my oven racks/sheets, so if I were to ever use it for rolling out fondant, I could only do it for an 8" cake anyway. I haven't seen them bigger than this (but then again I haven't looked!). I just roll out on my stainless work surface using either crisco or cornflour so it doesn't stick.

I go to my local fabric store and in the upholstery section they have long rolls (up to 48 inches) of clear heavy plastic that is used for covering dining table chair seats to keep them clean. Some people also lay it over their tablecloths, especially if they have small children. The store usually has several thicknesses available. I get the heaviest. I usually buy a 4x4 piece and cut whatever sizes I need. I have several, 1x1, 2x2 up to 4x4 feet, 2x4 for drapes, etc. The small ones I lay flat when not in use and the big ones I keep on the roll the fabric store gave me. Wipe clean, no imprints, very inexpensive- a few dollars a yard.

I use the large blue Atco mat, you'll have to order it online but it's really worth it. I am in Canada as well. I have the Fat Daddio mat, it does leave an imprint so I use it as a working mat, you can cut on it without cutting it.

Sorry, I should have said this is what I use for rolling out my fondant and such on. Don't put this in your ovens, it's not a baking mat.

I get the tiny herringbone imprint when rolling on the Silpat. And when you are rolling out really thin it doesn't smooth out. And I once made the chioce to cut on it. That was an expensive mistake.

ok, the plastic sheeting from the fabric store, does it slip around on your surface that you are putting it on when you are rolling out the fondant or does it stay put? I also wonder if you did put some of that non-skid material under it if it would work with that plastic as it is so slick? That is the other thing that drives me nutty. When I am using my mat that I got from Wiltons and trying to roll fondant out with it I am wrestiling with the mat half the time. Actually more than that. I think if I did not have to wrestle with my mat I could get my fondant thinner with less effort. any ideas for non-slip mats would be great. or if my idea would work I would love to hear it and try it. I just don't have the money to buy things that are not going to work for me. I have to go now.

I have the mat from sweetwise. I found it after I ordered the ateco 697 mat. I acutally really like them both. I used only the ateco mat for my second cake and it works good. There just isn't a top over the fondant like on the mat. It's thin and works well to pick it up and lay the fondant over the cake too. I ordered it from webstaurant for cheaper than than the other sites. It got here pretty quick too. Now that I have both, I use the ateco for making/kneading my fondant, then I use the mat to roll it out and place it.

Thank you everyone for your replies/recommendations- I have been thinking about getting The Mat- now- weighing the options of The Mat, The Ateco and the plastic from the fabric store (there is one right near my house)- No dount any of these options has to be better then what I'm worklng with- (the name brand, flimsy, small sheet that I bought at Michaels)--

Thanks Guys

Mo

I love The Mat from Sweet Wise. Fron what I understand, the plastic from Micheals and other fabric stores is not food safe. You should read what Sweet Wise has to say and watch the video on their YouTube channel at

shar7599,
I have the same issue with my sweetwise mat, I always feel I'm working on the wrong side. Also for anyone purchasing a sweetwise mat, some people have had great luck right out of the gate but I had to "season" mine bit before it really worked well for me. It's kind of a like a new pair of shoes, they're a little fussy until you've worn them a couple of times.

So if you want to prep the mat...take left over or cheap fondant and roll it out in The Mat, reknead it and do that several times and it will help break the mat in. It took probably 4-6 sessions of working with the mat before it got past the dreaded pock marks that most people were having issues with. I love The Mat now that I've broken it in.

Thank-you everyone for your comments and suggestions! I need to look into my Canadian suppliers now for Ateco products...wish me luck!

I will check out the Ateco when I have some money to work with. I do have a dining table that is wood and smooth. I think it was a treated table too because it has not ever been messed up with moisture sitting on it for any length of time. I wouldn't call it super smooth. Just nicely smooth. And I do have my leaf in it as I do not like taking it out and putting it back in all the time. so I do have the seams from the leaves to work with, but that has never been a problem with my rolling out. It has always been the mat moving around. If I got a mat that would not move on me and I had problems with the seams then I would just move to my card table and roll it out there. I think it is the mat.

I've used both Sil Pat and Fat Daddio's and they are basically the same thing. I use the biggest mat to roll out my fondant.

The slight "texture" does not affect me because I do not flip the fondant upside down onto the cake....I pick it up with my hands and arms and place it on the cake rolled-side-up.

The only time the "texture" affects my work at ALL is if I am working with isomalt...I need to get a smooth mat for that. But otherwise I just really love the sil pat and Fat Daddio mat.

For cutting, I use a self-healing cutting mat from the craft store....the fondant doesn't really stick to it, and I can use an Xacto knife easily. I just set it on top of my regular mat when I need to do detail cutting. I can't believe I never had one before.

You can order the mat here they ship to Canada. I have the mat only used it a couple of times so far because I find it leaves little pock marks in the fondant. Hoping I can work it out because it is a great idea. http://www.caljavaonline.com/fondantmats1.htm

I think I will be doing good to get one mat and from the sounds of it the Ateco would be the better choice if I can only get one. Thank you again.