I needed some black fondant for cut outs. I usually just buy black. Wilton only had a small package and Duff had a bigger tub so I bought that. First time using anything of his.
The cut outs DID NOT DRY! EVER. I have never experienced this. I'm in Colorado, so humidity is not a factor.
Is his stuff not for cut outs or what? I am so angry and embarrassed in the end result. He totally screwed me over and I will not buy anything of his again.
I will admit I cannot remember if I added gum tex or not. But in any case, how many amateurs even know to do that? And that's his target audience, right?
It's the rainbow graduation cake in my photos if you want to see it.
Sorry to hear about your experience. I haven't ever used his products, but your cake looks great!
Well, personally, if I'm doing cut outs that I need to be stiff when dry, I always add tylose, no matter what brand of fondant I was using. I'm guessing this is your mistake in not doing so, rather than his product. Fondant alone shouldn't dry out to be hard, it has to remain edible!
Yeah, maybe..but I've never had Wilton fondants cut outs not dry. Ever.
I mean, if his product is not meant for that..I don't know...people need to know that somehow. I read the tub after the fact, and no....
This melted in the sun pretty quick too. Again, Colorado in early June. Not hot or humid.
MMF will dry hard, if you have a week or so. The pieces being soft enough to mold to the curve of the cake wasn't such a bad thing though...if the tier had been taller, the softness wouldn't have mattered at all.
I saw that you mentioned something about your buttercream in the photo description. Have you tried the Melvira method with the foam roller?
Yeah that bottom tier should have been taller. That tier is actually a dummy I made with a bunch of cake circles. The tier and the templates for the cutouts were all measured....I don't know what happened...if the dummy compressed??? Yet another learning experience, I guess.
I am familiar with the Melvira method, tho I don't use it. I should look that up again. I mostly just do the Viva or just parchment paper method.
Seriously, it did not look that bad in real life. 
I hate learning experiences! Lol.
Yeah, he should market it as rolled buttercream instead of fondant. It takes a good week to dry it. And it is near impossible to get it off the table once you cut something out. But all that being said, I love it. It's all I ever cover a cake with.
Want a little tip? I mix it half & half with Wilton's cheap stuff. Helps to give the Duff fondant some backbone & the Wilton some flexibility.
Hope you will give it another try. 
the same thing happened to me only with his red fondant. I had to cut out stripes for a 4th of July cake last year and it took forever because they kept stretching. I too never had that problem with other fondant.
Its funny though that this year I pulled out this fondant (keep in mind this over a year old now) and it worked great for some accents I did. It had hardened just enough. Still very flexible though.
Just like there are many BC recipes, there are also many ways to make fondant--both homemade & commercially.
Duff's is just different--not better, not worse. It has it's place.
It's a candy melt based fondant with about 35% more FAT in it than regular fondant.
It acts much more like modeling chocolate/candy clay.
It doesn't really dry and adding gums to it (tylose/cmc/gum trag/gumtex) doesn't do much of anything, either.
It's more heat sensitive than other fondants and it will get very shiny and/or melt in higher heat.
Because of these properties, it also doesn't form elephant skin, it can be mended well using the heat of your hand, and for beginners it allows a longer working time.
I love it for covering boards because if I nick the board DAYS after it's been covered, I can still fix it 
If I want it stiffer, I, too, will add some Wilton (that I've added tylose to). The Duff's is so color concentrated that the color doesn't lighten much at all and it does hold it's shape much better.
HTH
Rae
I don't think Duff, who is a pro in this business would purposely screw up people. He would know better.. If something you bought does not work for any specific purpose other than the obvious, it does not necessarily mean you were ripped off or fooled by the maker.
In my experience, fondant gets hard but only after a week or so... We all learn from all our bad experience, so maybe next time this won't happen again.
I've used the brown, red and purple fondant by duff and they've all dried over night with no problems.
Similar experience with Michele Foster's recipe. I am realizing now that it has cream and butter in it, added Tylose and left pieces to dry overnight...they were slightly harder but certainly not enough for what I needed. Lesson learned. I am sorry you had to learn the hard way as well.
Fondant is not gumpaste. nuff said.
There is a major difference, and I have never known for fondant to "advertise" it's drying capabilities. For dryness you definately want gumpaste or half and half.
I would hope you can recant your statement thet Duff, himself, actually screwed you. His fondant is prized for the pliability, not stiffness.
Don't HATE mistakes, look at them as learnable experiences...
I understand your frustration, but it is more user error than anything. Before I am going to use a new medium, I make sure to test it before I will need to use it to make sure that it performs as needed or research it from others. I would never depend on fondant for decorations that need to be dried as there are so many variables that can effect it drying. If you need something to be solid and dried, use gumpaste. Or if you do use fondant, it needs atleat 1 week to dry, depending on the brand.
As you can find in many posts on here, each brand of fondant acts differently, even in just covering a cake.
Stephanie
Not really seeing how Duff screwed you.
So different brands of fondant behave differently?...no big deal, its not all that surprising is it?. Surely you wouldn't try a completely different brand of fondant and expect it to be identical to the last brand? I would think most people would approach a product theyve not used before with a try it and see approach. You didnt like it for cut-outs?...thats fine, just dont use it for that again. Or you didn't like it at all?...also fine, just don't buy it again.
[quote="MikeRowesHunny"]Well, personally, if I'm doing cut outs that I need to be stiff when dry, I always add tylose, no matter what brand of fondant I was using. I'm guessing this is your mistake in not doing so, rather than his product. Fondant alone shouldn't dry out to be hard, it has to remain edible
Wow, you people are really mean. The OP just came here to vent about learning a hard lesson, not to get crapped on by know-it-alls. I may be new to this forum, but I don't see the need for the holier-than-though attitude here.
To the OP- I agree about the Duff fondant. The first time I used it I was unpleasantly surprised with its stretchiness. I even gave it a second go, as I liked the taste, but have had to abandon it.
...the title of the thread is a bit over the top, I think people react to unnecessarily dramatic threads.
I do not think that any of the comments to the OP are giving her a hard time or anything else other than sharing information that might help her in the future
I have used all of Duff's fondant and gumpaste products and plan to keep using them. I do mix Duff's fondant with the Wilton fondant and it gives a great fondant to cover cakes with and no dreaded elephant skin. I have also used the same mixture and added Gumtex and it will stiffen up to allow cutouts. No, it won't dry like gumpaste, it will stay slightly flexible, but that does have it's benefits.
As was previously pointed out, Duff didn't personally do anything to you. He has a line of fondant and due to your not having used it before, you didn't know how it would work for the project you were working on. I learned a long time ago to NEVER try a new recipe or product for a customer's cake UNTIL I have worked with it and tested it out to see what it will do and if it will do what I want it to do. I also research things and read alot about new products I am thinking about trying to see what others have said.
That being said, I feel sorry for the OP in that she was really upset about the finished product and can understand her frustration with a new product, but the subject title was very misleading and in my opinion wrong to slander another cake decorator in this manner.
I did overnuke his fondant one time when I was making tires. My hands were entirely covered in black and 3 days later when they were put on the car, they were mush. Having said that, I learned not to be much more careful when working with it and just not nuke it as much. It will stay stiffer and I just put extra sugar on my mat before cutting anything out. It is easier to work with it a bit stiffer, but I love that I dont' have to cover it within seconds or have it become elephant skin. And it tastes great. I think it just takes some trial and error to get it to where it has a consistency you like. If you leave the rest in the container now, it will continue to stiffen little by little for quite a while, so just test it now and then and see how you like the different consistencies too. Like I said, I use lots of sugar with it, then when I'm done, I wet a paper towel and wash it down. It does not leave wet streaks or shiny spots on it, just a perfect black color.
As was previously pointed out, Duff didn't personally do anything to you. He has a line of fondant and due to your not having used it before, you didn't know how it would work for the project you were working on. I learned a long time ago to NEVER try a new recipe or product for a customer's cake UNTIL I have worked with it and tested it out to see what it will do and if it will do what I want it to do. I also research things and read alot about new products I am thinking about trying to see what others have said.
That being said, I feel sorry for the OP in that she was really upset about the finished product and can understand her frustration with a new product, but the subject title was very misleading and in my opinion wrong to slander another cake decorator in this manner.
*nodding* 
Of course I chose the title for drama and attention. I was seriously pissed that day, and honestly felt mislead and betrayed by HIM. As a matter of fact, this happened June 2nd and I am still really bothered by it. Isn't the saying it isn't slander if its true??
I also wanted others to hear about my experience and learn. As I mentioned before, this isn't posted in the Business section....I'm an amateur. I want to share experiences.
The cake in question is from the 2011 wilton yearbook. The instructions call for fondant.
I do appreciate everyone's tips & comments....you can bet I'll never have soft cutouts again!
Wow, you people are really mean. The OP just came here to vent about learning a hard lesson, not to get crapped on by know-it-alls. I may be new to this forum, but I don't see the need for the holier-than-though attitude here.
To the OP- I agree about the Duff fondant. The first time I used it I was unpleasantly surprised with its stretchiness. I even gave it a second go, as I liked the taste, but have had to abandon it.
Oh yeah ! and everything said in the original post was very nice and not mean.. esp the titile.
I needed some black fondant for cut outs. I usually just buy black. Wilton only had a small package and Duff had a bigger tub so I bought that. First time using anything of his.
The cut outs DID NOT DRY! EVER. I have never experienced this. I'm in Colorado, so humidity is not a factor.
Is his stuff not for cut outs or what? I am so angry and embarrassed in the end result. He totally screwed me over and I will not buy anything of his again.
I will admit I cannot remember if I added gum tex or not. But in any case, how many amateurs even know to do that? And that's his target audience, right?
It's the rainbow graduation cake in my photos if you want to see it.
yes I know I don't like his fondant at all, I purchase the black one to make a cake for a graduation and the fondant never got hard at all. and the white is not white is like an off white and is super soft i just don't like it.
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