Hello ladies,

I'm a nouveau cake decorator it's been 5 months since I took the cake decorating courses though I've been making sweets almost my entire life.

Let me give you an introduction of my situation so that you know what I'm talking about. I live in a country where only the basic cake decorating materials exist so I mostly have to think of alternatives. i.e no marshmallow so I make it from scratch and so on. No pre-made fondant or gumpaste is available.

Problem 1: I have tried 5 different fondant recipes (from scratch) and non seemed to work. All of them would tear the moment I roll it. Only one worked for me (Jacques Torres' recipe) but it wasn't great. I don't have glucose so I use light corn syrup, I don't have glycerin so I tried the recipes without it. When I make Jacques' recipe it's always too soft that I can't even smooth the fondant covered cake with the fondant smoother fearing it would tear to pieces. I even tried making marshmallow from scratch and made fondant with it. However, when I placed it on top of the cake, it had too many wholes and cracks and the Swiss meringue butter cream melted because of heat (although AC & fan were on) so I had to remove it and throw it away.

Problem 2: The same thing happened with made from scratch gumpaste. It is too soft, I can't roll it as it would tear, I can only make figures and handmade flowers with it.

Could it be that I need to add more powder sugar to the recipes but when I do I feel the past (fondant and/ or gumpaste) is too dry.

Please help me with any advice, idea or simply any thought that you have cause I don't like to give up on anything and I want to really become a great cake decorator and do wonderful cake designs.

I really appreciate your help and deeply thankful in advance

No one has any ideas, tips, solutions?? Some brides are asking me to make their wedding cakes and I can't say yes unless I can figure this problem out. All of them are asking for cakes with fondant and flowers.

Ladies, I really need you help in here........ :"(

I don't have any advice for you, as I am not experienced at all with decorating with fondant but I hope someone will see your post and can provide help/advice to you in time.

Good luck and best wishes

Many thanks tigachu, it's very sweet that you cared enough to leave a replay

You might want to ask for help in the Cake Decorating Forum with a different subject title... this title may appear to be asking others for their disaster stories.

Have you tried Michele Fondant's recipe? It's amazing, especially when you add white chocolate to it. You will need to get some glycerin though but that can be purchased online. If you buy it in bulk you may be able to justify the shipping as you only need 2 tablespoons/recipe so a large bottle would last a very long time. To make gum paste I use the same fondant and add tylose. Good luck!

I don't know what country you are in, but I would suggest ordering online from somewhere that will ship to you. If you are offering something that no one else in your area can offer because the materials aren't available, you could charge enough to make up for the shipping.

I can't help you with the recipe though, I made my own 3 times, and decided it just wasn't worth it. The pre made stuff is much more predictable and saves me so much time. Good luck in your quest. I hope someone can help you with a good recipe if purchasing it isn't an option.

CWR41,

I thought something was off. Many thanks for the tip, I will transfer it to Cake Decorating forum with a different title

Cherrycakes,

Thanks so much for getting back to me. I looked for Michele's recipe and I got to say this is my first time reading about a fondant recipe with cream. It looks interesting. Would you know if I can do it without glycerin, I've read n some blogs that you can skip adding glycerin to your fondant and in others they say it's a must. That's why I've never used a recipe that required glycerin. The reason is I can't buy anything online cause there is a 90% chance that it would be stolen in the costumes. One the many harsh realities of living in Yemen. That's why I always look for alternatives for almost everything .

Regarding Tylose, we also don't have it here so I usually use gum Arabic. Do you think it is the reason why my gumpaste breaks?? I've read in many blogs that it is a substitute to tylose powder.

Thanks so much for taking the time and reading my posts.

Sarah

Mom2twogrlz,

I live in Aden, Yemen and yes, fondant is not popular in here though more people are requesting it nowadays. Online orders are not an option but I managed to ask my brother to ship me some fondant from KSA, but it is not a good solution for the long run. I have to make it better otherwise I'd be stuck like now. Brides are asking me whether I can make their cakes and I can't answer cause the shipment from Saudi will Take time. I need to figure out why does my fondant always comes out too soft though it clearly has enough sugar in it and why it tears.

Thanks for your input

Is marzipan an option for you?

Thank you very much Tokazodo for replying.

Around 4 years ago I made marzipan from scratch and wasn't very found of it though it tastes much better than fondant. See the thing is in spite of all the hardships I faced because of fondant I don't want to give up on it. I like it's smooth whitish texture a lot and I love making flowers and figures with it. I know that eventually I will get the hang of it (cause I never give up on anything I like ^_^) I simply need to find out what I do wrong and the precise RIGHT way of making it and I'll make it right