The fondant will not beat me!

I can't wait to hear other's tips because I feel like I could have written your post word for word.
 

Worse bakers nightmare!! I was making a twilight cake awhile back and dyed my fondsnt black... Horrible. I mean I used to make my own fondant however I don't anymore. Wilton is horrible at covering cakes or doing anything (in my opinion) I was using MM fondant but sometimes it was smooth and sturdy other times too elastic and wasn't giving it the finish I wanted. Then I tried making the almond fondant with the glucose, loved it, a bit too dry for my taste and a little expensive to make.

then I discovered Satin Ice. And safe to say that is all I use now. I am all about making my things from scratch, and was (still am at times) on budgets for my cakes however it is a great help to not have to make it and kneed and kneed and kneed and kneed to get the consistency I want/need. 

Online they have great prices for it I get tubs of the white or buttercream kind and one tub of the black and red (I find these colors the hardest to dye) they run for about 50-55 or so for the 20 pound tubs. It's an investment but you make it back and more with the cakes you make and you can use it and it preserves and lasts for long. I absolutely love it.

-Michelle 

I make my own marshmallow fondant (with candy melts added for color), and roll it with 'The Mat'. I only have the small one which I got for $6 plus shipping on eBay. 

I like Satin Ice too. It tastes a lot better than the Wilton stuff (that's not saying much though). It's great to work with if you knead it a bit before you use it.  I believe the new formulation can be frozen too, so that's a big bonus if you need to pop your cake in the freezer at all. They sell big tubs in several colours, so if they have a colour you like you don't have to go through the colour-matching process. I don't think you'll be able to find it at Michaels, but if there is specialty cake store in your area they probably stock it. Or like FromScratch04 said, you could try online.

If you're colouring fondant and you want a colour that is not too dark, you might try taking some pre-coloured packaged fondant and mixing that in to your white fondant. It's a bit easier than working with gels. I think Wilton sells little packs of "neon" fondant colours. They are a bit bright on their own, but mixed in with white they  go pastel coloured (e.g. neon pink mixed with white makes light pink.)

Good luck, you will beat the fondant!

I make my own MM fondant and have a very good recipe.  For black, dark brown and red, I use the Duff fondant at Michael's. (with my 40% coupon) I find it a little greasier than my home made fondant, but making those dark colors is a nightmare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moopig23 

Thank you so much everyone for your tips. I know a lot seem to favor the homemade fondant but I keep seeing it can be inconsistent. And I still have yet to have any training, just been figuring things out on my own through books mostly. I went to the suggested website to check out the satin ice pricing. Twenty lbs of the white is under $55 when I spent $22 (did use the coupon so it was cheaper but I did buy a black one as well and only got 25 percent off that one) on the duff fondant which was only 2 lbs.
So far, the glucose is definitely NOT the answer. Waaaaaay too sticky, made the Wilton fondant worse than ever. So, crossing my fingers with my last attempt to salvage this batch of fondant, I began to mix a little Duff into the Wilton trying to get it as close to equal portions as possible. I have not covered the cake just yet. But so far, it is looking like it is working. As I am kneading the two together, the edges are smooth and not crumbly. Yes, it is pretty greasy, I will agree but man oh man was I at my wit's end with this stupid fondant.
I will see how covering the cake goes. If it cracks, I think I will lose it. But as I was kneading the mixture of the two, I felt such relief. And instantly when I took the Duff out of the package, it smelled sooooo yummy. All I have ever known is Wilton so I was so intrigued right off the bat with this, really. The only thing that will absolutely prevent me from ever buying this again unless it is an emergency is the price. This 2 lbs does not go far at all for the ridiculous price. But in this moment, I am thankful for its existence. This was certainly a temporary fix and will not be a permanent solution for me. I plan on ordering the satin ice and giving that a try. Again, thank you all for your help. Means a lot. Guess I better head back to the kitchen now to see if I can get this monster of a cake covered!

Let us know how it goes!! I have never used Duff but I just don't do justice for his pricing, coupon or not (that's just me). Satin ice 2 pounds is 14.99 where I'm at (Texas) and now they even have a one pound for 8 bucks and it goes a long way I use it for figures (they also have chocolate fondant) I mean their products are great! Upgrade to SI I promise you will have less of a headache and better results! If you can't find a small sample I can send you one of the 1LB boxes I have so you can try it, PM if you're interested!

I've seen Satin Ice in Sur La Table if you have one of those nearby, and the occasional tub in Homegoods. 

I've noticed that the addition of color, depending on how much tends to throw off the texture of fondant (even gum paste). I had the worst experience once with home-made fondant, tried mixing Satin Ice in with no luck. Add to that the fact that I was trying to cover a 4 inch round. Bad experience. These days when I want to color fondant, I try to do so a couple of days before I need to use the fondant. So it rests for a day or two. It does two things: allows the color to develop so I know how dark or light the color addition is (and if I need to add more color or not), and it also allows the fondant to cool. Ever noticed how fondant gets warm and 'teary' after you've kneaded and kneaded in the color or sugar, it's a bit more of a pain to work with when it's been over-worked so giving it a day or 2 between coloring, and covering helps. When I finally want to use, I only knead just enough to get it soft. I use a silicone mat so I'm not adding too much corn starch (sugar doesn't work for me). So far so good.

I feel your pain.   My first 3 tier fondant cake with Wilton fondant took 4 tries.  After 3 years I STILL haven't tried homemade fondant.  A big part of the reason is that I am exceptionally fortunate to be near a wholesale bakery supplier that sells to hobby bakers at low prices.  (Bless their hearts!!!!)

I purchase FondX Virgin White in the 10 pound bucket.  I color the White with the Wilton or Americolor gel colors to get specific pastel or medium deep colors.  For black and red, I buy the FondX Elite 2 lb. tubs of pre-colored fondant.  Trying to get black or red is almost impossible using gel colors.

FondX and Satin Ice are very similar.  If I could purchase either one at the same price, I honestly don't know which I would prefer.  Since FondX is cheaper for me, that's what I get.

I met a FondX representative in 2010 at the International Cake Exploration Societe (ICES) Convention.  I was brand new to fondant and asked his advice.  This is what he told me:

Elite Fondant:  Use Powdered Sugar (NOT cornstarch, NOT Crisco)

FondX Fondant:  Use Powdered Sugar and/or Crisco

CalJava makes the FondX and Elite products.  They quite often have sales if you sign up for their emails.

(I'll separate the email address with spaces in case it gets "blocked"):  cal java online . com

Another place that often has sales on fondant is http://sweetwise.com/

(they are having a sale right now!)  Sweetwise also makes superb videos on using fondant.

Another excellent online supplier, they have marvelous customer service and great prices and reasonable shipping is (I'll separate the email address with spaces in case it gets "blocked"):  fondant source . com

Shop around online for either FondX or Satin Ice for the best prices and shipping costs.