Fondant vs buttercream expectations - Page 3

Personally, I don't like to eat fondant along with cake, it just makes it all too sweet. Too much of a sugar bomb. I make my own fondant and I think it tastes good, but I prefer the cake to be not as sweet, and not chewy. I think for a lot of people it's the texture that puts them off more than the flavor.

 

i once had a conversation with my Staples account manager, and he started ranting and raving about how much he loved fondant. He went on and on, and I told him that he was the first person I had spoken to who loved it that much.

I can't remember the last time I had fondant on a cake that someone else made actually, but whenever I cover my cakes with it it's thin enough that it pretty much melts in the mouth. Or maybe my buttercream is just so greasy that it melts the fondant 

 

Only in the US. In other countries where fondant is a lot more traditional, it's enjoyed and disliked in about equal measure, I think. It's certainly not 'meant to be left on the plate or peeled off the whole cake before cutting. How on earth would you do that, anyway? And I can assure you that I've had very good cake.

Thank you.

Fondant is not an American custom. So I can appreciate if it is alien to many along with the taste. It is a European and particularly a British custom as we really don't do buttercream cakes. It's a rarity if someone specifically asks for a cake in buttercream. We don't have discussions about whether it should be eaten - it gets eaten as part of the cake. And our cakes are good quality scratch cakes (in the main!). It is not because our cakes "don't taste good". There are of course people that don't like to eat it and as with any other "food" item that is a personal choice. There are people here who can bear buttercream and scrape it all off before eating the cake. I can't think for the life of me who decided that sugarpaste was not meant to be eaten. Considering that sugar craft and sugarpaste are both of British origin and I have never heard that in all my years, and never in all the years I grew up with my mum doing cake, in my opinion it is factually incorrect.

I agree with this.  I constantly snack on my fondant when I make it (horrible habit, I know... but it tastes so good!) but the second it's on a cake and more than little nibbles enter my mouth, I cant stand it.  It is absolutely because of the texture.

 

I get the same reaction when I have other people sample my fondant too.  They love the fondant on its own, but dont enjoy it on a cake.  

Thin-ish sugarpaste on a ganached cake taste lovely, it's supposed to be eaten! There's usually a few people at the party/wedding who will ask for other peoples icing. Buttercream cakes are starting to trend here a bit with the younger brides, not necessarily because they don't like sugarpaste, but because they are on pinterest all the time!  They don't want it to look like sugarpaste though, it needs to look like buttercream. I think marzipan is much more divisive then sugarpaste!
 

I can only presume that most of these posts about fondant tasting awful are coming from Americans who have grown up with buttercream.  Here in Australia fondant has been used for special occasion cakes for so many years that it is considered the norm.  Virtually everyone I know eats it and enjoys it and think I am crazy cos I don't.  The almond icing has disappeared from underneath it because so many people didn't like that but the fondant has stayed.

This is probably right, fondant is relatively new here. I think it's funny that brides in the UK are asking for buttcream because it's all over pinterest, because all I see on pinterest is fondant! 

 

As far as marzipan goes, I can eat that any day, but again, maybe not on a cake so much. Texture is the issue for me. But then again, I also pick the green peppers out of food and don't eat it, but I don't think anyone other than myself would argue that they're not edible. Food is personal preference, so to get all worked up about people not liking something is pretty much a total waste of time.

I really think it all depends on the fondant you use.  I had a meeting with a hotel manager to get on their preferred vendor list.  I brought cake, mini pies. and some sugar cookies.  The 1st thing he grabbed was a sugar cookie and started proclaiming it one of the best cookies he's ever eaten.  While munching, he started firing off questions about my cake.  Then he says (while grabbing for a 3rd cookie), "fondant is disgusting, we always tell brides they should get buttercream cakes.".  I'm like, but you love my cookies, right?  Because the icing on them is my fondant.

 

He stops, looks at the cookie, then puts it down.  Looks at me, looks at the cookie, pauses a second, picks it back up, takes another big bite and says, "Well, I guess I'll start telling them to go to you for an awesome fondant cake!"

 

I make a lot of buttercream for sure, but I rarely see the fondant go uneaten when it's rolled at 1/16" an inch and it's fondant of good quality (or homemade).  It especially helps if you add some flavor to compliment the cake like some lemon or almond oil.  Lemon fondant on a sugar cookie is super tasty.

 

But let me tell you, I hate melon.  All melon.  Yuck.  And mango.  And shrimp.  Ug, I can't eat a dish that has shrimp in it, I don't even want it on my plate.  I've had it shoved in my face prepared at 5 start restaurants and guess what?  Still hate it.  So to each their own! 

yeah not a big fan of shrimp fondant either

 

and eating fondant on a cookie is a much different mouth feel than eating fondant on a cake serving--

 

americans are used to cake melting in their mouth--yes the thinner the better on the fondant for sure--

 

so long as it does not perform like chewy fondant in our mouths and melds with the icing we like it better imo

 

on a tv special about disney facilities once they showed the servers removing the fondant and tossing it in the can as part of the service--weird

 

y'know what though--i often leave the buttercream on my plate -- i just want cake & filling

 

i love dry crunchy fondant flowers & petals & stuff --not shrimp flavored though

Not a fan of shrimp either, or wine. Or coffee. I had to start making cakes so people would still invite me over for dinner.

I am right there with you on that one! I call it "picking the boogers out of it. I hate the texture of onions, too, but love the flavor they give food. I will sprinkle onion powder on anything savory, and cook caramelized onions in my soups and stews, then pick them out at the table ;-D

Ditto on the cookies with fondant! YUM! I have the best butter cookie, and with a thin piece of fondant, stuck down with a schmear of buttercream, TO DIE FOR! 

I would be up outta chair if I saw them do that to one of my cakes, I wonder if they use Wilton Fondant? BLEH!!

 

And I scrape 99% of my buttercream off, and just leave the thinnest smear of it. 

I am on my 3rd cup of coffee today. I LOVE it! I brewed it right before bed last night, and had a cup then, too! YUM!

Now see, that is the main reason I love fondant on cakes, I love the difference in texture.  

 

K8, this made me laugh SO hard!  It got me thinking though, I know there are some countries that love to make flavours of ice cream that we would think are disgusting.  I wonder if shrimp fondant is appealing over there.

 

 

 

Now that you mention it, I do like eating a freshly covered fondant cake (dont ask how or why this has happened lol).  But once I let my fondant dry and the texture changes is when it bugs me.  I wonder if there is a way for me to prevent my fondant from drying out other than using MMF.  

Amen! That's what I aim for usually, 1/16th. Sometimes I just can't, but that's what I aim for. And I flavor mine with a splash of almond oil. Honestly, the only time I've ever said the fondant was tasty is when it's MINE, or that Carma fondant we used in San Francisco.