Hi, Everyone!! I'm new to this site - I love it! - and was just wondering, when you have fondant covered cakes, do you take the fondant off before you cut the cake for serving?? Just getting started into cakes and this is a burning question!

Thanks!!
J.Ro.

Nope...the fondant is soft enough to cut through to serve with each piece, however, it is easy enough to peel right off if the person doesn't want to eat it. Welcome!!!

Hi J.Ro.
Welcome to CC Family,
I was also curious about that.
Thanks adven68.


Nitu

Hi There and Welcome To CC!!!


Fondant is an aqquired taste....You either like it or you don't.I personally am not crazy about the taste but it sure does make a nice looking cake!!!

We don't eat the fondant. I flavor my mmf so it ends up tasting like taffy. It's great, but a layer of taffy on frosted cake is just too much sweet. I look at fondant as a pretty coat for the cake to wear until it's to be eaten.

Yea, it think it's just a matter of taste. I just made my first fondant cake last week in my course III class. I didnt like the taste at all. I sent the cake home with friends and they didnt like it either. But I used Wilton fondant and I've heard the other brands taste much better, so I dont know......I might like another brand better. The wilton just didnt do it for me.

I think whether or not you expect it to be eaten will depend primarily on the fondant you use or make. I haven't bought any packaged fondant, so I can't speak on those types but I have made MMF and I've made the "from scratch" version from the "Well Decorated Cake" book by Toba Garrett. As noted here I found the MMF way too sweet while the scratch fondant was quite palatable.

Now personally - and this is simply my view, other will differ I'm sure - I don't like the thought that people eating the cake need to peel off the outer shell. Some folk will, regardless of what you use, remove the fondant simply because they don't want that much sugar even if it tastes acceptable or they just don't have a sweet tooth or they're counting calories, whatever. Still, I'd prefer there not be a bunch of plates on the table with peeled off icing, it would give the impression people didn't really care for the desert.

So I'd think using the best tasting fondant and letting people enjoy the complete slice set in front of them is something to aim for. There are more than one or two recipes and packaged brands out there, I'd say try out a few on your more reliable and honest "guinea pig" friends and see what they like or don't.

I think it depends on the fondant and on the person eating the cake. I've found that kids love it for the most part and most people eat the Satin Ice. The Wilton didn't go over too well. I made mmf one time and the kids ate it ~ i thought it tasted like powdered sugar. Of course, some people can't get past the texture of the fondant.

Debbie

Hi, I've used fondant several times...the first time I used Wilton's Prepared Box type...nobody liked it! When I found CC I took the advice of many fellow cake decorators and flavored the fondant with candy flavorings and the same people said it tasted great! I haven't had time to try the MMF yet but plan to in the very near future

ChrisJ ~ what type and how much flavoring did you use on the Wilton fondant? I've tried flavoring but could never get it right.

Debbie

I put Lorann Flavored Oils...Strawberry (since it was a strawberry cake) and put in about 3 drops. The fondant became slightly sticky so I dusted on about 1 tsp of powdered sugar into it. The flavor gets stronger after a day.

Thanks! Maybe I just didn't let it sit long enough. I use the oils too and didn't like the sticky part either. Oh well - I found Satin Ice that way.

Debbie

Rainbowz, I went and bought some gelatin packets after reading your post the other day. I'm going to try and find the recipe for Toba's fondant. Thanks for the info!

..it al boils down to personal preference. Some people you will find that eat it and others that don't! I think MMF is WAY sweet and Satin Ice is WAY perfect...but, of course, that is just my opinion!

Like Miss Missey said, it's a personal preference. I only make fondant cakes and I don't eat fondant. . . go figure! I always leave the fondant on the plate, just not a crumb or trace of anything else though!
IMHO, fondant gives cakes a classy smooth look, that is rarely achived with other mediums.

Good luck

I think whether or not the fondant is consumed depends on the taste, texture and thickness. If it's a bad tasting fondant people tend to leave it after the initial bite. Some people do not like the chewy texture fondant has. As for the thickness, if it's rolled out to thick it can literally be a bit much.

I have switched to Virgin Ice Fondant. It's a better tasting fondant than Wilton's and it's very easy to work with. I know a lot of people swear by only using a thin coat of buttercream under their fondant. However, I swaer by a thick undercoat of buttercream and a thin layer of fondant. I find the fondant is a but more palatable that way.

I have To disagree with that statement. I think there are lots of great looking classy cakes that are decorated with other mediums such as buttercream, royal icing etc. I think how classy a cake looks is has more to do with the expertise of the person decorating the cake, the time that's put in to decorating, the design of the cake along with a few other variables. You want proof of this? Look in the Photo gallery and I am sure you will find a number of 'classy smooth' looking cakes that have been decorated by the talented folks there. In addition earlene moore has created a number of classy smooth looking cakes using buttercream.

I had a friend of mine that was getting married and a number of cake decorators told her the same thing. She asked me my opinion on the matter and I told her flat out that it's a misconception that fondant is the only icing that can create a smooth elegant look. It's usually the cake decorators that want brides to spend the extra money it takes to make a fondant covered cake. Or they Are not very experienced with the techniques it takes to achieve that look using other types of icings other than fondant. Having told her that, she did more searching until she found a cake decorator in her area that made her a lovely cake decorated with buttercream.


Princess

P.S. Alengirl just so you know I am speaking in general. I am not making any personal comments towards you about your level of expertise or any such thing.

I don't like to eat it myself, but I definately serve it intact. I usually can't watch my cakes being cut anyway! That took time to get it just right, I'm not going to butcher it myself!...Try the MMF recipe here. If Miss Baritone was on we could ask her what recipe she uses, as she is from England where they use Fondant and another type of royal icing more often than buttercream.

My family doesn't like to chew icing, so it's rare that I do fondant on cakes. If I do I always do a regular layer of buttercream under it. I never take it off before serving. If someone doesn't want to eat it they can eat around it.