THE BEST FROM SCRATCH HOMEMADE ROLLED FONDANT RECIPE

When you see cake competitions in television shows or edible modelled decorations in bright colours, the cake decorators have used rolled fondant. It is not really that hard on smaller cakes and as you build your skills and learn techniques you will discover it is not really that difficult to make or use. Advanced skills like those of ton the TV shows, took years of classes and practice to be mastered. Fondant icing has a beautiful satiny finish, can be coloured and have flavouring added, similar to buttercream icing. There are many recipes for fondant, and you will learn which ones you like to make, which ones are more complicated to make or arenfinicky to work with. Some fondant recipes are cooked and others are uncooked, some pour over a cake and others are rolled out like play dough or pastry and draped over a cake. Cakes that are covered with a fondant icing are first sealed with another spread to keep the colour and flavours of the cake from seeping into your icing and to smooth out or camouflage any uneven cake surfaces that would show through your fondant.

Most cakes are first covered with a buttercream icing, some are covered with ganache and some bakers even use an apricot glaze or marzipan depending on the cake they are decorating. Leaving out the undercoat is not a shortcut. All the natural texture of your cake will show through and ruin the look of your fondant.

Kneading 

One word used a lot in the directions for rolled fondant recipes and decorating techniques is knead. This means to use your hands to massage, press, fold and stretch clay, dough or icing as one blob or mass to make it all the same. For instance drops of colour can be kneaded into fondant to gradually spread the colour evenly throughout the fondant.  Colouring must be kneaded in! 

Prep time: 1 hour + resting overnight
Yield: 2lbs 8oz Fondant

Fondant can be quite expensive. If you like to decorate cakes but do not like to pay an arm and a leg for premade fondant then this is for you.

Ingredients

1 tbsp gelatin
2 ozs water, room temperature
4 ozs corn syrup
1 tbsp glycerin
1 tsp extract
2 lbs icing sugar
as needed shortening

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Instructions

1. Bloom gelatin in the cold water.
2. Add corn syrup and gelatin. Mix well to combine.
3. Mix in almond extract.
4. Mix in sugar a little at a time with metal spoon until the spoon cannot mix it anymore.
5. Rub hands with shortening and knead until smooth and pliable. Add a little more sugar if it is too sticky.
6. Can be used immediately but is best if allowed to rest overnight.