Sugarcrafting here and there....

I have to admit, when I first started sugar crafting, my knowledge about it was completely zero. I even thought that fondant is another name for marzipan.... Little did I know that marzipan is made from   almond and fondant is from icing sugar.

Fondant is very sweet and often used as outer covering of the icing of cake. It is however more elegant and more often used as a decorative tool to cover unusual cake shapes. As marzipan is made from almond, it tastes better and is often  used to line a fruit cake to seal the moisture and prevent staining to the fondant. So if you are lining a fruit cake, it is a must to line it first with a marzipan, followed with fondant on the outer layer. Whereby when you are lining a sponge cake, you could use either fondant or marzipan as the outer layer. However some bakers used both, the inner marzipan and the outer fondant to give a smooth effect on the outside.

Once cake is lined with fondant, it is best to keep it in a box at room temperature. Do not store the cake in the fridge since it tends to soften the fondant and turn it into a goey texture.

Just a little bit knowledge on quantity of fondant or marzipan needed to cover a cake when rolled to 5mm thickness...

size                             type of cake                      quantity needed

8 inches                      round                                900g
8 inches                      square                               1000g
9 inches                      round                                1000g
9 inches                      square                               1250g

So enough of my ramblings and straight to the tutorial today; :) I normally just buy the prepared fondant from the shop rather than making them myself. However, if you would like to make it yourself, here is the recipe.

Fondant recipe (makes 1 kg)
60 ml cold water
1 sachet powdered gelatine
125ml liquid glucose
15ml glycerine
1kg icing sugar

Method
1. Place water in the bowl, sprinkle over gelatine and soak until spongy. Stand the bowl over a hot saucepan with water and stir until the gelatine is dissolved. Add glucose and glycerine until blended.
2. put the icing sugar in large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add liquid ingredient in the middle.
3. turn out the the content of the bowl into a surface dusted with icing sugar. Knead the paste until it is smooth.

The fondant can be used immediately or be kept in the air tight container for 2 weeks. I normally keep mine in a sealed plastic bag and store it in the plastic container.

In order to create decorations to the cake lined by fondant, "modelling paste" is used. Modelling paste are more versatile paste which keeps its shape better and dries harder than sugarpaste fondant. So to create flowers for cake decoration you need to use modelling paste.

Modelling paste recipe (Makes 4oz)
4oz fondant
1/2 tsp gum tragacanth

Make a well in the fondant, add gum tragacanth and kneed well and wrap the modelling paste with plastic bag for 1 hour before used.

note: if your modelling paste is too soft, add a pinch or two gum tragacanth to harden it
         if your modelling paste is too hard, add a pinch of vegetable shortening or cooled water to soften
         it.

Sugarpaste gum
You could create your own gum by mixing small amount of fondant with hot water. Mix it well until you form a sticky paste.