Purchased from your local grocery shop or made to your own special recipe, fondant icing is a very popular choice for wedding cakes and for other "special occasion" cakes. Drying to a smooth alabaster finish, it can be applied to cakes of all shapes and provides the perfect base for the most inticate or simplest of decoration.
Fondant icing is a soft sugar-based icing that is normally rolled out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch, draped over the cake and smoothed and pressed into place before being trimmed to fit perfectly.
In spite of the fact that fondant cake decorations are ideal for a wedding cake, fondant icing can be difficult to work with so here are just a few tips to help you get that perfect result.
Tip 1. Always store and use fondant icing at room temperature.
Tip 2. Fondant icing should be stored in a plastic bag (or covered in a non-permeable plastic wrap such as Sara wrap) and placed in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying out. The container should be kept at room temperature and should never be refrigerated. If the icing does dry out and harden it can often be revived by putting it into a microwave oven for a few seconds and then kneading the life back into it.
Tip 3. For cakes by several tiers, each tier should be iced individually before the cake is assembled. It is also a good idea, when the final design permits, to store the tiers separately and then to assemble them only when the cake is involved.
Tip 4. For a really professional finish, and to hide any rough edges, make a decorative border to go around the cake and, in particular, to mask the join between individual tiers.
Tip 5. Fondant icing has a tendency to dry out very fast and needs to be applied to the cake quickly (within at most 5 minutes) after it has been rolled out. Once applied, the cake can be stored without problem for several days at room temperature.
Tip 6. For a smooth and flawless result, ensure the working surface, rolling pin and hands are both clean and lint free. long hair, jewelry on your fingers or wrists, long fingernails and fluffy clothing may all cause problems.
Tip 7. Before the cake is covered with fondant a thin layer of icing known as a "crumb coat" should be applied. This produces a sticky surface for the fondant icing to stick to.
When contemplating the quantity of fondant icing required try to have too much icing rather than too little, as excess icing can be stored for use at a later date.
In general, for 3 1/2 inch high cake layers a 12 inch diameter round cake will need about 3 pounds of icing, while a 6 inch diameter square cake will need about 2 pounds of icing.
For some people fondant cake decorations, despite their fantastic appearance, are somewhat bland in taste and this can be solved by adding flavoring, often accompanied with coloring. There are a large number of flavorings available and typically to flavor one pound of icing you can add 1/2 cup of toasted chopped walnuts or almonds, 1 or 2 teaspoons of vanilla, almond extract or orange flower water or 1/3 cup of hazelnut or peanut butter.
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