A Guide to Commercial Fondant

A Guide to Commercial Fondant

Sometimes, you simply have no time to make fondant from scratch, especially if it’s going to be for a large cake project. Good thing that you can now easily buy commercial fondant off the shelf, and there’s a lot to choose from when it comes to icing brands. Before deciding on what brand to use, know that several factors come into play when choosing the right commercial fondant brand that will work for you. Was it easy to work with? Was it a cheap buy, or was it too expensive? How did it taste?

Here’s a breakdown of the most popular commercial fondant brands that could help you choose what kind of fondant to buy:

Wilton – This brand is very cheap, but a lot of people don’t like the taste of it. Great if you are just practicing or making decorations out of fondant.

Pros:

• Available in many colors
• Very common and easily obtained
• Lower price point when compared to other brands
• Great when used to model figures instead

Cons:

• Dries out right away, and quick to form cracks and tears
• Artificial taste

FondX – A great all-around commercial fondant, also available in Elite Premium and Elite Plus

Pros:

• Pliable and easy to work with, it rolls thinly and rarely tears
• Dries to a perfectly crisp shell
• Tastes great

Cons:

• Not accessible since it is not readily available even in cake decorating stores
• Too expensive

Bakels Pettinice – A commercial fondant that’s easy to work with and tastes great!

Pros:

• Easy to work with, and covers cake well
• Tastes great, like traditional buttercream

Cons:

• Too expensive
• Dries out very quickly

Fondarific Buttercream Fondant – Good choice for beginning cake decorators. Its softness and pliability are forgiving to those who are still perfecting their craft.

Pros:

• Price point is somewhere in the middle
• Soft fondant, which can be both good or bad; it’s soft so it is very easy to work with after kneading but it cannot be used as a fondant accent due to its softness
• Wide range of colors to choose from

Cons:

• Tendency to become oily once the cake has been exposed to the sun

Duff – From Duff Goldman, celebrity chef of the Food Network show Ace of Cakes, who came up with his own line of fondant products.

Pros:

• Easy to work with
• Tastes great

Cons:

• Too expensive

Satin Ice Rolled Fondant – This is the most common brand of commercial fondant used in the US today, and has been endorsed by both celebrity pastry chefs and reality TV cake decorators.

Pros:

• Available in many colors, which is great if you want a shade that is difficult to achieve through food coloring
• Accessibility is great since you can easily buy this at many stores
• Competitive and reasonable price
• Tastes great

Cons:

• Dries out quickly, resulting to cracks

Carma Massa Ticino Tropic – Many are saying this is the cream of the crop – and for good reason!

Pros:

• Easy to work with as it rolls out thinly and does not tear
• Dries to a perfectly crisp finish
• Tastes great
• Only natural ingredients are used
• Gluten-free
• Best fondant to work with for hot or humid climates

Cons:

• A bit pricier than the others, but you only use up a little because it rolls out thinly

With the myriad of choices out there, how do you know which commercial fondant is the best for you? Well, in order to create a shortlist, you should know what it is you are looking for – are you after the taste or the appearance? Is the price point a deal breaker for you? Preference is truly subjective, and a lot of people have their own take when it comes to the best commercial fondant. Our advice? Try them all so you can experience for yourself what each would be able to contribute and bring to the table, and then make the decision on what brand to stick with.

For more help when working with fondant, click here.