Fondant or Buttercream?

It's definitely a question that bakers all over fight over. While each medium has its benefits both have definite drawbacks too. Personally, as far as eating cake goes, I prefer buttercream 10 times out of 10. To me, fondant tastes like a cross between flavorless bubble gum and those little orange circus peanuts and I peel it off the cake. Not exactly what I want to eat. Both fondant and buttercream can be flavored though, but the texture really does stay the same. For sculpting, fondant wins hands down. Making detailed 3D figures is truly what fondant/gumpaste is made for. They hold up well, are easy to mold, and work well as smaller accent pieces.

Let's compare the taste issue by looking at what exactly goes into each one:
Fondant: glucose (corn syrup), powdered sugar, and water.
Gumpaste: glucose (corn syrup), powdered sugar, gumtex, and water.
Buttercream: butter, shortening, cream, and powdered sugar.

You can see why the fondant and gumpaste alone wouldn't have a great taste. Adding extracts (vanilla, almond, lemon, etc.) can greatly improve that issue. The texture though is inherent to the medium, just no changing that. Buttercream too can be a bit plain without extracts, maybe a little too sweet, but there's no beating the texture of a silky smooth frosting.

Each baker has their own style and will prefer to work with a specific medium, whether it's fondant, buttercream, or even those crazy Europeans and their marzipan, but a great baker will know when to make use of or limit each to best highlight the flavor of the cake, as well as the taste of the consumer. Cause some crazy people actually like the taste of fondant.

As you can see, buttercream frosting with a fondant ACCENT piece. :D Still yummy

Not Just for S'mores Anymore!

Let me just put this out there, I'm a buttercream frosting kind of girl. To me there's nothing better than a big ol' corner piece of cake, other than maybe a corner piece of cake with ice cream! I personally don't like the taste of fondant but I have to admit, it does make a beautiful end product. I mean, what's the point of eating a cake if there's no frosting and you just pull off the fondant?! But, sometimes you just have to use fondant and when that time comes, there's marshmallow fondant. Yep, fondant made out of marshmallows. I swear, it really does taste like marshmallows (but it does still have the same texture as other fondants for those of you with texture issues). While it tastes way better than regular fondant, it melts a little bit more easily so it's not quite as versatile but great for indoor parties!

Fondant TP roll 1st anniversary cake

Marshmallow Fondant
8 oz mini marshmallows (if you plan on coloring the fondant, get similar colored marshmallows)
1 lb (4 C) powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
2 T water
Flavors/extracts/colors (vanilla, lemon, chocolate, peanut butter, etc)

In a large microwave safe bowl melt the marshmallows for about 1 minute. Stir with a silicone spatula until all the little 'mallows are melted. Add the flavors/extracts/colors at this point if you are only making one color or flavor for this batch, otherwise add those after the powdered sugar.

Add the powdered sugar 1 C at a time and carefully stir it in. Continue to add sugar until it won't take anymore. Scrape the mixture out on to a work surface that has been very much covered/dusted with powdered sugar. Dust your hands with sugar too, and start kneading that sticky mess of marshmallows with the rest of the sugar that wouldn't stir in. Continue to knead until the fondant is smooth, elastic, and not super sticky. Too much sugar here will make the fondant stiff and difficult to work with.

*If you are making multiple batches of flavors/colors, split up the fondant and shape each one into a disk. You'll knead the flavors and colors in with your hands so gloves would be a great idea at this point. Add the extracts/colors to the center of the disk and fold the fondant in on itself. Knead the fondant until the colors are completely incorporated and no longer streaky.

To use right away roll it out on a powdered sugar covered surface. To store for later wrap tightly with plastic cling wrap and keep in the fridge. You'll need to microwave it for 10-15 seconds and knead it a bit before rolling it out after you take it out of the fridge.

Once it's rolled out, roll it on to the rolling pin and unroll over your cake that has been crumb coated (and the crumb coat should have 'crusted' by now). Smooth the fondant on with your hands starting from the top down smoothing out any pleats and wrinkles as you go and pressing it lightly into the cake. Cut the extra off of the bottom (I use a sharp pizza wheel cutter). Get out your plastic fondant smoother and go back over the fondant to take out any leftover fingerprints and wrinkles. Cut off any excess fondant. I stick mine in the fridge at this point to firm the crumb coat and make sure it sticks to the fondant.

At this point you cant decorate the rest with buttercream (YUM) or other fondant decorations. There are tons of little tools to make flowers and molds to make borders that will make your cake stand out!