Fondant vs buttercream

Wedding season is coming! One of the most frequent questions I get asked when meeting with brides is, "what is fondant?" Fondant is sugar and water mixed with gelatin and food-grade glycerine, which keeps the sugar pliable and creates a dough-like consistency. It's basically an edible sugar play dough.

So how does fondant work? I don't make my own fondant (yet) I buy it pre-made, called rolled fondant. (It's called rolled because you have to roll it out like pie crust to use it). You have to really knead it to make it soft and pliable. You can color it any shade using gel colors, but for wedding cakes, most brides opt for white. Once the fondant is rolled out large enough to cover the cake, it is placed gently over the cake, then smoothed over, removing the excess. The cake itself has a thin layer of buttercream frosting to allow the fondant to adhere to the cake.

Most people think fondant is the only option when it comes to decorating cakes, especially wedding cakes. From Cake Boss to My Fair Wedding, every cake show on TV uses fondant on their cakes. But fondant isn't the only way to go.

I am finding more and more brides are opting for buttercream or cream cheese frosting over fondant because fondant really doesn't taste that good. Although it is edible, fondant should really be treated like an orange. You peel the orange peel back and eat what is inside. This is the same with fondant. You peel the exterior fondant back and eat the moist cake and buttercream frosting inside. Why aren't cupcakes covered in fondant? Because people like the sweet creamy taste and texture of frosting.

For anyone that doesn't know, buttercream frosting is confectioners sugar and butter or shortening mixed with a few other ingredients. Choosing buttercream or any other frosting over fondant is usually a good way to help save money and stay within your budget. Fondant is more expensive than buttercream, costing $20 for a 5 pound box from your local craft store. Sometimes using fondant is more difficult than buttercream because of the physical work of kneading and rolling it out, causing prices to increase. Ombré cakes are all the rage right now and it's very easy to pull this look off using buttercream instead of fondant. Using buttercream is an affordable way to personalize your cake and make it unique.