You already know what cake and what cream filling I used to make Nissa’s wedding cake. I also detailed royal icing lace work last week and you've seen the cake assembly photo gallery. I will now tell you all I know about rolled fondant that I used to cover the cake and to decorate it.
The very first time I planned to make rolled fondant, I prepared everything and then it took me about 2 days to decide to go ahead and do it. I was intimidated. I wrongly thought it was very delicate to make successfully. I don’t know where I took that idea, probably from the fact fondant covered cakes are just stunningly beautiful and very expensive.
A smile quickly appeared on my lips when I finally started to mix the ingredients and stayed there all along and until I finished my first fondant covered cake. It was really so simple! I just couldn’t believe how simple it was to make and work with. Bread is more complicated to make successfully and rolled fondant is a piece of cake (no pun intended… Or may be a little) compared to making puff pastry from scratch.
If you really want to know where was the little difficult thing in working with fondant, I will tell you for me it was sourcing the gel colorants since regular food coloring produces a really mediocre result. But with the Internet, it’s no real challenge. Simple as a clic and a tiny package delivered to my door step by our dear postman and his smile warm enough to melt the 3 feet high snow bank surrounding our property. (I swear our postman lives on a cloud with angels when he finishes his route! I can’t explain his “I live in a total and permanent bliss” look otherwise.)
Rolled Fondant Recipe
15 g (1 level tablespoon + 2 level teaspoons) gelatin powder
1/3 cup (80 ml) water
1/2 cup (125 ml) liquid glucose (or light corn syrup)
2 tablespoons un-colored shortening (optional)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) liquid glycerin (at the pharmacy)
2 pounds and 4 ounces (1 kg) icing sugar, well sifted
Up to 20 ml extracts (preferably clear if you want a snow white fondant)
Gel food coloring, also known as “icing colors”
I used clear vanilla extract. There was no problem with the almond extract since it’s naturally clear. I didn’t use lemon extract because it’s yellow. I wanted a snow-white fondant to begin with, one that would take coloring nicely.
In a large bowl, sift half the icing sugar and make a well in the middle.
Sift the rest of the icing sugar in a second bowl and keep at hand.
In a heat-proof little bowl over a cold bain-marie, add gelatin to cold water and allow to soften for 5 minutes or so. After that time, turn the heat on low and melt the gelatin being careful not to overheat it.
Add the liquid glucose or light corn syrup with the melted vegetable shortening if using and mix well.
Remove from heat and add glycerin and extracts. Allow to cool to lukewarm.
Pour the lukewarm gelatin mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon, mixing in sugar and adding more, a little at a time.
Knead in remaining sugar. Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands.
If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time).
Use fondant immediately or store in airtight container in a cool, dry place.
Never refrigerate or freeze. You will need to knead again until soft when ready to use since fondant stiffen when rested. When the fondant is a few days old, I find I need to add few drops of water and knead while kneading since it’s often too stiff.
Personally, I find it so easy to make, I don’t bother making it in advance. I make it when I’m ready to use it immediately. This avoids me the kneading and water addition to adjust its texture. And fresh fondant is better in taste too.
Resist to the temptation of adding all the sugar to the liquids or vice-versa at once. You will end-up with a mess of a rough, rubbery mass that will be impossible to work with or use.
Form the fondant in a disk and wrap tightly in food-grade plastic. It will keep at room temperature for few days but again, it’s really simple and quick enough to make fresh when ready to use.
Coloring Rolled Fondant
Regular food colorants sold in grocery stores ruin rolled fondant. The colors are un-even and the fondant texture changes when these are used since a good quantity is needed to achieve a little bit of tint. It’s best to use gel or “icing” colors.
Gel or “icing” colors are very potent. A little goes a long way.
Take a golf ball size bit of fondant and knead it to soften it. Dip a tooth-pick in the gel color and prick the kneaded fondant with it. Knead to distribute color evenly throughout. Repeat to achieve a color stronger than the one you’re aiming in your finished decorative items.
Now knead the rest of the fondant to soften it (keep the colored one tightly wrapped in plastic while kneading the white one). Take about half of the colored fondant and tear it in little bits. Knead them in the white fondant until the color is even throughout. Add more of the strong colored fondant and knead it in if you want a stronger color.
When you think you might need a little more color, stop! It will intensify slightly after the fondant sits a while. I wanted a very pale pink on my wedding cake decorative items and they were pale pink when I just made them. The color intensified a bit after few moments.
Working With Rolled Fondant
Rolled fondant is really a charm to work with. The important rule is to keep it tightly wrapped in cling film when not in use. You will notice if you scroll down the middle of the cake assembly photo gallery the rose demonstration. I was about to discard bits of fondant scraps when I remembered I didn’t take pictures of the rose making. The scraps were not wrapped in plastic and had began to dry out a little bit. On the rose demo pictures, the “petals” edges are rough and ragged as a result while the rose on the cake look soft and nice. Moral of the story, keep your fondant tightly wrapped in plastic when not in use for pristine looking results.
The other thing with fondant is it stiffens slightly after it sits for a while. It takes few seconds to knead it back to a soft, pliable medium (if fresh, old fondant needs more energetic and longer kneading.)
To roll out fondant, use plenty of icing sugar both on your working surface and on your rolling pin. A light brush of the hand (or a pastry brush if you wish) is sufficient to remove excess.
To stick fondant pieces together, sometimes a little water is enough. For bigger or heavier pieces, I use royal icing as a very effective “glue”.
I love working with fondant when it’s all white, no color added. It’s such a treat to see the soft twinkle of tiny icing sugar crystals in it when I roll it out. It’s like a piece of shimmering organza with the texture of silk velvet.
2 comments:
just beautiful!
Thank you Kat.
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