Easy Fondant Decorating - Tip of the Day

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Jul 24th 2009 @ 9:00AM

Decorating a beautiful cake takes a lot of time and talent. But this trick will elicit wows with less heartache.

Fondant-covered mini-cake with marzipan face.
Photo: Monika Bartyzel

We've already told you about uncooked fondant. Throw the stuff in a mixer and it'll come together in a jiff. But this is more than just an newbie-friendly way to make a popular cake covering; it's a great way to make decorations look much more advanced.

It's always good to have a crumb coat on the outside of a cake -- and some tasty buttercream inside for layers and the fondant-phobic -- but other than that, all you need to do is whip up the covering by rolling it out, draping it over your cake, and quickly smoothing it down with hands or rounded tools (like a pastry scraper handle).

As long as the cover is about 3/4" thick, it'll camouflage most bumps and imperfect ridges, and can even hold in the moisture that typically seeps out of cakes with fruity inner layers. In other words, this is the most workable and mistake-proof frosting a newbie baker can use. Fondant can be the base for an elaborate bit of decorating or add a simple, elegant note (like a ribbon or cake topper.)

Guests will wow, but be warned: Making one good cake for a party leads to the expectation that more will follow!

Filed Under: Tip of the Day
Tags: easy cake decorating, EasyCakeDecorating, fondant, uncooked fondant, UncookedFondant