Q&A - Fondant vs Buttercream
Posted to General, Q&A on Sunday, October 8th, 2006.I often get questions similar to this one regarding the difference between fondant & buttercream:
Which one do you recommend (fondant vs buttercream) based on appearance plus taste? I’m not sure what the difference is between fondant & buttercream. I believe the fondant looks better. Does it taste better too? I think buttercream might be really sweet. Also, what would you do with the inside of the cake? Would there be a filling?
Fondant tastes sort of like marshmallows - it’s sweet. I always cover my cakes in vanilla buttercream first, and then put the rolled fondant on top - so you get the best of both worlds :)! Fondant looks really smooth which is why we use it a lot. Some people really like the taste, and those who don’t generally peel it off.
My cakes are two layers of cake with a thick layer of filling in the middle. For fillings we can do vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate, raspberry, peanut butter, oreos and cream… just to name a few!
November 17th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Hi - I just made a fondant covered cake for the first time. It turned out even better than I expected! However, taste-wise, fondant cannot compare to buttercream, and I found myself telling the guests not to worry if they don’t want to eat the fondant, it’s more for decoration. My question is, according to the book I used as a guide (which shall remain nameless :-), I was directed to only put a small amount of buttercream, a crumbcoat basically, on the cake and then put the fondant on top. Is that right? I wanted to put more buttercream on so there would be good tasting icing, not just the fondant. How much buttercream do you put on? The book said only the thinnest of coats becasue once the fondant was put on and then smoothed out, if there was too much buttercream it would come out the bottom, from under the fondant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I really loved how the cake looked, but I’d love it it the cake could take as good as it looks, too. Thanks!
May 9th, 2007 at 6:41 am
I am a beginner when it comes to putting fondant on cakes. I have the hardest time getting the fondant on the cake and smoothed out with out there being any wrinkles or over lap… is it a sercret how to do this? Every cooking show & internet directions I see goes from putting the fondant over the cake to it already being smoothed out and cutting the extra fondant off the bottom. Please help me.
May 31st, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Kim - you need to roll our your fondant very thin - about 1/16 of an inch. And make sure you have more then enough to cover the whole cake. Start by smoothing it on the top, and then move to the side and pull the fondant out slightly as you push down with the fondant smoother and continue around the cake.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
ahoys,
fondant is very smooth and a wonderful thing to work with. my first fondant cake i didnt buttercream… and the thin fondant fell into every pore and every line. it look like a smooth pot hole… since thin i always place iceing (butter cream or not) under the fondant to “hide” the cakes internal lines.