Fondant

cuppythecake's Note:

This recipe is from www.thecookduke.com and it actually tastes good! Tips from the website: 1. When you make fondant, both the dough and the icing, make sure to make it in room temperature – Too cold or too warm room will hurt the dough 2. When you calculate the quantity of fondant icing required, it’s better to have too much fondant icing rather than too little, as leftover icing can be stored and used at a later date, or used for extra decorations 3. Make sure you make fondant on a clean and smooth working surface. Jewelry on your fingers or wrists or fluffy clothing could hurt the fondant’s surface

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 sheet f ...

• 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
• ¼ cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon glycerin (some recipes say it's optional, believe me, it's a must)
• 2 lbs confectioners' sugar
• ½ teaspoon vegetable shortening (white)

Directions:

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small bowl; Let it rest for two minutes to soften.
2. Place the bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds on High, until the gelatin dissolves (*I suggest doing this in 10 second increments as the first time I did this it boiled over in the microwave).
3. Add the flavoring.
4. Add the corn syrup and the glycerin and stir until the mixture is smooth and clear (if the mixture is not turning smooth and clear, microwave it for an additional 15 to 20 seconds on high and stir again)
5. Sift 1 1/2 pounds of the sugar into a large bowl (*I did not sift and it was not lumpy!).
6. Make a hole in the sugar and pour the liquid mixture to it.
7. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky.
8. Sift some of the remaining 1/2 pound of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take.
9. Knead the fondant, adding a little more sugar if necessary, to form a smooth, pliable mass.
10. Rub the vegetable shortening on your thumbs and knead it into the fondant.
11. Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and place it in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying out.
12. If the icing dries out and harden it can often be revived by popping it into a microwave oven for a few seconds and then kneading it back to life.

Reviews

[kcbex003]

This was easier to make than I was anticipating. I've done the boxed fondant before and it was ok. I wanted to try something new and I love the way fondant looks on cake and I thought fresh made would taste better. I made a two layer cake for mothers day tomorrow iced it and then did the fondant. Wow! I too did not sift and it turned out fine, but I did use the entire two pound bag, and a little extra. The more powd. sug. you use the better. I had no trouble mixing it by hand with the wood spoon, I just kept folding the mix into the sugar. You've got to really work the sugar into it so it's no longer sticky, my first try at rolling it out it stuck to the counter (luckily you can just scrape it up and ball it up again and start over.) so I suggest you let it set in the air for a while to dry out just a little. Also the more you handle it the more it warms up and will get sticky again, so keep lots of powd. sugar on hand to keep the stickiness at bay and flip it over a lot and re-powder while you are rolling out. I omitted the almond extract and did lemon extract instead to match the frosting I made. I didn't feel the sugar overpowered, it's fondant so it's supposed to taste sugary, but the lemon stood out and I think you can do as much or as little flavoring as you'd like. I also set some aside and added some color to make an accent (tho I recommend adding color to your liquid goo first if you want color!) I'm not a professional so my cake isn't perfect, but I think this is something I'll continue to do because it's so fun! The proof will be in the taste tomorrow, but otherwise, great recipe! Thanks!

[Calla Flower]

this recipe worked out well for me. it was very very sweet though and i felt the sugar overwhelmed the flavoring that was added. I would also not recommend stirring this by hand. i did it for my first batch and what a horrible sticky mess it was. for my second batch i used my mixer with kneading hook to mix before dumping it out to knead by hand. worked great. until complete though it's the stickiest stuff ever! be prepared.

[Genetics85]

It was easy to make (took a long time though) and tasted good!