AWhat is the difference between fondant,gumpaste, sugar sheets, and modeling chocolate? I know fondant is like edible playdough. And I've heard gumpaste is good for making flowers and such but can modeling chocolate do the same?

Fondant - soft pliable rollable icing - use in large quantities to cover cakes, dries to the touch on the outside, but still soft inside.  Use for cakes needing a polished formal look.

Gumpaste / Flower Paste  - fondant with additive such as CMC or Tylose or Gum Traganthe - use to make fragile pieces like flowers, figurines, cake toppers.  It tries very hard.  Edible but not as tasty as fondant, so only use it for decorative pieces.

Sugar Sheets - not entirely sure, but I think it is a type of fondant thinly rolled onto a backing sheet that can then be cut into shapes/letters etc and 'glued' onto your cake.  You peel it off the sheet. They come pre-coloured, and metallic colours.  They use these for printing edible images onto as well.

Modelling Chocolate - chocolate & corn syrup recipe used to make edible figurines, flowers, cake toppers.  Tastier than gumpaste. 

Athank you! That makes perfect sense :-D

Magic Mouthfuls provided a very concise and accurate breakdown of each medium. (Impressive, Magic Mouthfuls!)

http://www.wickedgoodies.net/

This is my go-to site for information on modeling chocolate.  I also have her book:  Cake Decorating with Modeling Chocolate

AFYI - gumpaste is NOT fondant with added tylose/gum trag. That would be modeling paste.

Gumpaste, traditionally, is egg white, icing sugar and tylo/gum trag. People put different stuff in it like gelatine, shortening etc - personal preference.

AI agree with Jedi Knight. I have used fondant with tylose on it. It is not the same. Tylose makes for a stiffer and faster drying fondant, but in my opinion it is harder to work with that way. Gum paste can be rolled much thinner for making delicate roses look realistic. And dries much harder faster for decorations that need to look stiff. Here is an example of a rose and shards created for my girl's birthday ice castle cake made out of gumpaste. The people are fondant figures. Hope that helps. :-) [IMG]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3323788/width/200/height/400[/IMG] [IMG][IMG]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3323787/width/200/height/400[/IMG][/IMG]

AI never received emails that you guys responded :(......but your pictures look beautiful! Would modeling chocolate do the same?

I recommend the book (or online tutorials) by Wickedgoodies.com (mentioned above) for more information about "what is possible" with modeling chocolate.