Hi! Welcome to the wonderful, and sometimes mysterious, world of cake decorating!

The difference between gumpaste and sugarpaste, as far as I know, is mostly the name. The American term is gumpaste, while the European term is sugarpaste, so they are used interchangably. This is something that is edible, but does not taste good (like Nekko candy). It contains an ingredient called Gum Tragacanth which is where the term gumpaste is probably derived, and allows it to dry quickly and to a porcelain-like consistency. It can be rolled very thinly so it lends itself well to creating delicate pieces like flowers. It doesn't handle humidity well and will soften if refrigerated, or if introduced to water or on top of buttercream for a long time.

Fondant has a badly deserved reputation of not tasting good, but since there are so many recipes around there's sure to be one that most will find acceptable, if not good. It's a sugar dough that is rolled out and primarily used for covering cakes. In the U.S. it's put over buttercream, while in Europe it's more frequently put over marzipan. There are different types of fondant: rolled, poured and soft. Rolled is what is used to cover cakes, model figures, and used in molds. Poured is a liquid form that is poured over cakes and petits fours and dries as a covering on them. And the soft version is used as a candy center many times.

A popular type of rolled fondant is marshmallow (MMF). This is made from marshmallows and is quite simple. Since its base is marshmallow and it can still be flavored, it very popular with kids and many adults as well. Also, there are some popular pre-made (and pre-colored) fondant brands that are available: Pettinice, Satin Ice and Fond-X, just to name a few.

Finally, candy clay. This is also called modeling chocolate, chocolate plasticque, chocolate clay and I've even seen it referred to once as chocolate leather! This is made from candy melts and corn syrup or glucose. It's molded to make shapes and it can also be rolled out to cover cakes. IMHO, it's a bit more difficult to work with as it starts out hard and has to be kneaded to use it and you have to let it rest occasionally due to the fact that it melts in your hands after a while. It does dry hard, so it's great for making decorations for the top of a cake including figurines, flowers, bows, boxes, etc.

There are many recipes on this site for all of the above and as for the gumpaste and fondant, you can also find it premade and purchase it from cake decorating supply stores.

HTH!

Originally Posted by Bonnie151

In the UK we:

- Cover cakes with Sugarpaste
- Make models with modelling paste (which contains gum tragacanth or CMC)
- Make flowers with flowerpaste (which is like modelling paste but softer/more stretchy)
- We sometimes cover fairy cakes (i.e. little cupcakes) with poured fondant.

HTH

Thank you for clearing that up! The internet might make it a 'smaller world' but one little mistake makes for mass confusion!!

(Hee hee, now next time the subject comes up I can correct DH's cousin, The Chef!)