Hi! I tried making fondant again (after how many months!) in preparation for the wedding cake my partner & I are making.

It looked fondant alright & it tasted good, but my problem is, when I tried kneading the fondant and rolling my pin over it to cover a test cake, it keeps on breaking. Literally. I cannot smooth it because it breaks a lot. It's like a bread that was left so many days and hardened so when you try to knead it, it breaks into pieces?

Can anybody give me advise on this? Pleas? thanks!

Knead some shortening into it. It is too dry.

More shortening, definetly! Good luck!

What recipe were you using? That might have to do with it, but it also sounds like you worked too much sugar into it. This is a lesson I learned recently after making fondant from several different recipes (and none of them turning out !). I found that if I left it softer and even a little sticky on the first go-round, it firmed up nicely after ripening. Also, the best recipe I've come across as far as taste and pliability are concerned is Michele Foster's Delicious Fondant (found right here on CC). If you have the time and ingredients, I'd suggest you just start over with this recipe and less sugar when you're kneading it the first time. Hope you find something that works, because fondant can either be your worst nightmare or your greatest joy as a decorator .

This is my recipe, Marianna :

1kg pure icing sugar
1 tbsp gelatine
1/4 cup water
1/2 liquid glucose
1 tbsp glycerine
1 cup pure icing sugar, extra

Sift sugar in a mixing bowl.
Combine gelatine & water.
Add glucos, and place over gentle heat until the gelatine has completely dissolved.
Remove from heat, stir in glycerine.
Cool 1 minute.
Make a well in the center of icing sugar and pour in gelatine mixture.
Knead with a wooden spoon.

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I am not sure if I should let the gelatine mixture (with glucose) boil for a few minutes (maybe 3-4mins), but that's how I did it. And then mixed that with the icing sugar after.

Do you think I did it right?

Thanks you guys! i will try it with more shortening..

Hi, blueberrycheesecake, how's it going with the fondant? Since you were kind enough to post your recipe, I compared it to the one I use, which is Michele's Delicious Fondant (she just posted an update to it today in the recipe section, but I haven't really looked at it yet). Your recipe looks very similar to hers, except for 2 things: yours could use about 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter or shortening and, for the amount of other ingredients in your recipe, I've never been able to work in more than about 750-850 grams of sugar and have it come out right. I start out with a kilo bag and always have 1 or 2 cups left over. I don't know anything about boiling the gelatin mixture, but all you really need to do is heat it enough for the gelatin and fat to melt. Best of luck and please let us know how you solve this problem -- we could all learn something here!

Ooh, ooh, ooh! I just saw a comment from Michele herself on another thread (called "Left my (dis)comfort zone, Michele you're my hero..."), and she says something really interesting: you have to let fondant rest for at least 8 hours or "it will break and make you crazy". In other words it won't be stretchy enough to use. Could this have anything to do with your problem?

I hate making fondant!!!! It truly is a drag for me. I have tried every recipe, I bought Carries video on fabulous fondant, used recipes found here in the cc and have only found the mmf to be what works!!! I really wish I could make my fondant but its not working out !!!

I hate making fondant!!!! It truly is a drag for me. I have tried every recipe, I bought Carries video on fabulous fondant, used recipes found here in the cc and have only found the mmf to be what works!!! I really wish I could make my fondant but its not working out !!!

I know what you mean, todolomio! After posting my know-it-all-reply about not putting too much powdered sugar in the fondant to
blueberrycheesecake, I made another batch that just wouldn't come together without a ton of sugar, and of course all it did when I tried to cover a cake with it was to tear and bunch up and make ruffles at the bottom instead of being stretchy and pliable enough to mold to the cake. This time, I think the gelatin mixture was still too hot when I started adding the sugar, and so it absorbed more, but who knows. I guess we could all use more practice on this!