Im new in the whole baking thing, I used to bake just for me at home or family and friends, now Im doing it more often and hoping to go to Pastry School and open my own bakery.
I have never worked with fondant or gumpaste, they both kind of look the same to me, whats the effect on them. What is each used for? does gumpaste work better for flowers? Can someone help me please, Im planning in making a High School Musical cake for my niece, but Im debating what to use to make the decor.
I really appreciate it, when Im done with the cake I will post pictures.

Fondant is for eating and gumpaste is not. You can make some really beautiful flowers with gumpaste, but they dry rock hard and can't be eaten. Fondant works for covering cakes and for making decorations.

Depending on what I am making I will either use Gumpaste or a 50/50 mix of Gumpaste and Fondant. The gumpaste dries faster than fondant. Gumpaste can be rolled very thin for realistic flowers.

Oh I thought gumpaste you were able to eat it! So is only for fancy decor but not edible. Ok thanks alot

Im sorry One more question, does fondant dries out hard? or does it stays soft, I want to make a standing stage for the cake, do I need to put some support, maybe dowels on the back and maybe some at from so it can hold it and high them with the curtain?

Oh I thought gumpaste you were able to eat it! So is only for fancy decor but not edible. Ok thanks alot

Im sorry One more question, does fondant dries out hard? or does it stays soft, I want to make a standing stage for the cake, do I need to put some support, maybe dowels on the back and maybe some at from so it can hold it and high them with the curtain?

Fondant will dry hard if it's not on a cake. As a cake covering, the outside gets a little hard but stays soft enough to cut.

To make your stage, you probably do need dowels. You can cover them with the fondant or fondant/gumpaste mix and let it dry that way, with the ends sticking out to go into the cake. I like to use bamboo skewers because they're tough and cheap and not too thick.

Gumpaste is TECHNICALLY edible, made from sugar and gelatin, perhaps a few more ingredients. However, it dries VERY hard, and is not very tasty. Though I've seen people eat it.

Fondant stays kind of chewy for the most part. It depends on the kind, though. Good for covering cakes, not quite as good for decorations that need to stand up from the cake. The pieces do dry out, but they don't have quite the stability of gumpaste.

If you are going to make a standing stage, I'd recommend using gumpaste, or even chocolate, rather than fondant, just for the extra structural stability factor. Perhaps even build the bulk of the stage of Rice Krispy Treats, then cover them with fondant. Just some thoughts! Good luck!

Thanks alot you have been so help full, I cant wait to start on the cake.

You CAN eat gumpaste, it is just not very palatable, as many of the gums used aren't all that tasty or even nice-smelling. What's worse too, it the thought of how much handling a piece of gumpaste endures in the creation of a flower or 3D object...ick!

So I can pretty much play with rice krispy treats like play-doh? I need to make them from scratch or can I but them made?
I have heard of the molding chocolate, where can I get that? and is that what are you talking about kansaswolf?

I bet, all the work...and I have a 6 month old baby, lets see if she lets me work on it.

gumpaste can be rolled much thinner than fondant without cracking to make beautiful realistic flowers, but it dries pretty quickly so keep it covered under a cup while you work on a little bit at a time. use shortening on your fingers when you start and more if it starts to stick, if you use icing sugar to keep it from sticking it will dry it out. tonedna is a wonderful person who has a lot of very helpful videos, if you see any of her posts there is a link in her signature that will take you to them. they are absolutly fabulous!!
fondant is to cover your cakes, you will need to crumbcoat your cakes first so it will stick. the marshmallow fondant recipe ( MMF) on here is awesome and uses readily available ingredients and should be a good one for you to start with.
for the decorations for your cake, you can use straight gumpaste or a 50/50 mix with your fondant to make sure they dry hard and hold there shape. if you use mmf for them they will not dry hard, on my last cake i made that mistake and they never did dry fully but it was ok because they were not super delicate.
there is so much to learn, and this website is a great place to start! ive learnt so much already. if you have any more questions feel free to pm me, i will answer anything i can

thanks alot for all your tips. I know this website is so addicting, I just love it.

Hee hee hee, I know how it is with babies, mine just turned 9 months yesterday!

thanks alot kansaswolf, I will post pictures of my cake to see how it turns out, I hope its not a disaster.

I figure, as long as it's TASTY, all is not lost...

We've ALL had our disasters, we just don't always post pictures of them... Hope your cake turns out GREAT! Good luck, and I can't wait to see the pictures!