I've never decorated a cake before but I've been thinking about decorating my sons birthday cake (it's his first birthday) and I came across a few things that have me confused. What's the difference between Fondant, Marzipan and Sugarpaste? They all seem to do the same thing but which one is better? Does it really matter?? AHHH !! Help!!

Not a stupid question at all! I think fondant and sugarpaste are the same thing. Marzipan is made from almond paste. I have not tried marzipan but I would think that fondant would be the way to start out.

C

If you are going to go that route...I would probably use fondant. But even better...buttercream has a wonderful flavor and you might find it easier to decorate with. My favorite icing to use is buttercream. However...you could frost your cake with buttercream and then use some fondant accents for the decorations. What is the theme of the party?
traci

Actually, I think sugarpaste is the same as gum paste, and what you use would depend on what you want to make.

I agree with CRP7, though, that fondant would probably be the best for a beginner. Are you planning on covering the entire cake with it, or just making decorations? Either way, search for marshmallow fondant on the forums. It's pretty easy to make, but it's cheap too so if you mess up a batch you only lose about $.75.

The theme is going to be rubber duckies. I planned on using the Marshmallow Fondant to cover and decorate the whole cake with. Do you think I should you something else for the decorations like sugarpaste, or do you think the fondant would work just the same??

That sounds like a really cute theme! Have you seen the 3D rubber duck pan by wilton? That would be cute on top of a round or sheet cake covered in blue fondant. There are some pictures in the gallery with this pan...it might be worth looking at!
traci

Gumpaste becomes a lot harder than fondant. So, if you're making something to stand up/stick out, gumpaste would work better. But, if the decorations are just going to be flat on the cake then fondant will work just fine! Hope that helps!

I just did a ducky cake for my daughter's first birthday using the Wilton 3-D duck pan. The base cake is a 10-inch round covered in marshmallow fondant. Some of the bubbles are buttercream and some are fondant. The soap is fondant. I had this cake planned in my mind, then happened upon a picture of just what I had envisioned in the baby shower picture section of this website! I got the idea to add a bar of soap from that cake, though hers was made out of Candymelts.
If you use the Wilton duck pan, I recommend following the instructions exactly. I used boxed pound cake mix (it took one entire mix and part of another one), which worked very well.

I'm going to try to attach a picture of the cake to this post
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hollypj - I love your ducky cake - too cute

hollypj...your cake is adorable!!!!

hehe I love the ducky .. great job on that one HollyPJ

hollypj - your cake is adorable! I LOVE the eyelashes!

Do I need to put a buttercream icing on the cake before I put the fondant on???

Yes buttercream is a good idea underneath the fondant.
Love that ducky cake, he is just well, ducky, adorable!
Hugs Squirrelly

back on topic, marzipan is an almond based paste, always yellow or cream in colour. Its used for covering fruit cake before icing

In England sugarpaste is an icing that can be rolled out (often mistakenly called fondant)

Fondant is an icing that needs to be melted in a bain marie, the consistency is adjusted with sugar syrup then it is poured over the cake

hope this helps

Haha, the terms are different and it gets confusing, depending on where you live. It also varies from book to book.
Sometimes sugarpaste is the term used for rolled fondant, sometimes it is for gumpaste, sometimes for either/or.
Generally, in the U.S. and Canada it refers to rolled fondant but can refer to gumpaste.
In the U.S. and Canada, rolled fondant is the kind you roll out, poured fondant is the kind that is poured over a cake. Then you have fondant that is used for the centres of candies. Gumpaste is similar to the recipe for rolled fondant but with a hardening agent added in.
Sometimes gumpaste is called modelling paste because you can mold models of various things out of it. Sometimes it is called pastillage but the term pastillage usually refers to a similar but different thing. Then there are different types of pastillage also, just as there are different recipes for fondant and gumpaste.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes