I stopped at my local craft store yesterday and was going to try Duff's fondant. 2 pounds for $19.99??? Are ya kidding me???? Even with a coupon, that's not worth it to me. I can make my own mmf for about $2 or $3. Just not worth it even to try.....

I couldn't agree more. And all the wacko's on the wilton forum are going nuts about it all excited about it wanting to try it. I saw the whole display at Michael's the other day and hardly took a glance. The guy just gets on my nerves these days. I hardly even watch his show anymore. I don't even know what it is about him that drives me nutts. lol

lol ya, I had someone joke around the other day calling me "ace of cakes" and I said, " don't ever call me that" I don't want to start using plumbing pipes and toilet parts in my cakes, etc. lol WHen people have to start looking the cake over from end to end just so they can see where to cut a sliver just to get a bite, then you have a problem. I have a real problem with that.

You think you're disgusted with the price?? OMG....I went to Michael's yesterday here in Canada because I wanted to pick up some black and some red Duff's fondant. $29.99 for two pounds. Highway robbery!!! Even with the 40% coupon, it still costs an arm and a leg. For a wedding cake, it would probably take 3 or 4 of those tubs depending on the size of the cake. Oh well, guess I'll keep making my own too!!

ya, if we all had a $1000 minimum on all our orders then I guess we could all use his fondant. lol

OH come on. I love the wilton forum! ANd I would never mean that as an insult. You are taking it way to serious. I meant it how they are going crazy over his products...Those people are just as fun and light hearted as the people on this forum. Lighten UP!

Good for Duff for having his own line. People will buy it if its good. Everyone has their own opinions and own way of decorating. I havent tried it yet, but will be willing to. Also this is a public forum so dont be so quick to diss. Last I knew people from Duffs shop were members of this great community.

why is it such a major deal if someone says something negative about a product or the price of something?? I just don't understand. I have obviously overstepped my bounds here. I apologize.

I just checked out another post and everyone seems to be giving Duffs fondant good reviews. I am just saying we are all cakers, we should all stick together. That sounded pretty corny...lol

Price wise , it works out cheaper for me than Satin ice if I use a coupon so I'm totally willing to try it and Michael's is 5 minutes from my house vs my cake store which is 30 minutes from my house and closes at 6pm everyday (arrghhh)..so honestly I'm so thrilled I could cry. I can buy pre-colored black, yellow purple...at my corner store.

And feel free to call me a wacko any day I consider it a compliment...cake nut is ok with me too

I am a Wilton Inst. and had one of my students use it in class, its ok, gets a little thin quickly, but over all it was good, tasted good, had good solid color, I agree the Aces are good ppl. The price is a little high for the hobby baker, but worth the look. What I like is the presses (sp) he has, very nice, two sided and only 4.99 at my store.

It's fondarific fondant with his name on it - much cheaper at the fondarific site without his name.

I was also in Canada recently, and a very small 4" or 6" cake pan was also $21.99 + 13% taxes! Sheesh.

I love Duff! He is my TV boyfriend!

I love Ace of Cakes. I don't watch Cake Boss at all. I find the bakery dynamics in Ace of Cakes refreshing and fun to watch. And they do amazing work. I think Duff is great and I'm happy he has had so much success. And his laugh always makes me smile.

I saw this stuff at Micheal's and I was more terrified by the $8 cake mix that was smaller than a BC mix! Yipes!

I just saw his display (broken up into two isles at my local Michaels, 2hrs south of Atlanta). Who ever did the branding = awesome job. Presses = love that. So curious about the fondant. Someone said it was fondarific = curious how did you find out? I even saw drk chocolate fondant.....yea! My 50% off coupon will come in handy Monday. I like his offset spatula too thats all metal. His smoother = disappointed there, its just a wilton knockoff. Wish it was bigger rectangle with rounded off edges, perhaps metal.
I'm not sure who his 'market' would be though. For the high end baker/chef that knows where to get all the good stuff at cheaper prices without the flash of branding...not seeing it there. For the occasional baker its too pricey for them. Gotta think on this one.

First let me say I LOVE Duff and the show and I love seeing all of the techniques on the show.

Here is what annoys me about Duff having a line of fondant. I was reading the Food Network magazine a couple months ago. There is a section near the front where people ask food network stars a question. The reader asked Duff "You always cover your cakes in fondant. I'm not crazy about the taste of fondants I've tried. Do you make your own" and he responded "We don't make our own fondant. Fondant is hard on mixers, and for the trouble, its better to just go to the store and buy it. Fondant is basically pure sugar. You can add candy flavorings to alter the taste if you like. We tend to think of fondant as the canvas that we decorate, but it also acts as an airtight seal that keeps the cake inside fresh and most. When it comes time to eat the cake, you can peel the fondant off like you would peel an orange."

SO...they don't make their own fondant and he doesn't seem to suggest eating it. Yet..they are marketing HIS brand of fondant saying its delicious. I find this rather ironic. I make my own fondant using my kitchen aid mixer...and I'm sure his mixers are wayyy bigger than mine so I don't see why he doesn't make his own.

I bought the fondant REALLY wanting to love it because I'm a procrastinator and always forget to order fondant when I should; so, driving a couple of miles to Michaels would be nice.

I HATE IT!!! HATE HATE HATE HATE it!!! It was sticky and hard to work with. I also bought the small offset spatula, which I also was disappointed in. I think the best one I've found is the Pampered Chef one. I DID LOVE the icing colors- Americolor-type bottles and the colors were great!!!

I will say I bought the gel colors too and really liked them. I haven't tried the impression mats yet but I probably will not be buying the fondant. The black is tempting though, just because all other black fondants I have to buy online, so it would be nice to be able to buy in a pinch.

I live in Canada as well.... the cake mix is $13.99 at Michaels. I was talking with one of the managers and she says that they order the Duff stuff from Wilton??? I told her I read that it was Satin Ice and she said it is for sure ordered from Wilton.......

I bought Duff's fondant have'nt tried it yet,but for me it is cheaper than ordering satin ice on line when I use the coupons I get it at 11.00 and when 50% off I get it for 10.00 that is alot cheaper than satin ice. I have to pay 26.00 for 2lbs. at our cake supplies shop and over the internet with shipping I pay 16.00 for 2lbs. So I was really excited.So now I hope the taste is good.

When I started this post, I did not imply that I didn't like Duff. I think he's very funny and talented....although yes, I agree that a LOT of his stuff is not even cake....so not like me....but to each his own. I was just saying that $20 for 2 pounds of fondant is waayyyyy overpriced. It's all a marketing scheme...especially if it's fondarific fondant...and you can get it at their site for cheaper? It's got Duff's name on it so they price it higher....marketing scheme definitely. I won't be buying it....not for that price.

I'm the same way with Martha Stewart scrapbooking supplies. Same thing I can get along side of her stuff except hers is twice the cost. I guess everyone at our scrapbooking store feels the same way because nobody bought it and it all went on sale and now it's completely gone.

I'm curious to see what happens with Duff's line. I wish it/him well but I don't see people paying more just for the name....not in this economy.

Oh, and to the person who uses a KA to mix fondant. Be very careful. I never use my KA to do that anymore. All it took was one time for the fondant to jam itself between the bread dough mixer hook and the side of the bowl and it stripped the gears in the machine. Took me over $100 to have repaired. I've had other people tell me the same thing happened to them. I do it all by hand now and takes me no time!!!!

chefjulie - what does the fondant taste like? And when you mention hard to work with...is that b/c of the elasticity? What fondant do you normally work with? Why didnt you like the offset spatula?

goodiegoddess - interesting! Wilton - I bet thats why chefjulie doesnt like the fondant its probably just a glorified wilton fondant and we all know that EVERYBODY just LOVES wilton fondant (I think I just ralphed a little writing that).

I'm looking for a small rubber spatula- whats your favorite? By the way if you all are ever tempted to by the blue ones from wilton....DONT....I have a habit of tapping it on the side of the KA bowl...well in less than a year the neck is splintering plastic! I have an ultra cheap one (regular size) that still looks like the day that I bought it.

I think it's GREAT that Michaels is putting another brand of cake decorating items out there. Some of Wilton's stuff is good (ie-cake release), but for the most part I struggle with their products breaking on me or not working well.

The price of the fondant is not bad when you consider that it takes about a jar of red or black color when making mmf. I will buy those two colors any day to avoid that headache. I have bought both of Duff's with the coupons but havent used them yet, will this week though. I'm anxious to see how they stand up compared to Satin Ice.

I met Duff, Mary Alice and Geoff at a tradeshow a few years ago, we were all lost together. I'm not kidding you, they are the nicest people you would ever want to meet.

Oh and as far as the price, honestly, if I go to the cake shop in my area it's about the same price for fondant. Michaels isnt for professionals anyway. It's for the hobbiest who wants to make an occational nice cake for a party or something. If you are a business, you will be ordering your fondant from a supplier, not going shopping at Michaels. Michaels isnt that kind of business, so you should expect to pay more at a place like that. Like I said though, in my area, $20.00 for that amount of fondant is the going rate for any brand. That is why I make my own MMF for less than $6 for a double batch.

It was me I guess who gave the impression that I didn't like Duff. I never said that. I just get tired sometimes of seeing more plastic than cake sometimes in a project that's all. But I understand that sometimes looks are far more important to a client than actual eating purposes. And I got raked over the coals for just joking around about the fun loving people on the Wilton forum for going crazy over the new Duff products. That's where the "dislike for Duff" sprouted from" I guess. No hatred towards anyone from here, Or Duff, honestly. I honestly was just stating a fact that I wasn't impressed really with his new products, just like all of you are right now. I mean, really, if I want to succeed in my business, am I really going to stock up on $8 cake mixes for a wedding cake??

I'm rather dissaponinted with his cake pans. They seem to be good quailty but the corners are all slanted. I like sharp corners.