Satin Ice... Or Satan Ice???

Decorating By SRumzis Updated 8 Oct 2012 , 6:27pm by KoryAK

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SRumzis Posted 5 Apr 2012 , 10:21pm
post #1 of 20

I'm sorry for the severe title, but that's how I feel right now. AAAAAARGH! I normally use MMF, but I use Fondarific for my black cakes. I have a black cake to do, and since Satin Ice was on sale, so I decided to give it a try, ya know since almost EVERY professional raves about it...boy did I make a mistake. The first 12" tier tore all over the place, along with the 8". Luckily I was able to patch them reasonably well. If such an intricate and covering design wasn't going on these tiers I would've had to do them all over again. Then... the 6". Usually the 6" is the easiest. In my LIFE, I have never had to redo fondant on a 6" more than once. After 2 fails with this fondant tearing all over the place, I have had it!!! I don't know WHAT to do, I'm gonna have a pathetic profit left if I have to go buy some fondarific just for this last tier, since I already had to buy sugarveil for the piping work. My life is ending. Just put me out of my misery. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!! That is all.

19 replies
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milliemoo Posted 5 Apr 2012 , 11:02pm
post #2 of 20

I've been using satin ice here in New Zealand and love it, when it plays nice. I don't roll it as thin as they tell you in the videos. The trouble we've had is bubbling. Goes on lovely, nice and smooth, then later on there's a bubble. We have a very high humidity here.
Good luck with your cakes icon_smile.gif

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SRumzis Posted 5 Apr 2012 , 11:22pm
post #3 of 20

I'm in Arizona, so like the opposite of high humidity. I just mixed what little fondarific I had left with the Satin ice and it tore, but not near as bad. Thank goodness that nightmare is over!

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Dommers Posted 5 Apr 2012 , 11:45pm
post #4 of 20

I know what you mean, I dislike using sating ice so much. It makes me cry every time I use it. I absolutely love Fondex, and love working with it. I am sorry you had such a horrible time. Best of luck next time!

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Thespian411 Posted 6 Apr 2012 , 4:21am
post #5 of 20

I love Satin Ice, but I have found that it has to be well kneaded. I usually put in the cake mixer with the dough hook on high for at least 1 minute before attempting to use it.

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KoryAK Posted 6 Apr 2012 , 4:21am
post #6 of 20

I love Satin Ice, I'm sorry you had trouble with it. Sometimes the ivory and, less frequently, the colored types are too moist and do the tons-of-tearing thing. When I get a batch like that (you can feel it when you start to knead it) I leave it out on the counter to dry out a bit, re-kneading every 4-5 minutes or so so that it doesn't get crusty. I am in Alaska and it's very dry here so it works in about 15 minutes.

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cai0311 Posted 6 Apr 2012 , 3:52pm
post #7 of 20

I absolutely detest Satin Ice fondant. I use fondarific also for covering cakes. I have no idea how people can use Satin Ice. Plus, I think it tastes just a bad as Wilton fondant and has this horrible smell.

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SRumzis Posted 11 Apr 2012 , 6:26pm
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So I left them a message and they called me back and tried to work it out. They tested my batch and said it worked fine for them. They offered to pay for me to ship it to them so they could try my actual bucket, but I didn't feel it was worth the effort. She did give me a few tips, and I think I'll try using it again at a less crucial moment to see if the steps work.

I did use the dough hook to knead it for 5-10 minutes, so I asked her if maybe I should knead it for even longer, and she said the dough hook thing is good but longer than 10 minutes is really not gonna help anything.

She said to add NO shortening (as in don't mix any shortening into it), apparently it breaks down the gum that keeps it elastic. I did add shortening when I was trying to troubleshoot it on my 3rd cake, so I believe that must have definitely aggravated it.

Also, she said not to walk away from it, but immediately put it on the cake after it's rolled out. This is an interesting point for me, because I use "the mat" and since my rolled out fondant remains sandwiched between two sheets that keep the air from contacting it, I can leave my rolled out MMF and go spray my cake, and do a couple others things if needed then come back and cover the cake with it, but apparently that's a no-no with satin ice, as she said the gum starts to harden or something even within a minute or so, so no walking away. I'm convinced this is probably the biggest factor of why this fondant failed me.

So the verdict: I'm gonna give Satin Ice another chance. Thanks for letting me vent! Apparently I have to watch myself a little more carefully in the future though, as the Satin Ice lady mentioned she had heard of a "satan ice" post, and she asked me if I was the one who posted it. LOL I told the truth but it made the rest of the conversation kinda awkward icon_smile.gif

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aggiechef Posted 11 Apr 2012 , 6:50pm
post #9 of 20

I'm not a huge fan of Satin Ice either. The darn stuff dries out so fast, and unlike MMF, you can't put it in the microwave to soften it up. My personal preference is Chocopan for covering cakes because it tastes fantastic and it has some give in it.

I'm sorry you had such a rotten time with it, and hopefully your next cake is a lot easier on your sanity.

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jamawoops Posted 11 Apr 2012 , 6:52pm
post #10 of 20

I'm from OH and I've used Satin Ice a couple of times before with no problems here, but I made my sister's wedding cake a couple of weeks ago in AZ and had a horrible problem with the Satin Ice tearing! I couldn't believe how bad it was behaving! I did a 6" round 8-9" high bird cage cake and after trying several times to cover it with the fondant and it tearing each time, I gave up on the third try and just covered the torn spots with flowers. It completely altered the look of what I was going for, but in the end it worked out so I guess I can't complain. I just never would have thought the humidity or lack there of would affect fondant so badly!

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VaBelle Posted 11 Apr 2012 , 7:11pm
post #11 of 20

I've used the black and red and the gumpaste. The red was okay, but the black is horrible! I'm no fan of the gumpaste either. I have a camera cake coming up soon and will be trying a different brand.

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leah_s Posted 11 Apr 2012 , 7:13pm
post #12 of 20

Interesting. I've used SatinIce for years and absolutely love the stuff. I knead it on the counter until it's pliable and "feels right." I use a thin, thin, thin smear of veg shortening on the counter to roll it out.

The cake is iced and ready to go before I even start to roll it out. I was taught in school to roll fondant to 1/4", so I roll the Satin pretty thick - just a bit less then 1/4".

Then I get under it , drape it on my forearms and pick it up and place it on the cake.

It has never torn. Nope not one time.

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nicunurse Posted 11 Apr 2012 , 7:17pm
post #13 of 20

SRumzis, Thanks for the "Satan" Ice tips. I agree, terrible stuff!! I used the red, tore everywhere, took it off, re-rolled after it took off my crumb coat of butter cream and rendered half of it useless. I ended up running to Michaels and buying Duff's red, which I hate equally, but at the 11th hour, I had no other choice, and double covered my cake. I will give the other brands mentioned a try before I buy satin ice again! Sorry about your cake icon_sad.gif

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chelleb1974 Posted 11 Apr 2012 , 8:15pm
post #14 of 20

I had a similar experience a little while ago, and had never had trouble before. It ended up being that my kitchen was too hot. I kneaded in some CMC (Tylose) into the Satin Ice and it was much better. If you don't have tylose, you could also try kneading in some GumTex.

Good luck!

Chelle

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SRumzis Posted 14 Aug 2012 , 9:53pm
post #15 of 20

Ok I just wanted to revisit this post for a sec to say I've made my peace with Satin Ice. In Phoenix, my kitchen will only hold at 78-80 degrees on these record brutal 114-115 days and I had great success with light pink satin ice, when my MMF would NOT by any means co-operate. I'd like to apologize for any annoyance this forum post has caused Satin Ice or fans of it. It was a very frustrating day... what can I say? icon_smile.gif

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Lucyem Posted 21 Aug 2012 , 7:53pm
post #16 of 20

I actually posted asking for help with the stuff. Only got a couple of replies. You had a bunch which is very helpful. I will have to try the tips with the last of the Satin Ice I have.

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SweetTzippy Posted 28 Aug 2012 , 5:47am
post #17 of 20

I have posted a problem with Fondant tearing on a " Thin and very tall cake" hoping to get an insight on what went wrong. Got a few replies, all interesting... but now, after reading this I am wondering... was it the kind of fondant?
To obtain the grey color needed I mixed black with white Satin Ice fondant and used a good spread of shortening to help with the kneading.
Now that I am evaluating... I did have issues in the past when using black SI.
hmmmm... wondering.... icon_rolleyes.gif

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ADeeCake Posted 21 Sep 2012 , 5:57am
post #18 of 20

This is the third cake I used fondant on with a chocolate buttercream frosting under it. This was for my husband's birthday. I used Satin Ice with a mix of red color from Duff and black color from Duff, it came out gray/purple and pink. The fondant also cracked a bit and gathered/puckered on the edge. The cake was a 9 inch round. Can someone and tell me what I did wrong as to not have this happen again. icon_confused.gif

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ocwebb Posted 7 Oct 2012 , 2:30pm
post #19 of 20

I wanted to thank you for your post on Satin Ice-- I've used it a lot over the years with no problem. Until my last cake! It seemed too soft, tore easily and when it dried it had deep cracks in it. I disguised the flaws and the client loved their cake but I'm puzzled as to why the fondant behaved this way. By the way the weather was normal-- no humidity. Thanks!

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KoryAK Posted 8 Oct 2012 , 6:27pm
post #20 of 20

ocwebb: I sometimes get a batch like that, especially ivory. The solution I have found it to dry some of the moisture out of the fondant by letting it sit out for a bit. Of course it will try to dry out too much in places, so I knead, sit for 5, knead sit for 5 etc... (in 1 pound or so lumps) until it gets back to the consistency I'd like.

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