This is a topic my husband and I go round and round about. So I thought I'd ask y'all what you think. Eat it or leave it? And if they leave it, is it because of taste or texture?

My mom and I were just discussing this yesterday. I have always seen everyone eat it and comment on how good it is. I have used mmf and fondant and everyone loves both.

I think because in America, using fondant is relatively new, people in general do not like it. I know I have you used it with friends and family and they usually peel it off. I think it it a texture thing, because it is chewy and I know Marshmallow fondant is VERY sweet. I think most people prefer buttercream, and that is what they are used to. Its a tricky thing, because you can do SO much with fondant and if you are going for a certain look, you have to use it! AAHH, the trials and tribulations of cake making!

Soooo true! I wonder if that recipe that combines mmf and bcf really works. That would seem to be the best of both worlds.

I think it is a taste thing. I do almost all my work in fondant, rolled BC, and candy clay. Everytime I get a new customer they say they do not like the taste of fondant, some even get confused with marzipan. When they come to look at my cake books,I always have several samples of flavors or mmf fondant, RBC, and candy clay. Everyone, once they sample it, orders and eat it.....all of it.

I think most are not sure what it is, and so many new decorators use that nasty Wilton fondant that it has gotten a bad rep. in the USA. If you use a MMF, or rolled butter cream, they eat it all, and I always have repeat customers requesting fondant flavors.

I've only used fondant for decorations, never to cover a cake entirely. The first 2 times I used Wilton fondant just for balls I used as a border on the cakes. Not even the kids would eat it! lol They tried it but would spit it out...same for the adults. Since then I've used MMF and kids eat it like crazy!! When I'm making it or cutting out the shapes I need, my children wait to see if any is leftover...lol. I try not to let them eat too much of it because it is pure sugar, but they like the taste of the MMF and the texture doesn't seem to be a problem for them. But adults still don't really care for the MMF either...I think in their case it's the texture because they've commented on the taste being yummy. I usually flavor my MMF, though...something that complements the flavors in the cake...just so it doesn't only taste sweet. But me personally - I can't stand the stuff! lol Both the texture and the taste...just waaayyy too sweet for me. I've been to 3 weddings that had fondant on the cakes and I, along with most everyone else, I noticed, peeled off the fondant. It's not a very common thing down here in the South, a whole cake covered in fondant...maybe more common in big cities like Atlanta or Dallas or somewhere like that. I think it's kind of viewed like the rind on some cheeses such as good cheddar or brie...it's there to serve a purpose (which is the look) but not necessarily meant to be eaten! lol At least, that's my experience.

I have only done one cake covered in fondant
<------ this flower pot one in my avatar....and everyone loved it.......maybe the chocolate buttercream underneath killed the flavor??? It was really sweet though....nobody could eat more than one piece!! Wow is that stuff sweet!!! Now I just do the viva paper towel thing to get a fondant look......unless fondant is actually requested

I use Mill Lane fondant (from www.creativecutters.com ) and everyone eats it! Especially the chocolate fondant... it's SOOO yummy! I always provide a good layer of IMBC under it in case someone doesn't want to eat it, but once people taste it, they really like it!

I have had the same experience with people having tried the Wilton before and claiming not to like fondant... I warn people up front that that stuff tastes NOTHING like fondant!

It's mixed 50/50.

I did a test at work and the great majority said that it was the texture they didn't like...

rolled bc tastes much better, not as sweet and takes the flovors better. Most my kid customers ask for the Tutti Frutti flavoe, adults love the vanilla butter nut...It is greaser than mmf, I happen to like for figure molding, it takes longer to dry too. I di find it to much eiser to tint!
However, It is Very difficult to cover a cake in it, it tears up on you! For that I use mmf.

I just gave the 50/50 a shot and it works Great!

I originate from England where people are used to fondant (called sugarpaste), and it tastes better than the stuff over here (except perhaps MMF), and people prefer it. A lot of folks think buttercream is too sweet.

However, friends and family over here prefer buttercream and tend to peel the fondant off. They aren't keen on the texture. I do have some friends who like MMF, but to some it's still a texture thing.

Personally, I think it's what people are used to and grew up with.

Some love it, some pick at it and others peel it off....I like it myself.

If it is Wilton most won't eat it, MMF gets eaten.

you need to experiement with brands... I have some I hate that give a most sickly after taste at the back of your throat and some that are so divine that I can eat it straight...

Fondant in Australia has been the in thing for cakes for a long time and buttercream is new...especially for wedding and special occassion cakes... it certainly not considered awful here.

Test a few

I also made exactly one fondant cake. A resounding NEVER AGAIN from all who was brave enough to try it. I used the MMF recipe from this site. It was the taste (like those awful orange circus peanuts) and the texture (chewy. Ew.). Once was too much in our case.

My kids love this stuff! (mmf) They love the fact that it's like playdough. I even let my one year old play with it and he doesn't feel left out, and if he eats it, it's ok! My daughter loves marshmellows anyway and would eat them by the bag full if I let her!

The Wilton fondant, of course, is nasty. It tastes like plastic and I can't imagine anybody liking that stuff. The MMF is better tasting but very sweet too. I buy fondant sometimes but I don't know what the brand is called since my cake decorating store gets it in big containers of like 50lbs and then makes little packages of 1/2 and 1 lb and I forgot to ask the owner what it was called. I've gotten the chocolate one and the vanilla one and they are better than Wilton but when used on cakes some people still peel it off. I'm with those of you who say it has a lot to do with the texture. People are used to eating an icing that will melt in your mouth. I took some to Spain and gave it to my sister to try and she put it on a cake and her boyfriend decided to microwave the cake for a few seconds and the fondant became much softer and it would dissolve in your mouth and he loved it (it was the chocolate fondant). In Spain we don't use neither fondant nor buttercream, we are more into covering our cakes with whipped cream or ganache so, for me, both buttercream and fondant were a new thing. I don't mind the chewing of the fondant but I do find it too sweet still and the buttercream, if it's Italian Meringue Buttercream, I love it... I don't care much for the crisco + powdered sugar combo or even the all butter + powdered sugar combo... too sweet again. When the icing is too sweet it overpowers the taste of the cake.

My 2 cents.

Inma

I've only done two cakes with fondant, both times using MMF. I rolled it as thin as I possibly could, and laid it over a generous layer of buttercream. The fondant kind of melts into the buttercream when it is rolled quite thin, so the texture issue isn't noticable.

I tried picking it off the first time I tried a piece of the cake, because I had heard about the "chewiness" but, like I said, it kind of melted into the bc.

Since switching to Satin Ice fondant (from Colette Peter's recipe), my cakes have gotten rave reviews and the fondant gets eaten...even by avowed fondant haters.

I always use a regular layer of buttercream under fondant, though. I never skimp on that!

I didn't know Colette Peter had a fondant recipe. Where can I find it?

It's in several of her books...I can't remember which ones, and they're kind of packed away right now (we'll be moving soon). I'm sure someone else here can tell you.

I know for sure that it's in Colette's Cakes, but I think it's in her other books too.

I've used it many times and it is nice to work with. The taste is fine, just sugary, of course.

Of the three kinds of fondant I've used (Pettinice, the Colette Peters recipe, and MMF), MMF was the favorite for flavor among my family members. The people who liked it are those who like circus peanuts candy. There are some folks who don't like any kind of fondant.

I like working with the Colette Peters stuff the best, but the MMF is easier and cheaper to make.

I went to a wedding last night and had a piece of cake. I ate the carrot cake and the buttercream and left the fondant. I don't mind it sometimes, but it was too sweet for the carrot cake.

Yes, I switched from Colette's recipe to Satin Ice.

Oops! I misinterpreted what you wrote to mean the Satin Ice was made from Colette Peter's recipe! lol
That's what I get for staying up so late.

a customer of mine wanted a certain cake she saw on the web, when she found out it was made with fondant she decided on something else.

Well, like I've heard about Wilton fondant, I hate the taste of Regalice (used in the UK), it's what I call 'minging' , so I tried the MMF recipe and found that I liked it much better - but I have to use lemon/lime juice as the liquid bacause otherwise it is just too sweet!