I thought I remembered reading a discussion about fondant for vegans--in particular I remember that marshmallows are not vegan--but can't seem to find it now. I have a student who is a missionary, so needs to be able to make most things from scratch (as they can't always buy certain items where they go). He would really like to have a recipe for fondant that would be acceptable to vegans.

Can anyone help w/ this? (He's done really well w/ the other fondant recipes I gave him, including Toba's and MMF--but just needs something for vegans now.)

As far as I know, all homemade recipes include gelatin, which is one reason that I purchase mine. If you want to get true true vegan then there is even something about sugar from the way they process it so I don't know about that... but I do know that Satin Ice does not contain gelatin and is kosher parve.

you can make fondant using agar agar or kosher "gelatin" which is vegan. but when i've done it that way, its been very tempermental and inconsistent. thats why i buy mine, much easier. satin ice is def vegan, and i believe most other premade brands of fondant are. mm's have gelatin and mm fluff has eggs in it. (it never fails that in one of these vegan fondant threads someone suggests using mm fluff/creme, but its not vegan)

Why not use marzipan? If you buy almond paste (available almost anywhere) then add your own sugar it would be Vegan. Just double check the ingredients to be sure. I believe all fondant has gelatin from cow so it would be Kosher acceptable & still contain animal product as long as there is no dairy too. Checking for Kosher will not necessarily help find something Vegan acceptable. There are surely some Vegan sites with recipes for something similar to fondant if you cannot locate it on CC.

PS Do you have a good Vegan cake recipes, frosting?

Hi - former vegan here... just a word of caution that not all brands of kosher gelatin are vegan; sometimes they are animal derived.

Yes Cloudsmom & KoryAK are correct, not all kosher gelatin is non-animal! You need to look for "pareve " (Prepared without meat, milk, or their derivatives and therefore permissible to be eaten with both meat and dairy dishes according to dietary laws) So please look for pareve when the label states Kosher to be sure there is no animal product. Satin Ice states on their web site they are pareve.

Agar Agar is a seaweed derivative, here is the definition http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/Agar+agar

Personally Satin Ice is good but I would prefer marzipan for the price but SI it is white and plain vanilla, not everyone likes almonds (crazy)

What I would probably do... Is use Rolled Buttercream instead... It's a lot shinier than fondant is, but it covers the vegan factor well since it doesn't call for any form of gelatin so there's no worries.. It's just shortening, powdered sugar, flavoring and corn syrup...

I have a severe egg allergy so I always love finding vegan products because I can be sure they are egg-free.

Marshmllow fluff contains egg whites, most marshmallows do not, but they certainly have animal products in the gelatin.

I'm curious about the vegan cake recipes which are good for decorating. I have the chocolate "wacky cake" recipe which I've used some. Doesn't seem to crumb at all, which is a bonus. I have a few cake recipes which are egg-free, but not necessarily friendly for stacking/decorating.

I agree with the PP... I've got a Vegetarian BIL & SIL, then a few friends that are so had to learn the difference out of necessity..

Vegan = Absolutely ZERO animal ANYTHING. This includes milk, honey, gelatin, eggs, leather, beeswax, etc.

Vegetarian = Somewhere on the spectrum but usually very low on the animal products but do take in some somewhere.

In this case, it's best simply to just ask the ingredients that are O.k. products because you may find no issues with the ones you're using. Some just are vegetarian because they consider it a healthier lifestyle alone but aren't opposed to people who do eat meat and other animal products (and have even been known to eat some ribs on rare occasion!). For example, my SIL is like bring on the butter icing when I make my cakes, BIL is like the more vegan the better (even though most anyone else who tries to eat the cake is ready to hurl because of the all-shortening recipe no matter what gets done to it). They both will also do eggs and honey because it's more "natural" of a product. They also don't have any issues with fondant because they're more "modern" in their lifestyle and fondant is a more modern icing here.

I've also had brides come in and ask about vegetarian cakes and my response is usually to ask the guests in question what ingredients are o.k. In every circumstance there wasn't any issue with any of the cake ingredients only if I had lard in any recipe..

I eat mostly vegetarian and have wondered the same thing for a long time. I dont make enough cake to justify buying and paying shipping for a large amount of Satin Ice and I definitely cant eat gelatin. I found a vegan Fondant Icing recipe in the book Sugarcraft, Book One, Beginners. I keep meaning to try it but havent yet. Im not sure if I can post the recipe here but the ingredients are: shortening, lemon juice, water, and confectioners sugar.[/u]

Thank you so much for all of the helpful information! I'm learning so much from all of you. Every time I think I'm pretty well informed, someone points out something else I hadn't thought of.

(Sorry I was slow to thank everyone--I haven't been receiving the e-mail updates on postings. I'll have to check my settings again.)

Lindakbh, that sounds like a poured fondant icing recipe. Those wouldn't normally have any gelatin in them, its the rolled fondant that can. And other brands of fondant might be fine as well, I just don't have them on hand to compare.

Actually, the "Fondant Icing" I referred to is not a poured fondant. The instructions include kneading it until soft and smooth. This is the description given in the book: This is a cooked fondant icing which needs careful attention when boiling the sugar syrup. The longer it is kneaded, the whiter and silkier it becomes. When used to cover small or large sponge cakes, it produces a smooth satin finish and may be shaped into small decorations. The instructions do say to use it immediately so I dont know whether it could be stored like regular fondant.

When checking this, I also noticed that they have a Quick Sugarpaste recipe that does not include gelatin that they also give directions for covering a cake with. The instructions say that on drying it sets firm but not hard and brittle.

Edited to add: I just noticed this other recipe for Quick Sugarpaste contains and egg white, so it would be vegetarian, not vegan.