I prefer buttercream, but i love fondant for accents
I'd have to say BC for me. I've done one fondant cake using Michele Foster's fondant (which I love by the way) and it came out great. But I can't say that I prefer working with it...I guess I'm just use to BC now.
I'm also a good old fashioned American BC lover! Everyone always complains that "the cake is too sweet!" I say " Yeah? That's the nature of cake! If you would like me to make it less sweet, I'll bake you some bread and slap some butter on it for ya!" 
When I worked in a bakery, I would've said BC all the way, hands down, no other option. But I worked with some sort of magical BC that was so easy to smooth and get the straightest, most perfect sides ever. Now that I just makes cakes from home and my own BC, I have to say fondant. And I haven't even worked with fondant that much. I'm just not good at getting the right balance of smoothness with crusting... it's just a mess. I've made MMF a few times and each time it gets easier and easier... while I don't like the texture so much, I just love how classic it looks.
I only make the cream cheese fondant I posted in the recipe section... I LOVE it! It doesn't get QUITE as smooth as "real" fondant, but it's still easier to smooth (for me) than buttercream. And the taste is to DIE for! I never lack for people to eat my cakes! Granted, I put a thin layer of buttercream under the fondant, but that really only helps the taste of the fondant, it doesn't supply the ONLY taste! As far as which taste I prefer, it pretty much is only dependent on my mood at the time, as BOTH are SOOOOO GOOD!
I love working with fondat but my famlly hates the taste! Actually more the texture they do like the mmf taste. I recenly did rolled buttercream and they all liked it. I will start doing that more!
I have never heard of rolled BC..I'll have to search that (unless this is referring to the BC using the roller method?)
I will only cover a cake in BC..I have started lately to use fondant cutouts to accessorize the cake and I warn people not to eat them, but I refuse to cover a cake in the stuff because I think it tastes gross. With that being said, I absolutely love the look you can get with fondant and think the cakes are just amazing looking but I think part of the whole point of eating cake is that it has a balance of looking good & tasting good. To me, you can have an awesome amazing looking cake, but then at some point you have to cut into it and eat it and then the fondant tastes gross (plus all cakes I have ever tasted covered in fondant tasted very dry and I like eating a moist cake), and then that is the last thing you remember, gosh that good looking cake didnt taste very good!
If someone ever asked me to do a fondant cake I would flat out refuse. Plus, I have had some difficulties in working with the fondant on a small scale, so I can't imagine working it into a large enough piece to cover a cake.
"Like the mix or scratch debate, this is another "personal opinion" issue." I agree completely with Debi's comment. However, there are some effects that are strictly fondant and others that are strictly buttercream or royal. In an ideal world we would all be equally skilled (or in my case equally unskilled) in both mediums.
kansaswolf...
How do you have that recipe listed? I looked for it as cream cheese fondant and couldn't find it. I love cream cheese icing. also, does it get hard? Can you make flowers and figures from it?
Thank you.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-7060-0-Cream-Cheese-base-fondant.html
That should be the link to the cream cheese fondant. Yes, it does get hard and I've made figures out of it, and a few flowers. I'm not big on flowers, so I don't do many...
I also agree with yayadesigns on there being a balance between looks and taste, which is why I use THIS recipe instead of any others! I can't get as SMOOTH a finish as I can with "real" fondant, but that could also very well be "user error". However, like I've said before, I'll sacrifice a little in the LOOKS of a cake to have a YUMMY one, because that's why I make cake!
Neat topic! As a newbie I was wondering if I would get smacked for disliking fondant.
It is gorgeous, and the work done with it is simply amazing. I will make accents and flowers and pearls from it, but never do I put it on the cake itself. It tastes horrible and I hate to see a gorgeous cake served, just to see everyone picking off the fondant and being left with a sort of messy piece of cake.
I guess I have to say buttercream...but I actually don't use that much either. I use a lot of whipped white and chocolate ganaches, and tend to do cakes with "alternate" toppings.
I don't seem to do quite the same vein of cakes as many here so that may be why. I am not very good at the sculpting either, so figures and very elaborate art eludes me.
I am with yayadesigns too, on taste vs. look. I just don't get that frustrated with icing that does not look 'perfectly' smooth. It is frosting...not fondant...I don't think it is really supposed to.
I PREFER BUTTERCREAM FOR FROSTING THE CAKE... I ALSO PREFER THE TASTE OF BUTTERCREAM 100 TO 1 OVER FONDANT. BUT I DO USE FONDANT FOR MAKING FLOWERS AND OTHER DECORATIONS FOR THE CAKE , AND I FIND I CAN LET THEM SIT FOR QUITE A WHILE AND THEY GET HARD LIKE ROYAL FROSTING FLOWERS ... A LITTLE MORE FRAGILE BUT VERY EASY TO WORK WITH. I AM MORE INTERESTED IN SOMETHING THAT LOOKS OKAY BUT TASTES GREAT THAN SOMETHING THAT LOOKS GREAT BUT I DON'T ENJOY EATING ... WHAT'S THE REAL PURPOSE OF A CAKE TO SEE OR TO EAT ???
I prefer the taste of BC but love the smooth finish of fondant. I have had good reviews from Satin Ice fondant. I like working with fondant and (no jinx!) have had a great time doing so.
In my business, we use both fondant and buttercream. We would lose clients if we restricted ourselves to one or the other. However, I personally prefer to cover the cakes in fondant and my hubby prefers to ice in buttercream. I guess it's because I'm better at fondant, and he's better at getting the buttercream super smooth.
If you are having such a hard time smoothing your buttercream you might want to reconsider what type of shortening you are using. I have the best results with Hi-Ratio Shortening, Pilgrim and other commercial products. The buttercream turns out incredibly smooth and I never have any problems with edges or corners. I do use fondant often, however, depending on what the design calls for.
Mark me Buttercream. I wish there was an emoticon for gagging, I'd put that directly after this comment" Fondant makes me....." My best friend ordered a cake for her sons wedding that cost $800, it was beautiful and tasted like crap. I heard one guest comment at the wedding "who'd of thought you could wrap a cake in chewing gum" Nasty, sorry had to get that out.....feel much better now!!
I work primarily with BC because that is what most people, including my family and myself, prefer. I can work in either medium, and there are some things that you can only do with fondant, but for taste and textures, BC wins. Actually, what most people have a problem with is the texture of fondant, not the taste. The dense, chewy texture just doesn't go with with the soft, fluffy American cakes, IMO. Another issue with using fondant, particlarly on wedding cakes, is that it can be a royal pain to cut. The fondant is so dense, the cake underneath tends to smoosh before the fondant cuts. You have to use a really sharp knife, and constanly dip it in hot water and wipe it clean, and it's still messy, especially in warm or humid conditions. For this reason, many caterers peel the fondant off before cutting, and that just seems a huge waste. As for using BC underneath for the taste, in my experience the BC sticks to the fondant and ends up being discarded along with it.
I do like the look of fondant, but it's just too wasteful to me to use it when I know people are just going to take it off and throw it away, though I have no problem doing it when requested, and I would consider it a must for some sculptured/whimsical cakes for stability.
I also think it's a shame that fondant/gumpaste work is considered superior or advanced, compared to BC and piping. IMO, they are simply different, not advanced. It certainly takes considerable skill to get really smooth BC and I can pipe quite a number of reasonably realistic flowers in BC.
I also think it's a shame that fondant/gumpaste work is considered superior or advanced, compared to BC and piping. IMO, they are simply different, not advanced. It certainly takes considerable skill to get really smooth BC and I can pipe quite a number of reasonably realistic flowers in BC.
Sugarshacks buttercream recipe & watch her video..... incredible 'duh' moments as I watched this true master.
i started out not smooth buttercream, went to ick tasting fondant, quickly found a rolled buttercream that lrolled out & on like fondant but tasted better. found sugarshack & don't like using other methods now.
I like to do Buttercreme with fondant accents.
Buttercream taste better. fondant looks better and it's what I like to work with, because I can't get that real smooth buttercream look. By the way how do I find sugarshacks recipe and video?
Buttercream all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is just my personal opinion. I feel the focus has turned toward fondant and that the real american syle of decorating is dying. Thanks to people like indydebi to keep it alive. I wish you worked on the Wilton yearbook staff. Their old yearbooks were so neat for me because I love buttercream decorating. I love piping and working with it. When I make cakes for friends and family they always love the buttercream.
No, buttercream is not dying. Most bakeries still sell more buttercream cakes than fondant.
I agree the two are not a matter of which is more advanced, it is which you would rather work with. To me personally, I don't think the fondant cakes look better. They don't look like cake to me. To me, with fondant cakes you are creating an artistic packaging for your cake hidden inside. With buttercream you are creating an artistic complete unit, cake and icing.
This is my opinion only, I feel like decorating with fondant is like doing scrapbooking (which I also do not enjoy) You cut out little pieces and glue them on the cake.
With buttercream you squeeze and manipulate that bag forming whatever you want from soft buttercream and when finished, it is a creation of yours. You didn't use molds, cutters, veiners or any other help. It was just you and that bag of icing.
When I show my customers all of the flowers and figures which can be made from buttercream they never opt for fondant.
What we die hard buttercream decorators have to do is post more pictures showing the newbies just what can be done with buttercream. We can win them over because I am convinced that if you perfect buttercream you will never go back to fondant. It is just like making a rose on a stick instead of a nail.
BCJean has spoken.
You are so right. By the way I recommended your buttercream flowers dvd to someone on here today. I really enjoy that dvd.
I haven't decided which I like working with yet, but I totally agree that fondant covered cakes (although whimsical), look too much like "play doh" . . . and tastes just as bad!
I agree with BCJean's comment regarding fondant's resemblence to scrapbooking (I DO scrapbook personally, but prefer to keep it a completely SEPARATE hobby!)
I used to buy every Wilton magazine as they were released, but since the "fondant craze" I have completely lost interest in purchasing them. I now pick up as many out dated copies as I can, when buttercream was more popular.
I personally enjoy a challenge and love the chance to do something that no one else has done. I find that fondant doesn't satisfy my hunger for challenge. Although its a great standby for figures/flowers . . . don't get me wrong. I have a better sense of pride in using buttercream for my creations. But I'm just a hobbiest, not a professional.
I have been doing cakes for the past 32 years. Started with buttercream and only recently have tried fondant. I have bought many different brands and even made homemade, I still hate the taste it brings to the table. I have found a lot of people like it because it makes making cakes easier. I tend to use buttercream and garnish with fondant flowers and decorative pieces.
I as a home ec teacher and I still teach cake decorating in one class. It is amazing how well the cakes from beginners look when they use fondant. Give them buttercream, a bent spatula and ask them to ice a smooth cake and it is a very interesting, entertaining experience.
Lots of people can make molded gumpaste or fondant flowers, welding that buttercream bag and a nail head is an art.
Yeah for buttercream.
I have been doing cakes for the past 32 years. Started with buttercream and only recently have tried fondant. I have bought many different brands and even made homemade, I still hate the taste it brings to the table. I have found a lot of people like it because it makes making cakes easier. I tend to use buttercream and garnish with fondant flowers and decorative pieces.
I as a home ec teacher and I still teach cake decorating in one class. It is amazing how well the cakes from beginners look when they use fondant. Give them buttercream, a bent spatula and ask them to ice a smooth cake and it is a very interesting, entertaining experience.
Lots of people can make molded gumpaste or fondant flowers, welding that buttercream bag and a nail head is an art.
Yeah for buttercream.
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