I was wondering if someone could help me understand when it is best to use fondant vs. gumpaste. I have worked with fondant some but never gumpaste. I would love to know the differences and when is it appropriate to use each one, drying time too! Thanks so much in advance.
Melissa
Fondant is wonderful for covering cakes in a satin like finish. Soft and edible. Gumpaste is a sugar dough used for making flowers, bows and ribbons, plaques etc. It dries rock hard and while made with edible ingredients it doesn't really taste good and I tell people to remove the gumpaste items from the cake before serving. If kept in a dry place where no sunlight or humidty gets in they will keep for years. I would never try to make anythng with straight fondant that I wanted to be rolled very thin such as flowers, or anythng I wanted to be really strong such as bows. You can knead together half and half amounts of gumpaste and fondant, or you can knead a bit of Tylose powder or Gumtex to your fondant for a faster drying paste, but it will not have the strength of straight gumpaste. The recipe I use for gumpaste is Nicholas Lodge's Tylose gumpaste.
http://www.nicholaslodge.com/gumpaste.htm
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