I've been watching a lot of the cake challenges, and it hasn't escaped me how they've been pronouncing "fondant." Have I been saying it wrong all this time???

Is it fondant (like "ant")


OR

is it fondant (like "aunt" with an stress on the "d")

My dictionary says it's supposed to be pronounced like "ant", but I'd hate to embarrass myself when I finally get to meet a pro in the cake world and there I am talking saying it one way while they all pronounce it differently!

Sarah

I pronounce it like ant. I think it's probaly like the tomato and "tomoto" thing depending on your location. I too looked it up.

I have wondered the same thing before. I think it is a lot like potato and tomato where the pronunciation just depends on the person.

I know what you mean! There was a show with the owner of Just Fabulous Pastries and she said "Fondaunt".

I say the ant sound.

hmmmmm...when I say aunt it sounds like ant. when I say fondant I say it like fondunt with no major accent on the d.

Then, again, I pronounce pecan-pee-can not pee-con or pa-con.

I'll be back...I need to check my neck...

according to webster's online dictionary, it has an audio thingy...her neck might be red as well 'cause she sounded it the same way I do and it ain't like they were sounding it on the challenge tonight.
http://reference.aol.com/dictionary?dword=fondant

Okay I think there can also be a difference between the north and south here too - lol. My dad is from th south and it sounds like he is saying pin when he says pen. So when you say ant is it like the a in apple or o in on? Sorry it's late and I'm sleep deprived - I couldn't resist!

Here in TX we say it with the stress on the first syllable, like FONdunt. If you say it any other way here you sound like a stupid celebrity trying to do a fake British accent.
I, too, just watched the "Celebration Cakes" contest and I noticed it pronounced differently every 5 minutes.

Blessings!

Okay. I am tired - I just now got the checking your neck comment!

I better get to bed!

Goodnight . . . . .y'all.

lol...goodnight

Y'all are so funny

I dislike that fawndawnt thing too, it sounds so prissy.

I'm with blessingsandblossoms on this one! Here in Arkansas, I have only heard FONdunt.
To me, it sounds pretentious the other way.

Agreed, it must be a regional thing.

I guess I need to check my neck too.

(and YES, I AM wearing shoes!)

Thanks everyone! I have never LOL'd so much on this site! I guess I am to check my neck out here in CA too? I also like the "FONdunt" spelling -- that's great! I, too, say ant for aunt, so what was I thinkin'?

I'm just sooooo glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who got sick of hearing the announcer say "FONDAUNT" (Hey, there's yet another way to spell it!) every 5 seconds. He did seem like he was trying to sound like he was in the know...

Thanks again everyone -- it's off to bed for me!

Sarah

I am not from the south, but I pronounce it fondunt. I just checked Dictionary.com and that is also the pronunciation that they give. I have heard fondaunt and I personally hate it.

I'm from the UK and I've always heard it pronounced FONdunt. I can't believe some people pronounce it 'fondaunt' are they trying to sound posh?

hi i just found your question and I pronounce fondant...as fondnt...
without the "a" I think that a lot of Aussies would say it the same way.
I believe too,that it depends on where you live to how u pronounce it.

Your comments are killing me! I am laughing so hard right now. Why? Because I just had this exact conversation with a friend of mine as we were searching the gallery this past weekend. Too funny!!!

Here, we say, fondunt. So, when I hear it pronounced, fondawnt I cringe. LOL It reminds me of the Saturday Night Live skit, The Continental (Christopher Walken), the way he says, "Champagne" cracks me up!! "Champainya".

Heck, let's just call fondant, sugar paste! LOL

I agree with you all on the "ant" version, BUT since this is a french word you are not supposed to pronounce the t in the end of the word!

Where I come from fondant sounds like "fondint so I think it is where you come from thingy. I come from New Zealand. Mind you my english probably not correct!

I have wondered the same thing about how to pronounce fondant. I say fondint. I had a bride pronounce it fonDAUNT. Which sounded totally ridiculous. I kept calling it fondint through our conversation but she kept saying fonDAUNT. It drove me crazy. I almost didn't make her a wedding cake because of the way she pronounced fondint.

Okay now that I had a little sleep and reread this thread I realized I never did say how I say it.

I guess to me it seems more like fondint or fondent. I too don't love fondaunt. Any time I've watched Bake, Decorate, Celebrate I cringe every time Melanie says Fondant becuase she says it fondaunt but then again she bugs me in more ways than one! The blonde from Wilton on that show (sorry don't recall her name) says it like fondent - int.

Ok, Majority wins! Fondant it is!

That was so funny when the announcer kept calling it fondaunt. Please!! Maybe the rich and famous call it that , but the majority of us on CC must be 'rednecks', so it is officially fondant now.

I am so glad you asked this question. I just made my first cake with mmf and had no clue how to pronounce it correctly lol. When people asked I said fondaunt trying to sound smart & professional lol, I'm dying LOL at myself now. I wanted to say fondunt but wasn't sure. Thanks for clearing it up so I don't sound like a dork anymore rofl.

I love Keegan (MC) He is very talented in his own rights! It is sorta like Minnesota vs Wisconsin. We say Duck Duck Grey Duck---They say Duck Duck Goose!

I say it like sunflowerfreak and calla74 - fondint. It must be Northern thing!!! I also hate the hoity-toity way some people say it!!! Wow, who would've ever thought one word could be said so many different ways?!? And none of them actually wrong?!?

ok this thread is totally cracking me up! Besides being a cake fanatic, in the off time i am a student lol j/k more like the other way around! Anyways my major is speech pathology and we play around with linguistics a lot! We've had SO many class discussions about regional dialect differences. The main thing that all of this has taught me is there is no right/wrong way to say things regardless of what mr. dictionary says. So be pround of whatever way you say it, and be proud of your regional dialect!!! I have to tell myself that pretty often, being from south louisiana, we say some pretty funny french things around here, But we do NOT pronounce fondant "fondaunt" we definately stress the first syllable! I'm with yall on this one!

Oh my, as I'm reading all these responses, I realize that I don't really say it like fond"ant" but more like fon"dent" or fon"dint." I tried saying it exactly like fond"ant", and it sounded pretty funny.

I love pronunciation issues! They aren't terribly important, but they sure can be fun.

Still LOL -- Sarah

This is too funny! I know I ran into some funny phrases and things in college. Like "sweeping" the carpet..... I was like How do you sweep a carpet? And why??? She meant VACUUM. OHHH! And then this girl I knew kept saying I like that "movie" on tv - she meant tv show - not like a "made for tv movie" or even a movie on tv - but like an episode of a tv show..... just confused the heck out of me all the time.

Then I've said phrases to my husband that my mother says and he's looked at me like I'm nuts. Although we were watching VH1's most awesomely bad sex songs and I totally didn't realize some songs were even talking about sex - like "come on ride the train?" - totally thought it was just a dance song Also - "whoomp there it is" - totally thought it meant something like "in your face!" or something - not anything related to sex!!!

Okay so back to the way to pronounce fondant - I always thought it was an English word b/c I thought they first came up w/ it and I thought that fondaunt was the English (from England) pronunciation and that Americans had changed it to fondant. We should just come up with a whole new word for it!!! That's why I liked "rolled buttercream" - can't screw that one up w/how you pronounce it!! I like the taste of it better too!

I had to join in. I also pronounce it "fondunt". Think it sounds like someone trying to put on airs when it's pronounced "fondaunt". Of course, I also pronounce "pen" as "pin" and "hen" as "hin".