I have used fondant on cakes in the past but I relly do not care for the aste of it. I would like to make the fireman hat cake I found here. Can I color almond paste and use it in place of the fondnt? Does any one have any advice?

Yes you can but it is way more expensive. I have switched to Satin Ice which everyone loves!

Let me apologize for being a bit clueless, althought I do sevral cakes a year, I am still shopping at Michael's. What is satin ice?

Oh Satin Ice is a brand of fondant that resembles the middle of an Oreo I would say. Not super sweet but has great taste and texture! I just bought forty pounds of it!

If you dont like the taste of wilton brand, I would recommend either using the satin ice or just making your own fondant. Its super easy and cheap to do. If its a different flavor your going for, have you thought of using mammori? I like it a whole heck of a lot better than fondant.

Holy moly, you must do a lot of cakes. Thanks for the help. Any reccomenations for shopping? I am doing this cake for my son's birthday Labor Day weekend.

What is mammori? I trird to make fondant once years ago and it didn't go well for me, additionally I have limited counter space. I recall the fondant required a lot of space.

You can find it at any good cake store. Are you near a major city?

Not really. I am 3 hours from Chicago. I am in a metro area but there are no cake decorating stores here, I may have tolook see what I can find on-line.

I go right to satin ice but you have to order a huge quantity initially. They sell them in 2lb and 5lb also.
I can get a 2lb for $11.25 so you can use this to guage some cost with shipping. I am about six hours from chicago. I know that wisconsin has many vendors so shipping may be cheaper. Now I buy in bulk and it is $2.50 a pound but I pay for shipping also. Hope this helps!

Thanks for being so helpful. My confidance is rising. This is such a nice website.

Confidence is always a plus. I have been doing cakes for six years and I had three new clients and have not received feedback yet. I still get nervous!

Mammori is like fondant. Generally same texture, you use it the same way, but it is made with coconut milk like coco lopez and coconut extract instead of water and vanilla. It gives your cake a tropical flavor while remaining the same fliable, rollable texture your used to. Just thought I would throw that out there as an option.

llee815. PM me and I would be happy to give you the recipe. It is very tasty. I also have a few recipes for differnet flavored fondants if you are interested in them as well.