Fondant Vs. Marzipan - Help Define Application
Decorating By AZrunner Updated 15 Oct 2006 , 2:14pm by lindsaycakes
Some people roll out their marzipan and put it under their fondant on wedding cakes. Keeps cake extra moist. I've used marzipan to mold figurines and have never added gumtex. The only thing with molding marzipan is that it reacts with the heat from your hands. I had to mold quickly or keep putting itback in the fridge for a bit. I made home made marzipan because I couldn't buy it here, So i bought the almond paste and made my own. Had to mix just about all of it by hand though because mixer couldn't take it. Hope this helps some.
The basic difference is that marzipan is made from ground almonds and so has a bit of an oily texture, where fondant doesn't. In England the traditional wedding cake can be fruit cake or sponge cake covered in rolled marzipan and then a layer of rolled fondant, which is called sugarpaste there.
Marzipan figurines can only be keep for so long, they begin to smell rancid after awhile. I am speaking of pre-made purchased marzipan but imagine homemade would do the same thing. I haven't kept fondant for any length of time but my guess is that it would just get harder with age. Not sure if it would get moldy after awhile.
Thanks! I think I am going to stick with the gumpaste/ fondant mix on this one then. I dont' want it to be oily at all.
With the fondant gumpaste you can put it in an airtight container and it will keep for a VERY LONG TIME.
I want to make these decorations a few weeks in advance.
We don't call fondant 'sugarpaste' we call it fondant - I assumed sugarpaste was an American name!
Marzipan is very heavy when used as a covering for a cake and can be quite sticky to use. It would squash a sponge I think - we use it for dense fruit cakes. It has a very strong almondy flavour and a yellowish colour. It's not as flexible or malleable as fondant as it cracks if you pull it about too much.
I would use gumpaste for modelling, fondant for covering and marzipan just on fruit cakes underneath fondant. Marzipan can be used to make marzipan fruits with but has a slightly grainy texture and doesn't dry hard enough to hold complicated shapes and forms. I hope this has helped - I'm happy to answer any more marzipan questions as I use it regularly, just PM me 
Yes over here in the UK we call the roll out icing sugarpaste and in the US you call it fondant. Over here fondant is something you fill chocolates with. Marzipan is used to cover the cake to make a smooth surface for the sugarpaste.
The good thing about Marzipan decorations is that they are edible, and YUMMY! I really like the look of Marzipan fruits, but I've never made anything else with it.
So, "CAKESUNLIMITED", what do you call the paste you mold flowers with?? I thought THAT was sugarpaste?? (The terms for cake mediums can be SO confusing, because people interchange them like crazy, and then there are different terms in different countries).
There should be a thread about this, clarifying all the terms people use!! Anyone know about one??
Lindsay
The good thing about Marzipan decorations is that they are edible, and YUMMY! I really like the look of Marzipan fruits, but I've never made anything else with it.
So, "CAKESUNLIMITED", what do you call the paste you mold flowers with?? I thought THAT was sugarpaste?? (The terms for cake mediums can be SO confusing, because people interchange them like crazy, and then there are different terms in different countries).
There should be a thread about this, clarifying all the terms people use!! Anyone know about one??
Lindsay
Well "LINDSAYCAKES" - no the paste we use to mould flowers is called petalpaste or flowerpaste. We also have mexican paste for moulding figures or sugardough. We also have pastillage which sets really hard for items which you would want to be stronger like castle towers or stand up cards etc.
Yes I agree that a thread would be useful.
We also seem to find each others recipes confusingbecause we have plain and self raising flour where you have cake flour and self rising flour.
AHH, I see. So there are SEVERAL "---paste" mediums that you use in the UK.
Whereas here in the States, people interchange gum-,sugar-, flower- paste....but it's pretty much all the same thing.
INTERESTING! Thanks for clearing things up!
Lindsay
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