Do you think Fondant is over used on too many cakes these days?

hmmm not really no.

YES !!!!

I don't think so either. But I don't do buttercream cakes...I guess I'm partial.

i like BC and fondant for different reasons LOL

not really I like fondant and buttercream both have their place

Nope, in the UK and in most of Europe, buttercream decorated cakes would be considered kinda freakish and unusual!!! I have a large Expat customer base (including Americans), so I do whatever they want, but Crisco buttercream will NEVER enter my repitoire BLEURGH!!!!! I only use butter in mine and warn of the potential disasters in the summer months hahahaha!

NEVER!!

Nope....I'm afraid I'm a fondant lover too!!!

i happen to love the way fondant looks and you can do some amazing things with it. i, however, do not like the way it tastes, so bc will always have a place with me too.

Where i'm from, you don't see much fondant, unless it's custom cake work and most people don't go that route (it's usually homemade or grocery store bc cakes) so fondant is still a totally cool thing for most.

I THINK FONDANT IS GREAT TO LOOK AT BUT I DON'T REALLY LIKE THE TASTE. I HAVE SEEN SOME BUTTERCREAM CAKES THAT LOOK LIKE FONDANT WHEN WORKED RIGHT. PERSONALLY I WOULD MUCH RATHER CONSUME SOMETHING I ENJOY THAN SOMETHING THAT JUST LOOKS GOOD BUT DOESN'T PLEASE ME. I DO USE FONDANT FOR FLOWERS AND OTHER DECORATIONS BUT THE CAKE IS ALWAYS FROSTED IN BUTTERCREAM.

I think that people have an idea that you can do anything with a cake when they see fondant. They love the look but don't want to pay the price but want you to be able to do the same using buttercream which is a little frustrating. I do both buttercream and fondant although most of my orders are buttercream. I agree that buttercream is much more challenging than fondant. But I think they each have their uses.

This might be sleep deprivation talking but..

I love fondant when it loves me back LOL

I also LOVE BC when it goes well for me.. LOL.. hate em both when they are being nasty..

I love bc cakes with fondant decorations..

I'm with you Christi! I love how you put that.

I use both and think that both materials have their place in decorating. Nope, don't think it's over used at all.

I am amazed and awed by what you girls can accomplish with the fondant techniques, freakin' works of art! But everytime I've had a slice of cake with fondant I have to remove it because I just don't find it tasty at all.

I try to focus more in the homemade-like-your-mom-used-to-make fancy cakes, so I tend to use bc and boiled frostings. My cakes do seem old fashioned and corny compared to others here on the site, I realize. But I don't think I'll move into fondant decorating either...I enjoy keeping alive a form of nostalgia best I can.

I really don't like the taste either.. but.. there are exceptions.. Satin ice kinda melts into your cake (when it's just decorations) ... The chocolate chocopan is heavenly .. as is the caramal chocopan.. I HIGHLY recommend it for taste and workability!!!

This reminds me of the existential discussions you would have as a 10 year old, would you rather be deaf or blind? I think fondant and buttercream both has their place as a decorating medium, flavor and taste aside. There are looks you can achieve with one medium that you cannot achieve with the other. There are levels of skills with both fondant/gum paste and buttercream which are hard to master. I personally think as a cake decorator you should be open to try both, simply so that you can cater to your clients tastes.

Nope.. I love to use fondant and BC. They both have their place. I think it's harder to use BC than it is to use fondant. It's hard to get a porcelain finish with BC.. smooth sharp corners. I think it's easier to do those things with fondant. I should say that it's harder to do it with a non-crusting BC.. I only use SMBC and it's not nice to me when I am doing square cakes.. you should have heard me late last night early this am.. .

I don't think fondant is over used. It's what it most in fashion right now so naturally it is going to be used a lot. Back a couple decades ago highly ornate BC with ruffles and all that jazz was more in fashion.. times change.. and I'm sure that something new will come along. For now I love them both equally.

For those of you who don't like the taste of fondant, try making Michele Foster's fondant. Her recipe is posted here. It is cheap to make, not messy at all, a dream to work with, and tastes wonderful. Even the kids like it. I made my niece's birthday cake last night, and used it. When she came over yesterday to go t odinner, I gave her and her brother a piece of it to try and they both asked for another piece! They loved it! As it sits on the cake, it kinda melts into the icing, and isn't chewy at all. It isn't really chewy when you first make it either! Give it a try! You won't be disappointed! Plus, one batch makes probably twice as much as that nasty mmf.

I love to do fondant flowers (with the new molds) and other accents. I still do mostly buttercream covered cakes but with fondant decorations. This has worked out very well for me!

I think that those who don't like the taste of fondant
should try tasting fondant from other countries, its a completely different animal as far as taste.


whenever I go to europe or argentina I always bring back the ready made fondant (which you find at most grocery stores, not like here) because its just really great tasting.

I think its also a lot to do with what your used to.

For example I like marzipan, when I worked at a country club a couple of years back the pastry chef and I were the only people who liked it.

Personally I abhor the taste of buttercream made with butter, and refuse to put the shortening buttercream in my mouth all together

so no I don't think fondant is overused
now I just gotta get good at working with it

I agree with jen1977....no chewing involved with Michele Foster's Fondant. It does just that, melt into the BC. It really does taste great, but I'm still buying Satin Ice because I haven't had enough practice with MFF to get it to work right for me. It is easy to work with as far as making in though.

I don't know if fondant is overused, but I'm glad it's out there as a medium for us to use if we want. It's good to have options and choices. I personally like fondant over BC because I'm a more hands-on person and I just don't feel that way when making BC roses or whatever.

I'll throw in another prop for Michele Foster's fondant. It's a true fondant and not an MMF and it is not overly sweet and not as chewy as MMF. I don't like MMF.. but Michele's fondant recipe is wonderful to work with.

Also.. if Wilton fondant is all you have every tried.. don't judge all fondants by that. Wilton fondant tastes horrid. Most other comercial fondants taste WORLDS better.

I think they both have their place. I love the look of fondant, but the taste of real buttercream (I use SMBC). I really do think that criscocream is icky, and I'm not fond of the chewy texture of fondant. I have tried many different brands and finally found a brand that works for me, and doesn't contain any meat.

I think fondant is more time consuming than BC, I do charge 20% more for RF.

It's a little ironic if Kerry Vincent really does claim to want to 'preserve the art of buttercream', when every single cake in her book is RF, and she seems to have plenty of different molds that she uses, and not sparingly either.

I guess it all depends on what you're comfortable working with, and what your clientele is looking for.