sorry all im really new at this and just wanted to know if im doing this right ... I want to make cakes for our granddaughter and for other celebrations and at the moment im using royal icing ...is it the same as fondant and will they keep the same please. if not where do i find the fondant. thanks all. ive made some cake toppers already and it is nice to work with.

Although I personally didn't but people makes cake topper out of Royal Icing all the time. Not really sure what kind of topper you are talking about but royal icing tiara is one of the most popular one.

Royal icing and fondant are not the same. What are you wanting to use it for? To make designs/figures/images out of or to cover a whole cake? You can make a topper for a cake...as in figure that you adorn the top of a cake with...out of either one. But you can't really cover an entire cake with royal icing, or at least I wouldn't.

Happy caking!

oh ...ive been making teddies and frogs etc for on top of cakes and was going to try to ice a cake with it ... obviously that may not be a good idea ... i will have to find me some fondant ... should i swap to fondant for the teddie cake toppers as well??? ... the royal icing doesnt seam to become that hard but it sticks together well with water and was fun to create with. thank you for answering my queries as i truly am very new to this and do want to wow my family and friends when i do our granddaughters first birthday cake

You can absolutely cover a cake in royal icing...it's just difficult.

I'd recommend buying this book if you want to learn anything and everything to do with royal icing, including how to cover a cake with it.

http://www.whitcoulls.co.nz/by/eddie-spence/2767290/

It's expensive but so so worth it. Maybe you know of cheaper book stores for NZ, this is just one I googled.

Hi, I put royal icing toppers on my cupcakes all the time check out my photos you'll see a few. As for putting it on a big cake I don't see why it would be any different the only issue with the RI topper the grease from the icing is absorbed by them and depending the color of the topping the can look splotchy after. I find if the cake is in the fridge this does NOT happen and if it is not refrigerated it takes 24 hrs before it does happen.

Hi again I just checked out your photos those look like fondant figures are you sure that was icing? Anyway if they are fondant then again they certainly can go on your cake.

There all made from Royalty soft white icing which i brought from the supermarket and coloured with food colouring ... I didnt know there was a difference in what the icing would do and what fondant would do ... i will buy some fondant once i can find it and make some toppers from it to see what the differences are ... The supermarket doesnt seam to have fondant though so im not sure where to get it from I will search for it ...ive just ordered some better colours and a black pen. thank you all for your help. im sure to be asking many silly questions and i really do appreciate your help. Im hoping I will be able to with practice make awsome cakes and cupcakes like others on here do ... wow you lot blow me away with what you achieve. I definately need whatever will be easiest to put over a cake as ive never iced one before.

sorry I thought that the icing i was using was royal icing ... sighs ... its just a box of royalty soft white icing ... id still like to know if its ok to cover a cake with and will characters made from it last or should I redo them all in fondant ... sorry for the confusion im still figuring stuff out and thanks again for all your help ive checked out your pages and wow there awsome

I have a very similar question as well.
I am hoping to make an Elmo cake topper and would like to ask whether the cake topper will last (i.e. well after the birthday) if I pipe the body with royal icing instead of making texture out of fondant.

Thanks for any answers in advance!!

J

littlegreywitch, it sounds like what your using is fondant, under a different name - so yes will do for covering cake too. might have ready to roll or sugar paste on the box instead?
i googled the product name to see if i could find anything about it, but got nothing! you can make fondant figures, but adding in gumpaste can help it to be stronger and keep its shape better while drying.
i believe the planet cake website ha sa good forum, so you might get more relevant answers there, just because the people in your country will know what websites or shops to suggest to you for cake supplies.

janero - royal also keeps forever, will be fine!
xx

this is the only link I can find to the icing I used.
http://www.foodtown.co.nz/Shop/ProductDetails?Stockcode=267264&name=royalty-eversoft-icing-white&search=royalty+eversoft
Thank you all for helping me. the toppers I made have lasted nearly a year and still look great.
though I still have to learn how to level my cakes and get the icing to look good when I cover them ... lol ah well at least Im still loving creating things

Littlegreywitch, that looks like fondant to me.

Certainly in the UK, royal icing normally comes in white powder form and you add water and food colouring to make it the consistency and colour you want, depending on what you are doing with it. The vast majority of cakes my Mum made when I was growing up were covered in royal icing.

Fondant/sugarpaste/"ready to roll icing" in the UK normally comes in a packet or box similar to marzipan and you get it white or ready coloured.

I definately agree that creating and learning is certainly fun! I have a looong way to go but looking at this site makes me realise how amazing a creations you can aspire to making!