Ok, so I have my first wedding cake coming up in Nov so I may be bugging you guys a lot! Luckily the bride knows I'm a novice and is fine with that, so I get a good opportunity to hone some skills!

Anyway, she wants it covered in fondant...6-8-10. The only fondant I have ever used is my own homemade mmf, and it never comes out the same. It's usually pretty soft and kind of melts onto my cake...I haven't really gotten to play with it enough to get it quite right. So I'm buying the fondant for this cake. I have been looking around and see there are a few popular brands. I have no experience with any of them, so which would you guys recommend I try out as a total beginner? I can get my hands on Duff, Satin Ice, Fonarific and Fondx pretty easily. I plan to play with it before I actually use it, but it would be nice to not have to buy them all and find out that way!

I started out using Wilton and think it helped me to some degree. I now use Fondarific, Duff (with a coupon) and on occasion Wilton. Wilton is cheaper so I would probably try that but it won't give you the taste you might want.

Thanks for posting this. I was actually wondering the same thing. Also how many pounds of fondant would it take to cover a 10 8 and 6?

I think Wilton's fondant is the best for beginners. It is a great consistancy and is easy to work with. The problem with alot of home made recipes is that you really have to play with the recipe since they usually have you add powder sugar until it 'feels right'.

If you have time to do a few small practice cakes I'd get some Wilton fondant and try it out.

If you go with another brand, again I would practice with it first because all fondants behave a little differently and you really don't want to try a new one out for the first time on an important cake.

Here is a chart that tells you how much fondant to use for different size cakes:

http://www.wilton.com/decorating/fondant/fondant-coverage-chart.cfm

I think I would start with the Wilton brand too because it's cheap (use your 40 % off coupon at Michaels or Joanns). That will make it about 12.00 for 5 lbs. If you do that twice...you will have more than enough for your cake. So, it would cost around 24.00 for 10 lbs. If you end up needing to redo parts, then it's readily availble and cheap.
I started with Wilton years ago. Always thought it handled nice just didn't care for the taste...but, it seems improved now.
I use Pettice or Satin Ice most of the time now...they handle well too...just more expensive.

Have fun!

Thanks! I have played with wilton before and it was really easy to handle, but I didn't care for the taste. I might try kneading in some butter and vanilla extract, since it is so cheap. I plan to buy a dummy cake and practice covering it a few times before I actually do this cake. It isn't a big cake, but I want it to be perfect! I was also thinking about maybe buying 2lbs of satin ice and trying that too. Good things is, I have time to play around before the cake is due!

You can totally flavor Wilton's fondant. The candy oils work nicely to flavor it since you don't have to add alot of them. If you use extracts then you may need to add a little powder sugar to it.

I would suggest that you actually practice on a real cake rather than a dummy. Dummies and can be both easier and harder than covering a real cake. You can make an 8in round and use the small box of fondant to cover it.

Dummy cakes usually have sharper edges so sometimes you have to deal with fondant ripping along the top edge.

The issues is that with a real cake you are dealing with icing under the fondant and a cake that may give a little more than a dummy. So with a dummy you are practicing with a hard surface, but with a real cake you are practicing with something softer. Dummy cakes are perfectly level and real cakes, we have to make level.

So if you really want practice for what the wedding cake would be like, I'd go with a real cake for practice.

I totally agree with Texassugar a dummy can be harder because of the edges. It would be wiser to practice on a real cake.

Hi Erin, I just learned how to use fondant and have covered two cakes so far. The first one was covered with Duff's brand (buttercream flavor) and the second with Satin Ice (vanilla flavor). I found both very easy to work with.

Duff's was a bit sticky but maintained its moisture better while I worked and re-worked it. Satin Ice was easier to work with but the finished pieces dried quickly so I had to cover them with a dampened paper towel while waiting to attach them to the cake.

Regarding flavor, Duff's buttercream is more pronounced than Satin Ice's vanilla which is pretty mild. Both got rave reviews from my friends.

I would definitely use either one again. I've used Wilton's fondant once as accent pieces but didn't care for the flavor. HTH!

Funny, I have a simular question, I need black and red fondant and want to know which brands work the best for being stiff and firm. Colors make some brands too soft, like homemade fondant. So I am looking for some brands as well. I will say, Duff and Fondarifix (oops spelling) did not work to well for me. They were too soft and captured ever fold or bend in my cake. They didn't dry out either. After a weeks, your fondant should at least have a a firmness to it and I didn't get that with those brands. Fondx was alright but lacked the good taste of Duff's and Fondarifix, but out of your choices, I would say Satin Ice for the texture to work with. I plan on looking on their website to see if they have black, but in my case, I'm trying to find the best brand to work with. Not too stiff to break my hands and wrist but good to work with and one that does not crack because of the color in it.