I have never steamed fondant before. What does it achieve exactly? Does it make it stick better or just give a slight shine? if so, how long does the shine last?? what kind of steamer can you use? I have seen the kiosks in the middle of the malls selling hand held steamers, would that work??
Lots of questions! thanks in advance 
Most people steam fondant to make it shiny. I actually bought a hand held steamer to do this and HATED it! It's hard to direct the steam, and it drips too. What I do now is put water in my airbrush and spray it with just water when I want something shiny. It works great! Sometimes it will dry dull, just hit it with the water again and it should stay shiny after that.
It works really well to get powdered sugar off of black fondant! I wanted to make my black fondant cake board shiny, and steaming it did, but it didn't last. I find that add long as I let the steamer heat and give it a couple of test shots, I avoid the drip problem.
A lot of people use the steam for cleaning, or for setting shimmer/pearl dust. I use the steamer with sugar flowers, but not on fondant, because I don't like how sticky it makes the fondant.
For cleaning black fondant, have y'all tried using a bar towel or paper towel? Just be gentle....pretend you're wiping down a porcelain figurine. And to make fondant have that wet, shiny look, I grease my hands with a bit of shortening
I steam my fondant - it smooths out the surface, makes it glossy, gets rid of finger prints, small cracks, pin holes, excess corn starch etc. It also makes the colors pop and sets any petal/luster dust I may have used.
I have a hand-held steamer I've had for years.
Jen
Another trick to make shiny fondant is to take a walnut sized fondant ball and rub over your fondant that has already been applied to the cake. Use the same color and your fondant will polish right up to a lovely shine.
Cat
I often steam little things. Any decorations I've made that have powdered sugar residue on them, the steam dissolves that nicely. I steam fondant lettering which also removes the slightly rough edges. If I want to apply disco dust to decorations I steam them then sprinkle it on and the glitter sticks nicely. Anything dark or bright, a light steam seems to revive/brighten/darken the colour a lot. Steaming makes the surface look a lot smoother, it does make things shiny, but I leave them to dry out completely before using the decoration and in a couple days the shine is gone...which is a good thing because I often don't want something to be shiny. It will leave the surface sticky for a while, so make sure not to touch until dried out.
thanks so much for all the responses, but what type of steamer do you use or recommend?
thanks so much for all the responses, but what type of steamer do you use or recommend?
For steaming a whole cake you need an actual electric steamer, for little things obviously you can just steam them over a pot of boiling water.
thank you!!! I can't believe that never crossed my mind to use a pot of boiling water!!
thank you!!! I can't believe that never crossed my mind to use a pot of boiling water!!
I nearly didn't post that because I thought I was probably stating the obvious, LOL. Glad to help!
When I steam over a pot of water I use my big spatula (it's flat, not cranked) I lay a strip of foil on it, and pop the items to be steamed on the foil. I always let things dry out for a day or so to make sure theyre firm before steaming them, otherwise they may not hold their shape. The spatula will sit across the top of my saucepan/pot without falling in, and then I pop a lid over that to trap the steam in around the objects so that the tops of them are getting steamed. If they're just flat decorations I can rest the lid on the spatula, or if it's a taller decoration I hold the lid over the item, making sure it doesn't touch. I steam for anywhere between 5 seconds up to about 25 seconds over boiling water, depending on what I'm doing. When the items are done they'll be sticky until they've had time to dry out, so slide the foil with the items off the spatula without touching your decorations.
AThanks...I will have to try that. It soulds easy :-)
AThanks...I will have to try that. It soulds easy :-)
I have one of those irons that has the separate water tank and puts out a lot of steam. Playing around recently I used it to steam my cake out of curiosity as I wasn't going to be doing enough cakes to warrant the expense of a separate steamer. It worked just fine.
If the goal is "shiny" fondant, or just getting rid of powdered sugar/dry appearance, use some shortening on your hand and rub it in. If you only use a little, it will not be too shiny. If you want a more shiny appearance, use more. I have also stopped using powdered sugar to roll fondant, because it tends to dry out the fondant, and discolor. Instead I use a thin film of shortening on counter, which not only works better as "anti-stick", but does not dry it out. Shortening is also a great cure for fondant "elephant skin." I have never used a steamer and was glad to find this thread! Thanks for your question!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%