Hi there! Going to be making a birthday cake for my niece next month which will be covered in fondant. I am new to the UK so I have no idea where to shop for it or what brand to use...I have only used Wilton (tastes awful) and Satin Ice in the past. I need red and black fondant in particular & I have only seen the white & ivory online. It's a 3 tier cake so I will need a big amount of fondant....prefer not to colour it myself....will be less hassle to buy it! I came across Renshaw fondant while googling it. Any opinions of how this particular brand tastes or what it is like to work with it? If you have other suggestions on what/where to buy, please let me know!

Hi,

I have used Renshaw in the past for red and black, and have had mixed results.  I got some of their darker red for a fire engine cake, and only after I'd put it all on the cake did I taste a scrap left over and it was disgustingly bitter, even though it was in date.  I had to spit it out in the sink and rinse out my mouth.  On the other hand, I've used their black and it tastes fine, although not as nice as homemade marshmallow fondant.  But it is worth it for the very strong colours.

I tend to buy mine from Ebay. There are many different companies offering it there pretty cheaply, so I just tend to pick whichever one I think has the nicest selling page.  I've never had any trouble and the fondant arrives quickly.
 

Tesco or Sainsbury (can't remember which) have the Renshaws in Red or black 250g (about 8oz) at about £1.75. I also saw a multipack of 4 bright colours (about150g x4) for about £5 of the supermarket own brand...but I haven't tried it.

Thank you for the replies! After reading a few negative comments about this brand (taste/workability) I think I'm going to go ahead and buy the Satin Ice and colour it myself.

Sure it's more work, but it's my nieces cake...want it to look & taste great...and she is definitely worth the trouble! Thanks again:) 

A wee tip for bulk colouring - a kitchen mixer with bread hooks really helps, and then you can hand kneed it after the colour is mostly mixed in. You may need to soften the sugarpaste in the microwave for 20 seconds or so first. You can also kneed in some cocoa first which will darken the icing meaning you need less colouring :)

I think you've convinced me to do the same for my brother's wedding cake now- I was just about to buy 5kg black on ebay but I take your post as a sign! lol

I bought a small packet of Renshaw's Black (as I didn't think that I would be able to get a good shade of black) for a vehicle's wheels later this month....I have yet to try the taste, but for such a small part of the cake, I won't be too worried!

I use Renshaw's white and colour it with Sugarflair pastes, some might say it's a chore but you get the shade you want. If I'm colouring it black I sometimes mix in a small pack of the ready mixed black to start the process. Renshaw's white (Regalice) has always worked well for me but I'm hearing good things about Carma Massa too although it comes with a higher price tag.

I use Renshaw fondant too, and so far haven't had a problem with it at all!  I've bought mine from Tesco, Sainsburys but I do go to Hobbycraft a lot which sells it!  I have also bought it from Ebay too which again i've had no problems with it! :)
 

Thanks for the replies! Crazy-Gray, I don't have a mixer so if I decide to colour it myself, it's going to be quite a pain given the large quantities, lol. Just went onto Amazon & read really good reviews about the Renshaw fondant. I might just go ahead and buy it after all. Let's see...I just want my niece's cake to be perfect! (But so many things can go wrong apart from fondant that doesn't taste good! I've been decorating for a few years now, but I still have very little experience. This will be my first attempt at stacking a cake using bubble straws for support...hope all goes well!)