Fondant is a smooth, firm, dough-like frosting that is incredibly versatile, as well as beautiful. Made from powdered sugar, it should not be confused with Marzipan, which is an almond based product. Fondant contains no nuts, and can be flavored to suit your personal tastes. Elegant on wedding cakes, fondant offers a real 'blank slate' quality for decorating. You can achieve a perfectly smooth surface, and it's design possibilities are seemingly endless. One of the drawbacks of fondant (at least for me) has always been taste. The fondant products I had sampled were awful. The smell and taste greatly resembled that of Elmer's white school glue. Not appetizing! I was able to solve that issue by making my own fondant from scratch, tweaking the recipe to achieve something that I would not only eat myself, but would be proud to serve to someone! However attractive (and now edible) fondant seems, there are a few things to keep in mind before choosing fondant for your cake.
Price: Fondant can be very expensive whether made from scratch or purchased pre-packaged. Between the actual cost of the product, and the increased amount of labor required to use it, you should expect fondant to increase the cost of your cake. Depending on how much of the decorating you want in fondant, it could even double the price. Fondant roses, while beautiful, are incredibly tedious to make, and are truly a labor of love. The cost for choosing such adornment is considerable.
Storage: In general, a Fondant covered cake does NOT need to be refrigerated, (unless it contains perishable fillings, frostings or decorations) however, left at room temperature the fondant will slowly begin to dry out and harden. Decorations such as fondant roses are intentionally pre-dried during their creation, and are therefore inedible. They must be removed from the cake before it is served. It is common for guests to 'set aside' the fondant covering and just eat the cake with the layer of frosting that resides beneath. Generally this happens because the fondant has hardened somewhat, or it's not a well flavored recipe like I have developed. Another common issue is that fondant does not freeze well. When removed from the freezer, the condensation that occurs during the thawing process will begin to break down the sugar. There are steps you can take to minimize this issue, but it can be a problem. It is something to at least consider for a wedding cake, where the top layer is traditionally frozen.
Weight: Fondant is a very dense and therefore HEAVY option. You have buttercream frosting under it, therefore you are adding additional layers of weight to a normal cake. This can make a difference if you want a very tall tiered cake, (it makes it less stable) as well you should consider transport, and the 'sturdiness' of the table on which you will be setting up your cake.
All things considered, fondant is a fantastic option, and is very popular with brides when looking for an elegant cake to mark this auspicious day in their lives. Watch my photo pages for more beautiful fondant work!