The Great Fondant Review – Which fondant is best?
Which brand of fondant is the best? Which one is smoothest? Whitest? Holds it shape? Here we review and compare between satin ice, duff, fondx, home made, bakels pettinice, orchard, cake art and marshmallow fondant.
For this review the homemade fondant was made using this recipe and the marshmallow fondant recipe can be found here.
Which fondant is easiest to work with?
The usual way to cover a cake is to roll out the fondant then using a rolling pin transfer it to the cake. So for this test 450g (15.87 ounces) of each fondant was rolled to a set circle size on baking paper then transferred to a rolling pin, hung for a minute and a half then checked for tearing and stretching.
Some fondants were easier to roll out than others (see video above for details) but all passed the hang test. Obviously the bigger the cake, the more fondant is needed so it gets heavier and tearing may be more likely. It would be interesting to repeat this test with a larger amount of fondant.
Which fondant is the smoothest?
Any of the fondants will be fine for covering a cake, but if you need that cake to look perfect – wedding cakes – then check out the pics below and choose for yourself.
Generally the simpler the cake you are making the more important it is to have perfectly smooth fondant.
Fondant Sag Test
Whether you are using fondant for modeling or for covering a cake you want it to stay exactly where you put it. It is disappointing to make a fondant model only to have it sag out of shape. And if you cover a cake perfectly you don’t want to later see it bulge at the base.
So here is the sag test – 30g (1.06 ounces) of each fondant was rolled to 10cm (3.94 inches) long and then made into a rainbow shape and placed at a set distance apart on a cake board. The fondant was checked 24hours later and for those of you using fondant for modeling – two weeks later.
As you can see from the image below most of the fondants held there shape well with one obvious exception. (This test was repeated three times with the same results).
Watch the video to see how they looked after two weeks and how well they set in that time.
Duff and Cake Art did not set hard which is an advantage for covering a cake as it means that it will not crack. But it is a disadvantage if you are wanting a model to set firm. It is important for fondant to dry out if you want to ship a model, are making an unusual shape that will not hold unless it sets or if you are making something like eyeballs that you want to press into place without them becoming misshapen. That being said, my kids loved ‘remodelling’ with the soft fondant that was on their cake.
Which fondant is best for lettering?
Which fondant is whitest
The following image shows all the fondants against a brown background so that you can see which one is the whitest when covering coloured buttercream or gnache. Duff was not included on this test as it was not white to start.
Which fondant is the Cheapest?
The following are price per kilo for white fondant in the US and Australia based on online prices excluding postage costs.
| Brand | Price per kilo Australia | Price per kilo USA |
| Bakels Pettinice | $14.60 | $13.66 |
| Cake Art | $12.95 | – |
| Duff | – | $13.78 |
| Fondx | $18.88 | $17.99 |
| Home Made | $5.72 | – |
| Marshmallow | $5.74 $9.29 if only use half packet to get white marshmallows |
– |
| Orchard | $8.58 | – |
| Satin Ice | $16.00 | $9.87 |
Which fondants come pre-coloured?
If you are making a bright blue coloured thomas the tank, a red spiderman or anything black then it will save you a lot of time to but pre-coloured fondant. At the time of writing this article the following brands are available in different colours.
| Brand | Number of colours available |
| Bakels Pettinice | 8 |
| Cake Art | 11 |
| Duff | 10 |
| Fondx | 16 |
| Home Made | – |
| Marshmallow | – |
| Orchard | 3 |
| Satinice | 8 |
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All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
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Hi Ann , do you knows which brand of fondant can I use for a wedding cake that will be outdoors in a temperature higher than 105 degrees in central California ? I really need your help thanks
Hi Ana, At 40 degrees the problem will not just be the fondant but the frosting used underneath it. See this review of seven different frostings at the end of the video they were left out in the heat to see how they lasted… https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/best-frosting-recipes/
I would pull the cake out of refrigeration just before the cutting of the cake, which is not ideal for a wedding. Or you could use a ‘dummy’ cake and then have the real one for eating refrigerated and undecorated but that will increase the cost dramatically.
I read about one lady who made a 3 tiered cake only to watch one side of the cake slide off after 2 hours in the heat, before the bride and groom had cut the cake.
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you are not
already 😉 Cheers!
Hi I found this very helpful on helping me pick which fondant I would like to use on my cakes, however I’m looking forward to the “taste test” to all of these fondant brands. When will the taste test be available? As it has been a year and a half since this review was created.
Hi, will be nice to have as well a taste comparison. Which one is the sweetest , plainest etc.
Love your work , keep at it.
Btw would you kinda sharing a good butter cream recipe?
The recipe I use for buttercream is
250g unsalted butter
500g pure icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whip the butter until as light as it can go add sifted icing sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth texture is obtained.
Don’t know if this helped or not, just what I do lol
thanks jenny, flavoured recipes for buttercream are here: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/buttercream-cupcake-frosting-recipes/
Hi paco, yes buttercream recipes and flavours are here… https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/buttercream-cupcake-frosting-recipes/
and for fondant flavours I carried out a triple blind taste test and there were no significant results with different people liking different fondant. So definitely comes down to personal taste. You can flavour the fondant with clear essences which does make it taste better to most adults.
I am a new baker so this may sound like a silly question but do I frost the cake before putting on fondant and if so a thin layer or normal layer of frosting? Thank you.
Hi Rosemarie, yes the fondant needs something to stick to, you need enough frosting to give a smooth coat so if the cake needs to be perfect you’d do a really thin ‘crumb coat’ which catches all the crumbs, put in the fridge and then another coat on top. If you click on the cake decorating tab there are lots of cake videos that show covering a cake eg minion cake, minecraft cake, cars cake, princess cake….
thks for your video ,now i can do fondant >< thanks a lot
Great idea thank you!
I have just another quick question. With your homemade fondant video, can you cover it with a cake and can you add vanilla Essence as well? 🙂
Hi Ann
For the marshmallow fondant, what kind of colouring is suitable for it? The gel paste or the dye found in supermarkets? Also, which stores sell gel pastes? (I’m from melbourne specifically)
Thanks so much!
hi tracey gel paste is best, cakes around town online deliver fast and package well otherwise any cake decorating store
Hi I’m a begginer baker and I was wondering if you know any stores in Australia that sell white marshmallows individually? Thanks:)
Love your video!
hi taylor, sorry i just buy the mixed and take out the pink ones, save them to use in hot chocolate 😀
Aldi sells packets of white only marshmallows.
good to know 😀
Does your site have a contact page? I’m having trouble locating it
but, I’d like to shoot you an email. I’ve got some
recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
Either way, great site and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.
yes under the about tab you’ll see a hello/contact page
hi ann just wanted to know how much tylose do I put on the fondant to make letters and flowers thank u ann
hi lisa, to make the letters if you have time to let them dry out then you do not need to add any tylose. If you want it to dry out fast then add 1/2 to 1 1/2 tsp of Tylose powder to 200g of fondant. Dry humidity areas use less Tylose – High humidity areas use more Tylose. Knead it well.
Hello Ann,
Thank you so much for all your recipes and lessons. I’ve never had the courage to try fondant until I saw you on youtube. Thank you so much.
So… Which fondant tastes the best?
Hi Alice, I got lots of people to do a triple blind taste test with the fondants and they all came up with completely different results, so it is personal preference.
Hi. Thank you for the samples. Coz I was looking for fondant that is good for wedding cakes. I love duffs brand. Is it good for wedding cakes . But I wanted in ivory colour. Do u think comes in ivory? Thank you gor your help.
Hi ruwaida, yes duff has an ivory coloured fondant the butter flavoured one is ivory.
This is a really good website, love your recipes but i was just wondering what supermarkets do you buy fondant from because i dont know where to find it.
Thanks!
Hi Maryam, I buy it at woolworths here in Australia. Cake decorating stores online also have it or you can make your own.
This is really great info very helpful and very visual Thanks for your efforts I used the orchard brand for a cake thinking I was making it on the cheap but I must say it did look very smart and white when finished and taste not too bad and have noticed many party goers often don’t eat the icing/fondant anyway
I agree Angle many people don’t eat the fondant, which is a good point for companies to think on – something with this much sugar should be made to taste so good that you want to eat it.
Hi Ann, I was working with satin ice today and after a while it was still sticky to the parchment paper, and well..kinda “melted”
I have knead it with powdered sugar to avoid it sticking to my hand. And as I can see in your video, your satin ice have that matte finishing, while I’m having real glossy finishing. Will you help me answer my trouble?
Thank youuu
Hi nessia if you are in a humid environment then use some cornflour on the paper or some crisco if it is dry. The hotter fondant is the softer it gets, so the more you knead it the warmer it gets from the warmth of your hands.
Hello Ann.
I have a problem with the fondant any time, just because the hot and humid weather in the city where a live.
Beside, I can’t find ready fondant I have to make it all the time, and one day works perfect and other day it doesn’t.
Do you have any tips for this?
Thanks
It’s really great Ann. We love your way of teaching and giving your experiences.
Love from Turkey
Hi Ann,
Just wondering what the best way to colour fondant is?
I am making a rock climbing cake so will need a few colours, thinking of using the marshmellow fondant. Also, do you use pascal marshmellows or will any brand do?
Thank you!
Hi Chloe, I have only ever made it with pascal but I’m sure other brands would work just fine as long as you like the taste. To colour it if you have a large amount of one colour you can stir in the gel colour when you have your melted marshmallows. To make several colours or ones that you have a smaller amount of then the video on this post will show you how to colour it… https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/sugar-paste-fondant-cake-decorations/
Dear Ann,
Thanks for all the info..your are very giving and may God give you manyfolds in return.
Aout the fondant, have your tried the Albert Uster Improts fondant by the name massa grichuna neutral. Any comments on that.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Soneeka
Hi Soneeka, I have not seen that brand here but have read good things about it.