Rolled Buttercream Fondant

Over the past few weeks, I have done a bit of experimenting with fondant. You've seen the pictures of bows made from Wilton Fondant and molding chocolate. Next was the Easter Cake, that I was determined to make from a simple, tasty fondant recipe.


Tried Marshmellow Fondant, no thanks. That just did not work for me. Maybe the humidity, the extra "helpers" I had :-) or that I wasn't precise in my measuring? Which brings me back to the "simple, tasty" recipe.

I have blogged about the Dixie sugar "Fondantly Fun" recipe before, and hands down this is still my favorite. However, I was sure there was some other recipe that would be even better. Let's say more "professional". Seeking this better recipe I went to Allrecipes.com and Cake Central. Both listed the same formula for a "rolled buttercream fondant."

Do NOT ever waste your money on making this recipe. Is it that shortening no longer contains transfat? I do not know. But YUCK. It was as if the sugar and corn syrup were mixed with the shortening but not absorbed by it. It looked like shortening; it felt like shortening. Greasy. Even the picture on the Allrecipes.com website is shiny. Regular fondant is flat.

From here on, my go to recipe for simple, tasty homemade fondant : Fondantly Fun. You most likely have the ingredients on hand and if you don't they are sold everywhere. Unlike the ingredients for regular fondant (glycerin and glucose? Not available here.)

***The Dixie Crystal website no longer has the recipe, so here it is from the back of the box. Unbelievably, this rolls and shapes like fondant but made with butter!

Tips for success are: make the Fondantly Fun in advance. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, so fast! Wrap it in plastic and let it sit for a day or two. Add any extracts for flavor, 1t should be plenty. Double the recipe really doesn't fit in my mixer, so I make two batches to cover a 9x11 cake.

This is a much softer fondant than the regular store bought, therefore it can be harder to work with. Letting it sit, wrapped in plastic for a while helps alot. Roll the fondant out with lots of powdered sugar. Lightly brush off the excess sugar after you move it. Any remaining powder will be absorbed by the fondant. (May take a bit, but it will).

What prompted all this in depth analysis of fondant? These cookies:
were being sold for $7 EACH at a local bakery. Fondant covered sugar cookies. $7. EACH.