The majority of people have no idea what fondant is, even though it is very common in cake decorating. Fondant is the stiff sugary icing that covers traditional cakes for special occasions such as christenings, showers and weddings. Fondant or sugar paste mainly consists of confectioner’s sugar and gelatin. It may be embossed, kneaded, molded, rolled and cut into shapes. It works great to cover cakes so that it stays fresh and provides a smooth surface for adding decorations. Want to learn more about fondant?

Here are four cake decorating tips that enables you to learn more about working with fondant.

You can either make rolled fondant using a ready-to-use package or make it yourself from scratch; either one will cover the cake you are creating. You can also use a store bought mix to make your fondant. Be sure any leftover fondant is stored in a sealed container for no more than two months at room temperature.

It’s imperative to understand how to knead, mix and roll if you plan to do any fondant decorating. Yet, if you have never rolled fondant and you’ve never rolled out pastry dough, consider taking a class that can teach you about fondant icing and boost your confidence.

If you’re ready to do some fondant cake decorating, here are five steps to follow to get your dessert just right.

• Be sure you apply a light amount of buttercream icing.
• Knead the sugar paste until it’s the proper consistency.
• Roll the fondant, making sure it doesn’t stick or crack.
• Lift the dough so that it drapes directly over the cake.
• Use a smoother to shape the fondant on the cake and remove any air bubbles.

Another cake decorating tip is to use poured fondant, which gives the cake’s surface a smooth and shiny feel along with being semi-hard.

Consider covering the cake board with your rolled fondant. You can cover the board with the same color as the cake you’re making, letting it flow outward from the bottom of the cake. You can also let it be an entirely separate design component. For instance, you choose to make the cake designed like a boat; you can make the cake board the water.

When you’re ready to color the fondant, you can do it two ways: colored or pre-tinted. At baking stores, you can buy multi-packs of already colored fondant for your decorating. However, if you plan to do your own coloring, here are the three things you need to do to get it done correctly.

1. You need to make a ball. Be sure to roll the icing dough to get this shape.
2. Using a toothpick, you can give the ball dots of color with a few spots.
3. Knead the dough ball until the color has fully blended in.

In the last step you can also roll the ball, which gives it a marbleized effect. Another way to marbleize it is to mix two colors of dough together.

If you want to do fondant cake decorating, you can do this by lightly brushing the cake using a damp brush and then pressing each decoration carefully into the cake.

There are six main fondant cake decorating tips to keep in mind:

• Use either a fondant or cookie cutter to make cutouts.
• Utilize a ribbon cutter or embosser to cut ribbons in varying styles.
• Design ruffles.
• Cut, design and put together different shapes such as animals or flowers.
• Designs can be embossed on the cake’s surface or attach the different shapes to the cake. Fill them in with different colored royal icing.
• Create ropes using a sugarcraft gun or by hand, then band them together to create an edge effect.

Tip 4 – Looking For More Fondant Cake Decorating Tips

When you work with fondant, there is a wide variety you can design with it. Be sure to use all kinds of written materials such as cake decorating books and magazines to get ideas and additional cake decorating tips. You’ll find that many designs are simple in nature, despite appearing much more complex. What you want to do is going to depend on the project you are trying to fulfill. Be sure to experiment with different elements, keeping to a few new ones at a time. Before you know it, you’ll be getting the results you want.

Cake decorating classes are an excellent way to get new inspiration and learn new techniques at the same time.

Image source: Flickr users 'bakingproject' and 'donnaphoto'