Recipes

Rolled Fondant

Fondant is a thick, creamy white sugar mass used in different forms for decorating cakes and cookies with; it can be rolled and draped over a cake, poured as a glaze or sculpted with. Fondant is also the basis of many candies... it is the center of a piece of a chocolate buttercream candy or pecan logs. It can also be used as a thick creamy, sugary filling that gushes out of a chocolate-covered cherry when bitten into. Fondant originates from the word "fondre" which means to melt named so because it melts in your mouth when eaten.

Fondant is fairly new to this country and have been gaining in popularity over the last ten years or so. Rolled Fondant has been prominent in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for decades. This influence is spreading here as availability of prepared Fondant increases, but it can also be homemade. Today, ready-made Fondant is available in the sugarpaste variety (pure white), dark chocolate or a white chocolate

Basic Fondant, The New Joy of Cooking
by Irma S. Rombauer
Simon & Schuster; November 1997; ISBN: 0684818701; HC)

• Bring to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan:
  1 cup water
   
  
• Remove the pan from the heat, add, and stir until disolved:
  3 cups sugar
   
  
• Return the pan to the heat and bring to a boil. Sprinkle with:
  1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
   
  

1. This may make the syrup boil up, so be ready to stir with a long-handled wooden spoon. Brush down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in warm water. Place a warmed candy thermometer in the pan and boil, uncovered and without stirring, until it reaches 234 degrees F, the soft-ball stage for a soft fondant or 245 degrees F for a firmer fondant. Do not beat the fondant mixture in the saucepan as this will make it slightly granular.
    
   
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle a marble slab or a baking sheet (inverted over a rack) with cold water. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the syrup onto the wet surface, without scraping the bottom of the pan. Let the syrup cool for 5 to 10 minutes. (If on a baking sheet, the mixture will be thicker and may take up to 30 minutes longer to cool.) When you can place your hand over the fondant and feel no heat rising, test a corner by touching it with a fingertip. If it holds the indentation, it is ready to work.
    
   
3. Use a spatula, a candy scraper, or even a clean putty knife to work the syrup by lifting and folding, always from the edges to the center, then stir in a figure-8 pattern, pushing the fondant back out to the sides. When the mixture begins to turn white, dust your hands with powdered sugar, gather the mixture into a ball, then push it outward with the heel of your hand. Draw it back in with a candy scraper and repeat the process until the surface is smooth and creamy looking.
    
   
4. After kneading the fondant, shape it into a ball and cover it with a damp cloth or paper towel. Tightly cover the ball with plastic wrap or place it in a sealable plastic bag. Let the fondant ripen in a cool place overnight; it gets better day by day. If not using it for several days, replace the damp cloth or towel whenever it dries out. To keep the fondant for several weeks or months, store it in the refrigerator. When ready to use the fondant, dust a work surface with powdered sugar or cornstarch or a light smear of shortening.
    
   
5. To color fondant, place it on the work surface dusted with powdered sugar. Make several slashes in the mass and use a toothpick to dot in a few drops of food coloring paste. Knead and fold the mass to distribute the color evenly