Fondant icing recipe

[Lenny]

I have looked on the main 'icing recipes' article but i can't find a fondant recipe.

Total cake decorating rookie here, but i think fondant is the stuff i want. Mouldable clay stuff? I googled it and the results were SO different. Totally different ingredients. So, i figured i'd ask the pros.

I need to buy the ingredients tomorrow morning, so no stress or anything.

In case you are wondering I am trying to decorate a 'Toby the Tram' cake. At least the shape is easy enough! The colours i need are grey and brown. I figure the brown is easy enough, but not sure how you make black/grey.

Thanks in advance.

[Phteven]

You can buy fondant in the cake decorating and baking section of the supermarket or if you go to a cake shop they have modelling paste which is like fondant but easier to work. The stuff I buy is called Flower Moulding Paste.

To make black and grey you will need black food colouring. The Wilton gel is my weapon of choice and it's available in almost all cake decorating shops and some shops that sell cooking stuff (like Whisk and The Essential Ingredient). You can also buy the brown as a food colouring instead of trying to mix your own.

Have a look at the Wilton site - it has heaps of useful tips and tricks for working with fondant.

My tip - wear some gloves when kneading the colour through. If you forget you will need Trillian's tip - use lemon juice to get the stains off your hands.

[Lenny]

Thanks Onyx. I looked in woolies today and they only had royal icing mix. I'm pretty sure that's the yucky hard stuff on the christmas cakes, so i gave it a miss. I won't bother trying the local coles because i figure it must be our neighbourhood. Might have to look for a proper cake decorating supplier. Then i can get the black colour too.

[toomanyshoes]

Satin ice is my preferred premade fondant, its a dream to work with. My preferred food colouring is americolor, which is also now stocked in some spot lights, although is cheaper to order online.

If you want to make your own search for marshmallow fondant recipes.

[Pandora]

Is it significantly cheaper to make it rather than buy it ready to roll?

DS wants a Tardis cake for his birthday.

[Lenny]

I'm not sure Pandora - i bought it in the end. 500gms was about $5 or $6 from memory? 1kg was $11ish? I'm not sure that it would have been much cheaper to make it.
I have very limited cookery skills, mind you!

[Pandora]

Ok I bought some. It cost me $19 but that's pre coloured, for 2lb