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Article by Michelle Pillsworth, Designer and Owner
Tierful Designs
Brampton, Ontario
 These days, most ‘designer’ style wedding cakes are covered in a silky smooth rolled fondant. However, buttercream is making a reappearance of sorts, and a talented decorator is capable of creating a ‘faux’ fondant look. Admittedly, a fondant finish will add to the cost of your cake. This can, however, be offset by the simple elegance it offers with less added décor. While not intended as a discussion of styles, here is a description of each icing type and the various advantages or pitfalls to each.
I’ll start the discussion with Buttercream – used on most cakes, even if fondant is added. There are many different types of buttercream itself – some contain vegetable based shortening, some real butter, some may contain egg whites. For a wedding cake, I personally prefer the richer flavour and consistency of a Meringue buttercream. But what are the differences?
Usually the sweetest of the spreadable icings available, this is quite commonly a favourite of children. This buttercream is a blend of powdered sugar (icing or confectioner’s sugar) and a fat (butter or vegetable shortening). The fat to sugar ratio is what gives the icing stability, and consistency. Some decorators add a bit of liquid for a smoother icing. This icing colours well for decorating, and can be flavoured using any extracts or flavour oils, or even chocolate. There are as many recipes for standard buttercream as there are decorators, with each having unique texture, consistency, or mouth-feel. A cake covered in Buttercream can be stored at room temperature for at least a day, assuming the filling is not perishable, or can be refrigerated without problem. It may be important to note that some decorators add meringue powder to this type of icing to increase stability for piping decorations.
 A richer icing, with less tendency to graininess or greasy mouth-feel, this style of icing seems to be a preference among adults. There are different methods for preparing this style of icing but most are based on a combination of boiled sugar (syrup) and beaten egg whites. Unsalted butter is then added to finish the icing.
This butter based icing can be coloured although sometimes not as vibrantly as shortening based icing. Most flavours can be added; alternately mixing in fruit purees can make a wonderful filling for your cake. While cakes finished with this style of buttercream can be displayed at room temperature, it is not widely recommended that they spend longer than the day out of the refrigerator. The cake must, however, be allowed to come to room temperature before serving, as this icing is quite firm when cold. Decorations piped from this icing are quite susceptible to higher temperatures and can wilt or melt – so this is not recommended for an outdoor summer wedding!
Fondant (sometimes referred to as sugarpaste) is a dough-like icing which is rolled out and applied over buttercream. Very rarely, some fondants can also be heated and poured over a cake, however this style is not common in North America. While still a blend of vegetable shortening and confectioner’s sugar, this icing is much higher in sugar content and is applied to the cake in sheets. Many brands of fondant on the market today also contain glucose and/or gelatine.
 Fondant is kneaded until soft, supple and silky smooth. It is then rolled out, the sheet is carefully placed over the cake and smoothed down the sides for a seam-free smooth finish. Fondant is available in white, ivory, chocolate – flavourings and colour can be added. Fondant can be embossed, stamped, painted or airbrushed. Fondant can easily be molded into shapes such as figurines or flowers and there are many cutters available to create pictures from fondant.
Fondant covered cakes can be refrigerated but must be allowed to come to room temperature before serving. While warming, fondant can seem sticky and fingerprints are a common problem during this stage. In summer months, fondant can actually insulate the cake somewhat, providing a longer display time for cakes with perishable fillings. A fondant covered cake will remain fresh for a period of days, especially if refrigerated.
Buttercream under the fondant provides something for the fondant to seal to – better protecting the cake and keeping the fondant itself smooth. The buttercream is applied and smoothed such that the bumps, curves and edges of the cake itself disappear; it provides the blank canvas to which the decorator applies the elegant fondant.
Which type of cake covering you ultimately choose to get is a personal choice that you may want to discuss with your cake decorator. Both have their particular points and strength and weaknesses but neither is always "better"; your final cake's look will dictate which you may want to lean towards.
Buttercream icing can be applied to have a style from dainty swirls to rustic and coarse to smoothed to a near perfect flat finish. Fondant can be very smooth and carry off the ultramodern, minimalist look, play background to cascades of flowers or be shaped, cut and coloured to be fun and zany, even textured to look like fabric or leather. Both can be used to make decorative accents like borders, dots, flowers and a multitude of other designs.
While many of your guests may like fondant, some people might find the sweetness of the paste overwhelming, especially over a standard buttercream undercoating. Perhaps a few people just didn't like the taste of fondant they'd tried before. Another issue can be the ‘mouth-feel’ or gumminess of the fondant while chewing. It's true, people have individual likes and dislikes.
Would you be better off then to just not use fondant on your cake? There's actually no real need to worry and if you like the smooth look of fondant on your cake, don't hesitate to use it because you can please both sides easily. Guests who like fondant will obviously enjoy it. Those who may not care for the texture or mouth-feel of the fondant can simply peel the decorative rolled icing away and savour the delicious still frosted cake beneath.
| Michelle Pillsworth is the Designer and Owner of Tierful Designs in Brampton, Ontario. Baking is a natural hobby for the trained Chemical Technologist, and Michelle is thoroughly enjoying the transition from labcoat to apron. Her theory is that "cake and frosting are forgiving, yet almost unlimited mediums for creation - the more challenging, the better!" Besides, in this business the mistakes are edible. |
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