Fondant cakes: Icing on the cake just got better

Decoration and beautiful add-ons to things, is something that all of us are fond of. With time, we advanced in the art of adorning things and created better things to decorate ourselves, our homes and everything around us according to our specific tastes. There is also something else that is close to people’s heart, apart from being a necessity – food. So how could we stop our taste buds from feasting on beauty?

Welcome to the age of fondant cakes, cakes that are designed so exquisitely that one feels guilty while eating them.

So, what is a fondant cake? It’s a confection that is covered by fondant icing, which is made from confectioner’s sugar, water and corn syrup,all melted together to form a paste which has a clay like consistency. Because of the icing’s mouldable nature, it can be used to create pretty adornments for the cake in varying shapes and sizes and also in different colours, while also giving the cake a very neat and alluring look. Fondant cakes have become a huge trend around the world and have also gained a steady and impressive following in the metropolitans.

Butter cream cakes are usually difficult to carry, and because of their texture it is difficult to sculpt them into decorations and figurines. They are also more prone to weather conditions which can spoil the cake and that is where fondant cakes come to the rescue. However, the ‘prettiness’ apart, the taste of a fondant cake is still up for debate. Some people like it, while some others would rather give it a miss.

Tanvi, a big food buff, recalls, “My friend made me a Game of Thrones fondant cake for my birthday. And I was delighted, because I love the series and the cake was exquisite, adorned with little figurines of the characters. However, I didn’t like the taste much. It was too sweet, candy-ish and moreover, artificial. I think that the taste of the
classic butter cream cakes, or even the royal icing ones are always better as an option,” she tells Metrolife.

Devangna, a homemaker, recently ordered a minion-themed cake for her eight year old daughter Priyanka’s birthday. “Well, I don’t think the taste was too bad, the kids loved the cake. I think it all depends on what you’re looking for in the cake, the taste or how it looks...with kids and teenagers they are much too excited about the personal themes and designs these kind of cakes can offer, without worrying a lot about the taste,” she explains.

Even if they end up being average in taste, fondant cakes have their own advantages which are responsible for their popularity amongst people.

Yagyaa Goyal, runs a Delhi-based bakery, The Cake Temptation, with her brother Vineet. “There is a lot of scope for customisation and that’s why they are trending, I guess. We’ve made a lot of minions, shopping and football-themed cakes,” she says.

Talking about the other disadvantage of fondant cakes, Kishneet Sethi, who runs Sugar Loft in Delhi, tells Metrolife, “These cakes are really expensive. A normal butter cream flower cake will cost around Rs 1,800, but with the same thing in fondant, the cost
goes up to Rs 700-1000 bucks more.”

So, like every other thing, these cakes too have their advocates and critics. But nothing is stopping fondant from becoming the new trend. So, go ahead, get creative and create food-art cakes for yourself or for someone special. With fondant, you get to eat what you like, quite literally!