Sunday, April 9, 2017

Fat Daddio's Pro Series Fondant Review

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For years I have been searching in vain for that perfect fondant. I don't want much (LOL), just something that tastes good, is easy to work with, doesn’t tear or develop elephant skin, takes color well, doesn’t form bubbles, and hides the imperfections in the cake below. I think I have tried about 11 different bands, and while each fondant does well in one or two categories, none of the fondants have gotten high marks in all the categories.

(If you want to read about other fondants I've tested you can checkout the 7 fondant comparison, the Via Roma, the Cake Craft, the Carma Massa,  the Dream, the Renshaw, and the Fantasia comparison.)

So my never ending search for the perfect fondant continues. The 12th fondant that I'm testing is:


Fat Daddio’s Pro Series Fondant


In my non-expert analysis of these fondants, I use nine different criteria: Taste, Texture, Rolling, Coverage, Draping/Smoothing, Cutting/Trimming, Drying Time, Tinting, and The Final Look.


Taste - This Fat Daddio’s Pro Series Vanilla actually taste pretty good. Nothing fabulous, but nothing objectionable either. It has a noticeable vanilla flavor, and the mouth-feel is very soft. It melts in the mouth and is neither chewy nor gummy. Rolled buttercream comes to mind when I eat the Fat D fondant.


Texture – Out of the pail this fondant is very soft and squishy. You can pinch off pieces with no effort. The fondant is very easy to knead, roll and shape; and like the Dream fondant I reviewed a few weeks ago, it easily picks up textures from leaf veiners, impression mats, or even paper towels. One negative about the Fat Daddio’s texture is that it has no elasticity. When pulled, the fondant breaks apart rather than stretching. Another negative is the soft texture of the fondant makes it extremely easy to gouge. This is not a fondant for someone with long fingernails.



Just sitting the fondant on a paper towel leaves marks. 


Rolling – Because the Fat Daddio fondant is so soft it is very easy to roll, and best of all --- no air bubbles. Not a single air bubble appeared in the fondant as I rolled it. Some fondants are so frustrating to use because huge bubbles form when the fondant is kneaded and conditioned.  The professionals say you can pop the bubbles and they disappear, but I've never had much luck doing that.  The outline of the bubbles always seem to show.  But even though the Fat D is easy to roll and leaves no bubbles, the rolling test uncovered one minor negative: split, cracked and ragged edges. Because the Fat Daddio fondant is not very stretchy or elastic, the edges start to split and crack as the fondant is rolled larger and larger.



Coverage – When rolling 5ozs of the fondant to 1/8” thick, I managed to get a 11” circle. This is about middle of the pack as far as coverage. But I should note that I found the Fat Daddio’s fondant a little difficult to work with at 1/8” thick. At this thickness the fondant was a little fragile and had a tendency to rip. It would probably work better at 3/16” or even 1/4".



Draping/Smoothing - When placed on the cake dummy, the fondant immediately started settling and fitting itself to the top of the dummy. Lots of folds were created, and they draped soft and loose around the cake.


But I found the smoothing of the Fat Daddio’s fondant was little more difficult than other brands. The fondant ripped and tore in places instead of stretching, and the weight of the excess fondant around the base of the cake also seemed to pull  the fondant down. My first attempt covering the dummy cake looked so bad that I pulled it off and started again. On the second attempt I removed the extra fondant pooling at the base, and this helped a lot. I'm guessing the rips were caused by the thinness of the fondant and its lack of stretch. If I had rolled the fondant a little thicker, it probably would have been fine.



Cutting/Trimming – The fondant cuts easily but tends to stick to the cutter and pull up a little. Edges get a little ragged.



Drying Time – Average drying time: not too fast, and not too slow.  


Tinting – No major problems with tinting using Wilton food color gels, but some of the Americolor tints looked off. Americolor Mauve looked a little brown, the Americolor burgundy looked a little purple, and the Americolor Dusty Rose looked a little orange. So test on a small sample before tinting a large batch.

 
 


Final Look – Overall the finished look of the Fat Daddio’s Pro Series fondant was pretty good. The fondant floats above the surface so you don’t see a lot of the imperfections in the underlying cake. The fondant didn’t form any “elephant skin”, but it does have a tendency to rip if you roll it too thin and have too much excess fondant pulling it down. The fondant doesn’t have much elasticity so it is going to rip rather than stretch when you pull it. It also gouges easily so watch out for your fingernails.


So Fat Daddio’s Pro Series Fondant is a solid contender. It is not the “best” in any of the categories, but it is not the worst either. It does well in all the categories so it is a good all-purpose fondant.

Happy Baking (and Decorating),

Carol

  




10 comments:

  1. Hello Carol, Another fabulous job of analyzing the characteristics of this fondant. I applaud all the work you have done and I hope others appreciate it as much as I do. Thank you, Edith P.S. I signed up for your RSS a couple of months ago, so I wouldn’t miss any of your postings. However I’ve never received one yet (sigh).

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    1. Hi Edith, Thanks for your words of encouragement. It is nice to know that people are reading my stuff. And I have found yet another fondant to try: Renshaw. I will try it out in the next few weeks. Look for the review soon…

      I’ve also noticed that the Google Feedburner delivery is getting more and more unreliable. They last time I posted a blog entry I didn’t get the email notice till two days later. I’m going to try MailChimp and see if they are better. Keep your fingers crossed.

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    2. P.P.S. I love your incredible postings so much that I have included your blog in my new Source/Link portion of the website. xxx

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    3. Thanks, Edith! Can you give the URL of your website so I can see my first link!

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    4. Good Afternoon Carol, Sorry for the delay in responding my website is: www.Gumpasting.com. BTW, I just read that there is yet another "new" fondant on the horizon: Mona Lisa Rolled Fondant. However, it is not widely available yet. Here is an article about it: http://www.bakemag.com/Trends/News/News-Home/2016/12/Barry-Callebaut-expands-specialty-decorations-portfolio-with-launch-of-Mona-Lisa-Rolled-Fondant.aspx

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  2. Hello Carol, I promise I won’t bother you again about any new fondants I find, but I thought you might find this company’s video amusing and/or bizarre: www.thesugarpaste.co.uk/ (scroll down to the bottom of the site). Xxxx, Edith P.S. I’m looking forward to your next posting.

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    1. ROTFL, WHAT is up with that video? Maybe the guy is a celebrity in the UK and it was a coup to get him to dance in the video??? But for some strange reason his dance makes me want to try the fondant.

      And you are not bothering me. You can send me all the info you can find. It saves me a lot of internet searching. I did looked up the Mona Lisa Fondant, but only place I found selling it CK Products and they require a copy of your business license to setup an account. Sad.

      I have been working on a new post too. It is called 101 (or maybe 1001) tips on making your own wedding cake. I've gotten my first wedding cake request (my nephew), and I need a check list so I don't screw it up!


      Carol

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    2. Hello Carol, Good luck on the wedding cake. Your nephew is very lucky to have such a special aunt! I’m a huge proponent of lists, especially anytime I take on big projects (however I still manage to make a few slip-ups). So, I cannot wait to see your upcoming tips. Have a great weekend. Xxxx, Edith

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  3. I love your fondant reviews!! I always refer back to them. Because of your reviews, Fantasia is my new favorite. My local cake décor supply store will start carrying Renshaw next week so I'm anxious to try it. Regarding Mona Lisa fondant...In June I was invited to attend a class where they showcased this fondant. It looked like it will be amazing and I'm anxious to try it. I bought a tub that day. When I got it home I discovered it was a month away from expiring so I returned it hoping to get a fresher bucket. The local store can't say when they will be getting a fresher batch - they said they received it nearly expired and haven't received information as to when they will get new stock. I emailed the company twice - no response. I wonder if something happened and they won't be launching it after all - very strange.

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    1. Thanks, Sugarbritches!! Glad you like the reviews. I bought a bucket of the Mona Lisa fondant from Global Sugar Art a few weeks ago and it was very fresh. It had a year till it expired. BUT when I started working with it I found that it was filled with hard little bits of sugar. The hard bits ripped the fondant as I tried to roll it out and place it on the cake. I contacted Mona Lisa and they said they would send a new bucket, but I haven’t gotten it yet. I guess they are having some production problems. But I can’t wait to get the replacement because the fondant works really, really well in high humidity conditions. Even in 100% humidity it doesn’t get soft or sticky. I even tested it over soft buttercream and the fondant still cut cleanly. When (and if) the replacement fondant shows up I will post the review.

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