Fondant Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Dissolve the sugar in water and boil until it reaches the 'Little Ball' stage, then add a little acid.
Form the fondant
Pour the mixture onto a slightly oiled marble slab when it is nearly cold.
Work the mixture with a spatula until it sets.
Knead it with your hands until it is white and smooth.
Store
Store the fondant in an earthenware pan for icing cakes and biscuits.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, once cooked and worked, forms fine crystals that give fondant its smooth body.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be boiled to a controlled concentration.
- Acid
- Interferes with large sugar crystals, helping the fondant stay smooth rather than grainy.
The step that matters
Boil to the 'Little Ball' stage. The syrup's final concentration sets the fondant's firmness. Stopping too early leaves it soft and runny, while boiling too long makes it hard and brittle once worked. Cooling and working it afterwards then turns it into a smooth, pliable paste.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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