Fondant
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine the sugar and boiling water in a saucepan.
Stir until dissolved.
Place the saucepan over heat.
Wipe the sides with a clean damp cloth to remove crystals.
Do not stir once the mixture starts boiling.
Test the syrup by dropping it into cold water; it should form a soft ball.
Remove the saucepan from heat each time you test.
Cool and knead
Pour the syrup onto a platter or marble slab.
Let it cool.
Once cool, stir with a spoon until the mixture becomes white and creamy.
Gather the mixture into a ball.
Scrape the surface as needed.
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
- Granulated sugar
- Forms the syrup that crystallises into the smooth, white fondant body.
- Boiling water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be cooked into a syrup.
The step that matters
Do not stir once the mixture starts boiling. Stirring a boiling sugar syrup can seed unwanted crystals, which makes the fondant grainy instead of smooth. Wiping the sides with a damp cloth also removes stray crystals that could trigger this.
“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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