Fondant
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Melt the sugar in boiling water.
Wet the sides of the saucepan with cold water using your fingers or a brush.
Cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.
Remove the cover and boil to 238°F (114°C) or until a soft ball forms in cold water.
Cool and work the candy
Prepare a marble or large platter rubbed with a cloth wet in cold water.
Pour the syrup onto the platter, avoiding the last drops.
Let it cool until it holds an impression of your knuckle.
Work the candy with a wooden spatula until smooth and creamy.
Gather it into a ball.
Knead the ball.
Press the kneaded candy into a bowl.
Store
If it firms up, cover with a damp cloth to exclude air.
Let it stand for 30 minutes before kneading again.
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and paper, and store in a cool place.
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 crystalline structure of the candy once the syrup is boiled and worked.
- Boiling water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be cooked into a syrup.
The step that matters
Boil to 238°F (114°C) or soft ball stage. Cooking the syrup to the correct temperature sets the sugar concentration. Too little cooking leaves the fondant soft and sticky, while too much makes it hard once cooled.
“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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