What is the difference between fondant (also known as sugarpaste), buttercream and chocolate ganache?
If you don’t know the difference then here is a quick run down:
Buttercream is a smooth cream made from beating butter and icing sugar. This can come in many flavours and colours and even though you can make amazing cake pieces with this cream, you cannot sculpt to the extent of fondant.
Chocolate Ganache tastes like truffles. Ganache is a mixture of melted chocolate and cream that can be used as a glaze or drizzle, a filling for layering cakes and under fondant sculptured cakes. It can be made from white, milk or dark chocolate and flavours can be added (and colour added to white ganache). Whipped chocolate ganache has a lighter texture and is great for desert cakes or layering cakes.
Fondant is a rolled icing used to make the ‘fancy’ cakes, such as wedding cakes, sculptured and 3D cakes. You can have many different colours of fondant and some have different flavours too, for example, chocolate.
You can see flavour combinations over here.
For children's parties, desert cakes, lighter cakes (like vanilla, buttermilk or sponge cakes) - buttercream is a good match. This can be used as a filling between layers under a fondant covered cake and is often combined with jam for vanilla buttercreeam, or can be used as the coating for the whole cake.
For adult parties, chocolate cakes, fudge cakes and heavier cakes - chocolate ganache is very popular. For a fancy cake, wedding, engagement, 3D sculptured, larger cakes – fondant is the answer.
Choosing the right icing for your cake is important to you and I understand that. I do free quotes - fill in the contact form here, email me at juliascake.eatit@gmail.com, or Private Message the Facebook page to ask any questions you have.
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Julia x