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Easy way to make Sugar Paste or Rolled Fondant

Easy way to make Sugar Paste or Rolled Fondant

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Sugar Paste or Rolled Fondant is an icing used to cover cakes, cupcakes, cookies, cake pops and other sweet treats.

Is fondant the same as sugar paste?

Yes, they are the same thing. Sugar paste is the term most widely used in the United Kingdom for this soft icing and the term fondant when used in the United States.

There are many types of fondant but today I am making Rolled Fondant.  Rolled fondant or sugar paste is like sweet dough.  Glycerin, glucose gelatin and shortening are added to make the dough pliable.  

Icing sugar is added to make it sweet and of course food colouring to make different colours of sugar paste.

Collage ingredients for sugarpaste image

This type of fondant is used  to decorate cakes, biscuits, cookies, cupcakes etc or to make other objects to decorate the cakes.  

If you do not add the gelatin, shortening and glycerin and use only icing sugar, water and glucose then you have a fondant which can be poured on top of cakes.

I have been intending to make rolled fondant since the first years of blogging but kept postponing it as I could not find all the ingredients listed.  

Several years back I had bought some of the ingredients but never made it because I couldn’t find shortening.  

At the time  I could not find edible glycerin and after discussing this with my pharmacist he ordered some for me.

Colourful sugar paste image

Shortening is an ingredient which is not used in Greece.   After discussing this with my friend Eftychia of Dream of Cakes, who is a fondant expert, I decided to experiment and use a substitute.  

I made a bit of google searching to see if I could find a substitute to use in Greece and found a thread on Nigella saying that Nea Fytini (vegetable oil) can be used.  

I bought some but by the time I decided to make the fondant, I used “fytini” to make some pie crust.  

However, since I could use fytini, I decided to use Ariston vegetable oil which is a similar vegetable oil but with 5% butter content, which I have used in the past and liked.

Powdered gelatin was also difficult to find.   Now that I have made the fondant, I can easily make the recipe with gelatin sheets as well.

I am not very fond of using food colours and I rarely use them.  However, I wanted to try them to see the result.  

The only food colours I found were in liquid form.  Unfortunately a few drops made a very pale colour, which was not what I wanted for a recipe I have in mind, so I had to add much more.

How to store sugar paste image

You can find Efti’s recipe and instructions here.  

I am posting mine, as I weighed the ingredients I used so I am giving you the ingredients by weight and cups.  

Instead of making the fondant by hand I used the stand mixer using the dough hook and it came out perfect and in no time.  

The end result will be very sticky and will look as if more sugar is necessary but don’t add any more.

Collage ingredients for sugarpaste

Update 27/12/2014:

The sugar paste I made was used to decorate my Christmas Cake.  It is a fool proof recipe which I recommend that you give it a try.

I had made the sugar paste about a week earlier and all that was needed was to knead it in my hands a little bit to soften.

I worked on a silicone mat and covered it with cling film on top to roll  out the dough.  If you don’t have a silicone mat, use parchment paper.  

I used the same rod which I use to make phyllo and the technique of rolling it was the same.

Rolling sugar paste image

There was no need to use icing sugar during the rolling process.

As I said during the first attempt to make sugar paste decorations, I did not have any tools.  The only ones I used was a cookie cutter to cut circles and the Christmas tree cookie cutter.  

To cut the leaves, I just used my imagination and a knife to shape them.  To make the roses I used five circles for each one.  I started by forming the first one into a cone and then I added “petals” around the cone.  

The end part where I was holding it was long and when I finished each rose I just cut it off and kept only the rose.

Cake with fondant image

You can find many Greek recipes in my cookbooks «More Than A Greek Salad», and«Mint, Cinnamon & Blossom Water, Flavours of Cyprus, Kopiaste!» both available on all Amazon stores. Read more here.

Sugar paste decorations image

How to make Sugar Paste or Rolled Fondant

Yield: 1.100 grams
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Homemade sugar paste or fondant is easy to make and you can use it to decorate cakes, cupcakes, cookies and may other treats.

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup (60 ml or 4 tbsp) tap water
  • 14 grams granulated gelatine (1 sachet is 13 grams)
  • 180 grams (1/2 cup) glucose
  • 15 ml (1 tbsp) edible glycerin
  • 1 tbsp shortening (plus about 1 tbsp for kneading)
  • 900 grams icing (confectioners') sugar, sieved
  • 10 drops of vanilla (or other) essence
  • Food colouring (optional)

Instructions

  1. Place the gelatine in a small bowl, add the water, stir and let it soak until water is absorbed.
  2. Put a metallic bowl over a pan with water and put on the heat. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved. Add the glucose, glycerin and shortening, stirring until well blended and runny.  Don not let it boil.
  3. Put the icing sugar in your mixer bowl and attach the hook. Pour the liquid ingredients as well as vanilla and mix on low speed until all the sugar is absorbed.
  4.  If you will colour the icing, wear latex gloves.
  5. Grease the gloves or your hands with a little bit of shortening.  Take some paste and put it on a greased surface and add food colouring. Add the colouring gradually and knead until the colour you desire is achieved. Place each coloured fondant in a plastic bag. Wash the gloves and surface before starting with a new colour.
  6. The paste can be used immediately or tightly wrapped and stored in an airtight container until required. Do not refrigerate.
  7. When rolling out more icing sugar may be necessary.
Nutrition Information
Yield 1 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 115Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 7mgSodium 2mgCarbohydrates 0gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

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Three Tiered Mini Wedding Cakes

collage How to make sugar paste image

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

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Monday 12th of September 2022

[…] fondant is an edible sugar paste that is used to cover cakes and for making cake decorations. It is made from sugar, corn syrup, […]

How To Make Sugar Paste With Marshmallows – SweetAndSara

Thursday 8th of September 2022

[…] Sugar paste is a pliable, edible decorating medium used to create detailed decorations for cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts. It can be made in a variety of colors and is easily molded into shapes. Marshmallows are a key ingredient in making sugar paste, as they help to create a smooth, pliable paste. The marshmallows are melted down and combined with confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch. The mixture is then kneaded until it forms a smooth dough. Sugar paste can be used to create a variety of decorations, from simple shapes and letters to more intricate designs. It can be tinted with food coloring to create desired colors. Once the paste is ready, it can be rolled out and cut into desired shapes. It can also be molded by hand into various shapes. Sugar paste is a versatile decorating medium that can be used to create a variety of decorations for cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts. With a few simple ingredients, you can make your own sugar paste at home. […]

shams

Monday 8th of May 2017

Excellent blog! Your recipe making is so easy. It might be helpful for the new comers to make this sugar paste.

John

Thursday 2nd of March 2017

Brilliant Blog post! I want to thank for the endeavors you have made in composing this post.

Anna

Friday 19th of December 2014

I had no idea that fondant required so many hard-to-source ingredients! I also didn't realize that Spry wasn't just as available in Greece as it is in Cyprus! Fascinating post : )

Ivy

Friday 19th of December 2014

Some ingredients are hard to find here in Greece. For example when I was in Cyprus I saw lard being sold in supermarkets. Never seen it in Greece although lard was used in the villages for many centuries.

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