Cake Coverings – The Difference between Cream and Fondant Icing

There is something so special about a cake. They complete any celebration. Whether you are baking a cake for a children’s birthday party or an anniversary, one of the important things you need to decide is how you intend to cover and decorate the cake. Are you looking for a smooth finish or a soft and creamy finish?

In the early 2010s international television shows, such as Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes got bakers experimenting with new cake styles, designs, flavours and coverings. This is where fondant and cream cakes really took off.

When you think of a cake icing, you immediately think of a creamy texture that can be spread easily over the top of the cake and eaten with a spoon. Fondant is not like this at all. In fact it is used to create embellishments and luxury cakes. Fondant has been used to create different shapes and designs. It has a texture similar to play dough and it can be rolled out and cut into shapes, it can also be kneaded. It has a smooth and silky texture and is often used to create flowers or figurines to adorn the top of a cake.

Fondant offers the convenience of being rolled out and used to drape over cakes. It has a firm texture that is smooth and easy to knead. It comes in a variety of colours to create the picture perfect cakes. Cream icing is the most common icing that is used in cake decoration. It can be used to pipe swirls, rosettes and corners. It is also used to cover the entire top of the cake. It comes in an extensive selection of flavours and colours, giving the cake a smooth and silky finish.

In addition to this, there is more than one type of cream icing, which is why it is so popular. There is butter cream icing and is the most commonly used for children's cakes, anniversaries and other celebration cakes. It is made using butter, icing sugar and milk. It is then mixed with gel colours and spread or piped onto the cake.

Cream cheese icing is a butter cream icing that uses cream cheese rather than butter. It is used for dense cakes like red velvet or carrot cakes. French butter cream is a rich icing with a light texture, made from sugar and egg yolks. It is whipped to a foamy consistency and added with butter to make it light and creamy. Royal icing is stiff and brittle, often used in cookie decorating. While ganache is a icing made with melted chocolate and heavy cream giving the cake a shiny coating and an elegant finish.

Cream icing offers the benefit of being delicious and creamy. You have a wide range of choices from butter cream to Royal King icing, along with cream cheese frosting or ganache. You can flavour cream icing with any flavour from chocolate or strawberry to butterscotch, caramel or plain vanilla, the choice is yours.

The downsides to cream icing is that it has one look. While it can be coloured, pipes or spread, if you want an elegant or three dimensional design, then this is not the right choice. It does melt quickly if you leave it at room temperature for too long and gets hard if refrigerated. It also has a short shelf life, though it does store well for a few days in the fridge.

Fondant helps keep the cake moist for longer. It is a sealant that protects the cake from moisture and heat. It is temperature flexible and doesn't melt as easily as cream icing.

On the downside, fondant is that it doesn't taste as great as cream icing, but you can get creative with a range of cake covering designs.

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