Can you eat fondant? Clearing up a common worry

Many guests peel fondant off their slice and leave it on the plate, and some people tell us they thought it was plastic or clay. It is neither. Fondant is a sugar dough, made mainly from icing sugar, glucose, water and a little gelatine or a plant-based gum, kneaded until it can be rolled into a smooth sheet. Everything in it is food.

The reason people dislike it is usually thickness and taste. Ready-made fondant from large tubs is often rolled 5 mm thick, tastes only of sugar and has a chewy, rubbery texture. A slice of cake with that much fondant on top is too sweet for most Indian palates.

We roll ours to about 3 mm, which is enough to give a clean, sharp finish but thin enough to bite through easily. Under the fondant there is a layer of buttercream or chocolate ganache, so each bite tastes of chocolate or vanilla rather than plain sugar. We also flavour our fondant with a little vanilla or rose water.

If you still prefer not to eat it, that is fine; it lifts off easily. If most of your guests dislike fondant, there are good alternatives. A semi-naked cake shows the sponge through a thin scrape of buttercream. A ganache finish gives sharp edges with a rich chocolate taste. And fondant can be kept only for the decorations, such as the figures on a dinosaur cake, with buttercream everywhere else. Ask us during your tasting and we will show you each finish.