It may be incredibly tough to get things properly the first time you bake a variety of items. After all, perfecting baking recipes requires time, practice, and a keen eye. Fondant is a common illustration of how difficult baking can be.
Fondant is often used to embellish cakes and is rather widespread in this respect. Unfortunately, obtaining a perfect fondant is difficult for novices to do. Your fondant might either come out overly firm or much too soft.
If you’re new to cooking, chances are you won’t know what to do to fix the problem, and baking additional fondant isn’t always the best solution.
One aspect of being a competent baker is understanding how to quickly and effectively rectify errors, which includes knowing what to do when your fondant does not come out as expected.
You will be able to rescue your fondant and continue making your cake appear wonderful whether it is too firm or too soft.
What Causes Problematic Fondant?
First and foremost, you must understand why your fondant did not come out as you had hoped. When you understand why your fondant is the way it is, it will be much simpler to avoid the problem from recurring.
When fondant becomes too stiff, it is mainly often due to the fondant being left out for too long before being placed on the cake. The glycerin in commercial fondants keeps the fondant wet and ready to be put to a cake, but it can stiffen and dry up over time if not utilized.
There are, on the other hand, handmade fondants. Since the formula is so different from conventional fondant, they seldom solidify.
If your handmade fondant has hardened, there was probably something wrong with the recipe, and you should go through it again.
When fondant does not firm quickly enough, the issue is usually that the humidity and air temperature are not optimal for the fondant to harden. As previously stated, most fondant will spontaneously harden over time if just left out.
If the temperature is low and the air is damp, the glycerin in the fondant will be tough to dry out, making it more difficult for your fondant to firm.
Now that you know why your fondant isn’t doing what you want it to, you should start thinking about how you’re going to remedy the issue. There are more options for softening fondant, but hardening fondant is lot more uncomplicated and simple, so neither problem is significantly worse.
For many bakers, dealing with little errors like fondant not behaving is just a normal part of the baking process.
How Do You Soften Fondant?
When fondant is exposed to air, it will begin to dry out and harden. If you were not prepared for the fondant to dry and firm, you could be at a loss for what to do or how to manage the problem.
Fortunately, there are a few alternative methods for softening the fondant again.
The first approach you should take is to use softening oils, preferably glycerin. As previously stated, glycerin is the oil that keeps most commercial fondants wet in the first place. As a result, by adding additional fondant, you may start to restore the fondant’s original texture.
You should knead the fondant while adding the softening oils. The glycerin will catch water molecules, rehydrating the icing, and as you knead the fondant, the glycerin and trapped water molecules will spread.
For every pound of fondant you work with, one teaspoon of glycerin should be added.
If you don’t have any glycerin on hand, you may accomplish the similar result using vegetable shortening. Instead of pouring the shortening over the fondant, you will coat your fingertips in it. Just knead the fondant back into a soft, moldable condition from here.
If you don’t have any vegetable shortening or glycerin on hand, you may soften the fondant in the microwave. To begin, locate a microwave-safe bowl in which to place the fondant.
The fondant should then be microwaved in five-second increments to avoid overcooking.
Remember to knead the fondant after it has cooled enough to touch after each short burst of microwaving. Continue doing this until the fondant is flexible enough for your cake.
Keep in mind that you can always add extra softener, whether it’s glycerin, vegetable shortening, or heat. You can’t always take it away.
Remember that a small amount of material may go a long way, so don’t overdo the fondant softening.
How Do You Harden Fondant?
On the other hand, you may discover that the fondant you’re working with has become too liquid-like to work with. This may be because you oversoftened the fondant, or it could be because the recipe isn’t the greatest.
The basic approach to firm fondant again is to use ventilation and heat to assist the glycerin dry out somewhat. When handmade fondants are kept out in the open, this helps to accelerate the natural process of fondant hardening.
This implies that hardening fondant again is really simple and does not need a lot of effort. If you don’t want to work with the oven, there are various ways you may utilize besides heat and airflow.
If you wish to use your oven, put it to a medium-warm temperature and let it heat up for approximately five minutes. Once the five minutes are up, turn off the oven and open it.
Put the fondant pieces that need to firm on a sheet pan coated with parchment paper, and set this sheet pan in the cooling oven.
Little fondant pieces should typically be baked for no more than 10 minutes. Bigger fondant portions should be baked for no more than fifteen minutes.
When the fondant pieces have cooled in the oven for the specified time, remove the sheet pan from the oven and let it to air dry for around thirty minutes.
In most circumstances, this will result in adequately hardened fondant.
If you do not want to work with the oven or are unable to use the oven, you might try utilizing a hair dryer as a substitute heat source.
If you want to use a hair dryer, place your fondant on a sheet pan coated with parchment paper beforehand. Set the hair dryer to the lowest setting and stand about a foot and a half away from the fondant.
Turn on the hair drier, circulate it around the pieces to properly dry them, and leave it on for no more than 10 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.
Similarly, you should leave the pieces out at room temperature for around thirty minutes to ensure that they have hardened adequately. It may be tough to firm all portions of the fondant using the hair dryer, but it will be much simpler to go back and heat the fondant a bit more than it would be to heat the oven and put the fondant back in.
You have two options if you want to stiffen your fondant using additives. Tragacanth gum and carboxymethyl cellulose are two examples (CMC). CMC is also known as tylose powder or tylo powder.
Tragacanth may take up to 24 hours to fully activate, which is why it isn’t often used to firm fondant, and it has a poor habit of leaving a yellowish tinge on light-colored fondant pieces.
It is also becoming less frequent, most likely for the reasons stated above, which means that if you need to stiffen your fondant using additions, you should use CMC wherever feasible.
To use CMC, just combine one to two tablespoons of powder for every pound of fondant. In general, use one teaspoon if you live in a dry climate and two teaspoons if you live in a humid climate. You should first knead the fondant before applying the powder.
Let it to cure at room temperature after that, and you’ll have an adequately solidified fondant.
FAQs
How do you make fondant soft and hard?
To soften the fondant, add 8 teaspoons of water for every 24 ounces. If your fondant is overly soft, add a pinch of confectioners’ sugar or Gum-Tex powder to help it firm up. Soft fondant is often produced by excessive kneading or the addition of too much liquid. If your fondant is too firm, add roughly 1 cup of water.
What is the best way to soften fondant?
The first approach you should take is to use softening oils, preferably glycerin. As previously stated, glycerin is the oil that keeps most commercial fondants wet in the first place. As a result, by adding more to the fondant, you may begin to recover its original texture.
How do you make fondant firmer?
How Does Fondant Icing Harden?
Make use of a firm, flat surface. Select a sturdy, flat surface to dry your fondant on.
Make your fondant as thin as possible. Make your fondant as thin as possible while rolling it out.
Make use of light. Placing your fondant beneath a table light may greatly speed up the drying process.
Make use of a hairdryer!
What powder to add to fondant to make it harden?
To harden fondant, mix in the FunCakes CMC – Tylo Powder. It makes fondant simpler to work with and dries it faster.
Is there a quick way to harden fondant?
Make use of a fan or a blow dryer.
Moving air around fondant initiates the drying process. Set a cookie sheet coated with parchment or waxed paper in front of a stationary fan. Your fondant pieces will still need to dry for a few hours (up to overnight), but the total duration will be reduced.
Will fondant soften in the fridge?
Fondant is mostly composed of sugar. When sugar comes into touch with moisture, it melts. Since fondant does not melt when it is cold, the temperature of the fridge is not the cause of the fondant sweating. Condensation does occur when the temperature changes dramatically, such as from cold to hot.
What does vinegar do to fondant?
This might be crème fraiche, vinegar, or lemon juice. The acid is added to prevent the sugar from crystallizing too quickly. Once the sugar has been dissolved, add it.
Does cornstarch make fondant hard?
To stiffen fondant, add an ingredient that will dry it out depending on the recipe used to manufacture it and what it will be used for. Cornstarch should be used to stiffen fondant to make it simpler to use in silicone molds, but it will be eaten as part of the cake.