Wedding Cake and Icing Discussion(was:I need to hear..............)

They have lots of cake shops.
They have homes that look cousy inside. (Did I spell that right?)
Do you expats like the wedding cakes with hard iceing?

They have lots of nice cake shops.
They have hard iceing(frosting) on their wedding cakes/christmas cakes.

Do you expats like the wedding cakes with hard iceing?

Absolutely can't stand it!  It makes me want to throw up.  I have to peel it off when someone serves cake with it.  And that's just what gets me... you can PEEL it off.  I think it's called fondant.  But I call it plastic!.

Absolutely can't stand it!  It makes me want to throw up.  I have to peel it off when someone serves cake with it.  And that's just what gets me... you can PEEL it off.  I think it's called fondant.  But I call it plastic!.

The hard icing is royal icing. Fondant isn't really hard. I actually love royal icing and we always used it on our Christmas cakes in the US. I'm not such a big fan of fondant, though.

Fondant isn't hard.
It's like the stuff inside a Cadbury Creme Egg.

Fondant isn't hard.
It's like the stuff inside a Cadbury Creme Egg.

Except not as sweet (usually).

I can't stand any of it. Pretty to look at but I wouldn't want to eat a cake covered in that. Bleuch.

I'll never say a word of this to my mother-in-law who graciously came with me to choose and paid for the cake.  It was from a very famous and posh bakery.  Because I'm vegetarian (no eggs, but dairy ok) we requested the egg-free cake.  They could not do a chocolate egg-free cake, only vanilla. (What's the big deal my old work had a bakery and made everything not only egg-free but vegan as well in all flavors and moist and yummy, too!).

So the cake sure did look pretty but tasted and felt dry.  The icing / frosting was like wax.    As others have said it was like plastic and you could peel it off.  It was mildly sweet but seemed like you weren't even supposed to eat it so what's the point?  My whole life I've never peeled icing off the cake, it's usually my favorite part and I go scavenging for more.

I'm doing another sugarcraft class right now, and we're decorating Christmas cakes. I'm feeling so frustrated because we have to cover the cake in fondant. And I hate fondant! I mean, it looks nice and even and smooth and makes a good base for doing more decorating, but it's not worth sacrificing taste to me. So I'm not enjoying the class at all. I'll do the cake, for the class, but it's not something that's going to get eaten. Blech. My sugarcraft teacher really turns up her nose at Christmas cakes done in royal icing with lovely snow drifts and peaks all over them ... which is how my mother always did it and is, in my opinion, the only way to do it!

My sugarcraft teacher really turns up her nose at Christmas cakes done in royal icing with lovely snow drifts and peaks all over them ... which is how my mother always did it and is, in my opinion, the only way to do it!

I agree!   

I agree!   

Yup! Gotta have the Father Christmas on skis coming down a giant royal icing hill! 

I used to think fondant didnt taste all that great until I tried this one recipe.  Man it was good!  Buttercream (good one) still tastes better but fondant does not have to be bad.  Here in the US when bakers use fondant, they put a thin layer of buttercream underneath, mostly to help the fondant stick to the cake but it also improves the taste.

June

I used to be a fan of marzipan + royal icing but lately I find its too much and I pick it off the cake.
But now I much prefer whipped icing, a la Betty Crocker.
My absolute favorite type of frosting is cream cheese 

I hate marzipan and anything almond flavored.  I find that is my biggest problem with UK cakes.  Well, that and the fact that they are fruit cakes.

June