Chocolate fondant alternative

[Norcalbaker59]

Those who read my comments on cake decorating know I do not like fondant. While fondant allows for extraordinary creativity, the taste and texture is horrible. No one likes fondant. It is so horrible that even celebrity pastry chef Duff Goldman—who is famous for his fondant cakes, says fondant is not meant to be eaten. Rather it should be peeled off the cake and thrown away. What the heck???

Fondant is a total waste of money and time. Why decorate a cake with fondant, then have it end up in the trash because guests won’t eat it?

But there may be an alternative to fondant.

Satin Ice just introduced a line of chocolate based fondant under the Choco-Pan brand.

While there’s some differences in the way it is handles, the Choco-Pan covering chocolate is supposed to work like fondant. Supposedly it has a longer working time (unlike traditional fondant that dries out quickly), and won’t form the dreaded elephant skin (the wrinkles texture that forms on traditional fondant). But most important, this covering chocolate is suppose to taste good.

Choco-Pan brand has been around for a while. But it wasn’t a brand I ever used. So I don’t what their product line included prior to this merger with Satin Ice. Some s some purses are saying Satin Ice reformulated the coveting chocolate to produce a superior products. The Satin Ice website says its the same great Choco-Pan from before. So I don’t know.

But all these claims about a great tasting chocolate based fondant certainly has caught my attention. I ordered a 5 pound pail of the Choco-Pan in bright white directly from Satin Ice. They just shipped this morning. I’m going to make a couple small test cakes to test this stuff. If people actually like the taste AND eat it, them this could be an alternative to traditional fondant.

https://www.satinice.com/chocopan-faqs

https://satinice.shop/collections/covering-chocolate

 

[Becky]

That sounds like a good alternative! I'm actually one of these weird people who likes the taste of fondant as long as it's not excessive, but I agree that it's a waste of time and money given that most people don't seem to like it.

Let us know how your experiments go!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

That sounds like a good alternative! I'm actually one of these weird people who likes the taste of fondant as long as it's not excessive, but I agree that it's a waste of time and money given that most people don't seem to like it.

Let us know how your experiments go!

Lol, yes you are in an exclusive club of fondant eaters! I do love decorative possibilities of fondant. But like so many others it’s not something I would love it. Hopefully I’ll receive the Choco-Pan this week. They shipped it on Friday, but they ship ground rather than air due to cost. Since I am baking a birthday cake in a couple weeks,I thought I’d make a small second cake to experiment with the Choco-Pan. I’ll keep you posted.

 

[-Daniel-]

I especially dislike "cakes" that are not even cakes - just fondant over cardboard or other materials made to look like a cake. I feel like it's such a disappointment.

Huge, elaborate cakes are amazing but so are simple cakes too.

I'm also starting to get concerned about buttercream - it seems like every cake on Instagram, Tasty, and Nailed it is just sponge and buttercream. What's that about? Buttercream can be nice, but it's far from the only option.

I try to only use buttercream for some decoration and support, I like it best if there is a curd or jam between my cake layers (although the buttercream cakes I post on instagram are the most popular! :O )

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I especially dislike "cakes" that are not even cakes - just fondant over cardboard or other materials made to look like a cake. I feel like it's such a disappointment.

Huge, elaborate cakes are amazing but so are simple cakes too.

I'm also starting to get concerned about buttercream - it seems like every cake on Instagram, Tasty, and Nailed it is just sponge and buttercream. What's that about? Buttercream can be nice, but it's far from the only option.

I try to only use buttercream for some decoration and support, I like it best if there is a curd or jam between my cake layers (although the buttercream cakes I post on instagram are the most popular! :O )

I totally agree with you Daniel. Americans mix shortening and powdered sugar and call it buttercream

Others just mix powdered sugar and butter and call it buttercream

I guess I’m old-school I use Italian meringue buttercream, but only on the outside. My fillings are usually lemon or passion fruit curd; or a fruit mousse, sometimes a milk chocolate mousse. But I try not to make the filling too rich.

Lately I’ve been hooked on a whipped cream and mascarpone frosting. I found if I stabilized it with gelatin you can actually frost the outside of a cake with it. It’s like having billowy whipped cream all over the cake. But its stable enough to hold up for a couple of days. Last week I made an elderflower and lemon chiffon cake. I made a lemon curd filling. Layered the lemon curd with slices of fresh strawberries. And then I frosted the cake with the mascarpone whipped cream frosting. My friends loved the combination. And it’s not sickeningly sweet like an all buttercream cake.

I’m so hooked on this mascarpone frosting that I want to make my own mascarpone. So a couple months ago I attended a lecture on making fresh milk chesses at the Culinary Institute of America.

It’s great to see you back on the forum

 

[-Daniel-]

Oooow I really like your ideas! I'm going to rob some, I love passionfruit. And the colours could be great

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Oooow I really like your ideas! I'm going to rob some, I love passionfruit. And the colours could be great

Oh I love passion fruit. It is so expensive here. One tiny little fruit is $3! But I found that the Mexican market sells frozen passion fruit purée for $5. And it makes delicious curd. But apparently passion fruit is also a favorite with the Mexicans as well because it sells out frequently.

 

[-Daniel-]

It's really popular here in desserts (mostly cheesecakes), so that doesn't surprise me.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

It's really popular here in desserts (mostly cheesecakes), so that doesn't surprise me.

Yes, timing is everything. If I don’t hit the store when shipments come in, there will be stacks of mango purée in the freezer compartment and no passion fruit purée left. . There is an American company in Napa that produces some extraordinary quality purées for the restaurant industry. A couple of stores in the area carry it, but the demand for the passion fruit is so high it sells for considerably more than all the other purées—my local store sells it for $33. It’s no wonder they call it passion fruit!

Passionfruit cheesecake sounds heavenly! Do you have a recipe by chance?

 

[-Daniel-]

Yes, timing is everything. If I don’t hit the store when shipments come in, there will be stacks of mango purée in the freezer compartment and no passion fruit purée left. . There is an American company in Napa that produces some extraordinary quality purées for the restaurant industry. A couple of stores in the area carry it, but the demand for the passion fruit is so high it sells for considerably more than all the other purées—my local store sells it for $33. It’s no wonder they call it passion fruit!

Passionfruit cheesecake sounds heavenly! Do you have a recipe by chance?

I don't, but if I find one I will let you know

It's normally a fairly regular cheesecake with a thin layer of passionfruit jelly or a jous of some sort

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I don't, but if I find one I will let you know

It's normally a fairly regular cheesecake with a thin layer of passionfruit jelly or a jous of some sort

Great I’d appreciate that thank you