Tutorial: What is the Difference Between Fondant and Gum Paste?
I've been asked before what the difference is between fondant and gum paste. Let me just explain a tiny bit. Well, both fondant and gum paste are made almost purely of sugar. They taste almost exactly the same. So why do we specify when we use fondant and when we use gum paste? Is it just chance? Here are the two side by side. Gum paste on the left, fondant on the right. Gum paste is harder, stiffer, than fondant. You can actually already see it. Fondant has signs of tearing. Gum paste tends to break apart in chunks. Let's start with the gum paste. Gum paste is basically nothing but fondant with some stiffening agents in it that make it firmer and take less time to dry. In fact, you can add tylos powder to fondant (also known as CMC) and you will get a substance similar to gum paste. You can roll out gum paste, but it is significantly harder to roll out than fondant, so it is harder to get as thin as fondant. The circles I cut out first and then the letter...