How to choose the best cake icing
The knowledgeable team at Sweet Bites Cakes have put together the perfect guide to choosing the icing on your cake.
Fondant
Pro’s – Fondant is the most versatile of all icing types. It can withstand most environments with it being the most stable, and the best option for creating a perfectly smooth finish. Fondant is also used to create figurines, sugar flowers and many other design features that can’t be replicated with other icings. Fondant can also be coloured to almost any desired tone.
Con’s – Although fondant is the most versatile icing type; it is also the most polarizing. Many are not fond of the texture of fondant, but when serving your wedding cake, it can be easily peeled off in most instances.
Buttercream
Pro’s – Buttercream is delicious and receives additional flavours well. It works well when emulating rustic themes, and you can create many textures and finishes using buttercream, such as rosette and ribbed effects. Although buttercream has a natural cream colour, it can also be coloured with gel colourings if desired.
Con’s – Buttercream does not respond well to hot conditions. If your wedding is in summer, the buttercream will only work if the cake is being stored and served in an air-conditioned venue. With buttercream, it is also hard to create delicate detailing such as fine piping work or painting.
Ganache
Pro’s – With ganache made only from chocolate and cream; it is delicious! It is creamy and gives the richest chocolate flavour. Both our fondant and royal iced cakes have a layer of white chocolate ganache beneath the fondant/royal, as it adds a lovely creamy texture to the cake. It also plays well with the rustic theme and can create similar effects to that of buttercream.
Con’s – The similarities between buttercream and ganache extend to how it holds up in warm temperatures; ganache is slightly more stable in heat than buttercream, but it is still very temperamental. Although white chocolate ganache has a natural cream colour, it can also be coloured with gel colourings if desired.
Royal Icing
Pro’s – Aside from fondant, royal icing is the only other icing type that can be pure white in colour. Royal icing is extremely stable in all conditions, travels well, and plays perfectly with a rustic theme. Due to its pure white starting point, it can be coloured to any tone, and like ganache and buttercream can be used to create a variety of textured finishes.
Con’s– The texture when set is firm, similar to that found on an iced cookie. Royal icing is a lot less versatile and can be quite restricting when it comes to detailed design work.