Fondant tools can make all of your fondant cake decorating much simpler and faster. You can spend hours imprinting a delicate pattern on a sheet of fondant or using a sharp knife to hand-cut dozens of fondant shapes, but these tasks would take just a few minutes (and often yield more professional-looking results) with the help of several tools.
Types of Fondant Tools
To decide what kind of tools would best serve your cake decorating needs, it's a good idea to think about your style and the way you prefer to decorate. If you most often use buttercream frosting for your cakes and you only use fondant occasionally, you may want to consider borrowing a friend's tools or purchasing just a few. You can learn a lot about working with the icing if you're just a beginner by spending that time hand-cutting designs and doing imprints by yourself. Then, when your skills are more advanced, you'll be able to do more with the tools you do buy.
Cutters
Fondant flower cutters and other shape cutters are very similar to cookie cutters and are used in the same way.
- Sprinkle a flat work surface and a rolling pin with cornstarch or confectioners' sugar.
- Roll out the fondant evenly, to your preferred thickness, ideally no thinner than 1/8 inch.
- Press the fondant cutters firmly into the rolled fondant, then use a flat spatula to dig under the edges of the designs until you can pull them free of the work surface.
Imprints
Imprint mats are smooth, pliable mats with designs and patterns that can be gently pressed onto rolled fondant to create an imprint.
- When the fondant is rolled out to your preferred thickness, use a flat spatula to loosen its edges.
- Pull up the entire sheet of fondant and press it gently over the imprint mat.
- Peel back the sheet of fondant and use it to decorate as normal.
Forming Cups
With a curved shape, these forming cups are ideal for rounding flowers or other smooth shapes. Let cutouts dry in the forming cups before you place them on the cake, and they'll keep a gentle curved position.
- Gently press already-cut fondant flowers into the forming cups.
- Let them dry. If necessary, use the holes in the forming cups to tweak the curve of the shapes.
Sculpting Tools
Similar to a toolset that a potter or sculptor might use, a fondant toolset includes utensils that will help you mold, shape, and add accents to your fondant creations. These tools are useful for:
- Marking veins on leaves or flowers
- Adding decorative accents of color
- Shaping the edges of thick fondant objects
- Forming creations made with very thin sheets of fondant
Where to Buy Fondant Tools
Tools that will simplify your cake decorating processes may be as close as your local craft store. Many large grocers, specialty baking stores, and crafts and activities stores stock fondant tools and other cake decorating supplies. A number of online retailers carry a variety of tools for cake decorators of all skill levels, too.
- Wilton has an online store stocked with fondant supplies and many other cake decorating tools.
- Kitchen Krafts provides molds, tools, imprint sheets, and edible markers, among other supplies.
- Sur La Table sells fondant cutting and press sheets, and has discounts on some Wilton items.
- Global Sugar Art sells fondant cutters, crimps, rollers, and a wide variety of decorating toolsets.
- Wal-Mart online carries some Wilton items, such as the fondant decorating tool set.
- A & H Cake Designs carries embossing tools and several unique fondant shape imprints.
- NY Cakes has one of the widest varieties of fondant cutters on the Web.
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