The History of Fondant

Fondant is thought to have been created in France in the 1500s, although there is some scholarly debate around this. The name comes from the French term fondre, meaning “to melt.” It’s thought that fondant began its life as a creamy candy filling before pastry chefs discovered it could be used to decorate cakes. Since sugar was one of the main ingredients, access to it was largely limited to the elite who could afford its expensive price. Early rolled fondant recipes reportedly also called for rose water, egg white, lemon juice, and (according to some sources) gum tragacanth. Notably, it is thought that one of the early benefits of using fondant in a world without refrigeration — besides the smooth, aesthetically pleasing finish it created — was its ability to almost fully seal a cake. This created a mild preserving effect, allowing a large cake to be baked a few days before an event while still tasting fresh on the day it was meant to be eaten. However, fondant itself is known for its poor taste and is often peeled away by diners, who overwhelmingly prefer the buttercream frosting typically applied underneath. Rolled fondant is what most people today think of when they hear the word, but poured fondant is another popular variety. It is thought to have been introduced in the 1800s and was used to decorate fancy tea cakes like petit fours. Modern fondant was first introduced in Australia in the 1950s, where it was used to decorate local favorites like Balfours frog cakes. It didn’t catch on in the United States until the 1980s. However, it gained widespread attention in the U.S. in the early 2000s and 2010s because it was frequently used to create jaw-dropping designs on cake-decorating shows like Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes. Today, fondant is used in many parts of the world to create exceptionally smooth, realistic-looking cake decorations, and is especially common on wedding cakes.