If you're making fondant to decorate a cake or cupcake, you may be in a hurry to harden it and continue working. This is because in order to decorate cakes with fondant figures, the fondant needs to be hard enough to get stuck and add more decoration. If you have time to spare, you can just wait - but if not, it is essential to know some tricks to make the fondant dry quickly.
If you are interested, continue reading this oneHOWTO article and discover how to make fondant dry faster.
Fondant icing is made from water, sugar, gelatin and glycerol; there are two different types of fondant, poured (with a liquid texture) and rolled (with a clay-like texture).
Before moving on to explaining how to make fondant dry faster, check our articles on how to make poured fondant from rolled fondant, how to make fondant using marshmallows and how to make fondant without marshmallows.
A very effective trick to speed the drying process of fondant is to add a little carboxymethylcellulose - better known as CMC or Tylose - to the dough. CMC is sold in powder form, and it serves to stabilize and thicken certain foods including confectionery dough. Gum-tex is another product similar to CMC which also accelerates the drying of the fondant.
You can add the CMC or the Gum-tex when you are making the fondant or when the mix is already done. The appropriate amount is one to three teaspoons CMC per 450 g fondant.
If you do not have these products and need a quick trick to make fondant dry faster, preheat the oven. Yes, you can actually put your pieces of fondant in the oven for several minutes to accelerate its drying.
Of course, you should watch at all times that the pieces of fondant do not become to dry, cracked or burnt. When the oven is hot, reduce the power and leave the fondant on the tray and bake for 20 minutes. If it needs more time you can leave it in longer; if it is not too soft, turn off the oven as soon as you put the fondant in it. Regulate the temperature according to the amount of fondant you want to set.
Another trick that can help harden fondant quickly is a bag of salt to absorb the moisture. Put in a box a sachet of salt and the fondant figure you want to dry and leave it to dry overnight. It is very important that the fondant is near the salt but without touching as this could alter its flavor, contaminate it or even intoxicate it should there be any aromas.
Finally, a common trick to dry all kinds of products, even fondant, is external air. Put a fan next to the figures of fondant you want to dry and leave it on for as many hours as it may require. You can also use a hair dryer, but try to do it at arms length to avoid burning the fondant.
Undoubtedly the best choice to make fondant dry faster is to use products such as CMC or Gum-tex. But if you do not have them, you can always try other tricks to finish your fondant cake. Make sure your fondant doesn't go hard, though: keep your fondant moist until eaten.
If you love making sweets and decorations with fondant, you can also learn how to make flowers with fondant.
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