Perfect for frosting the miniature cakes known as petit fours, this fondant icing recipe is so fun to make it’s almost like playing. Unfortunately, there’s a dark side. The slightest slip, a moment’s mistake, seizes the whole thing faster than the IRS after finding “irregularities” in a corporation’s books. It’s an icing for the baker who relishes a simple method with a challenging twist, and a hint of lurking danger. It’s temperamental, no two ways about it.
In this case, “seizing” is the term used when a sugar based product loses its creamy smoothness and reverts to a nasty, granular mess with the texture of sand and a taste to match. At that point, the only thing to do is throw it all out and start again.
And yet it’s so simple. Ingredients include: Sugar. Water. Cream of tartar. More sugar and water later. That’s the entire ingredient list, right there. Even better, it will keep for several months in the refrigerator if sealed airtight. So when you succeed at the icing but can’t stomach another moment in the kitchen, it will still be available three months from now when you are ready to face it again.
Here’s the deal: Crystals of sugar cause the sugar syrup to seize. When one crystal of sugar falls into the syrup, all the other crystals of sugar flock to it. You know the phenomenon if you’ve ever made rock candy; sugar crystals like to attach to other sugar crystals. Avoid allowing sugar crystals near your syrup, the syrup stays smooth, you end up with successful fondant. Molecules of water can also cause the fondant to seize. Make sure everything that touches the fondant is thoroughly dry, especially the pastry scraper and your hands.
Candy thermometer (or a small bowl of ice water if you want to do it the old-fashioned way)
Cool, oiled marble slab (you keep one in your kitchen, right? If not, replace with a cool, oiled baking stone or metal cookie sheet)
Pastry scraper (substitute something large and flat if you don’t have one – like a pancake spatula)
Instructions:
Combine the sugar and water in the saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Cease stirring and allow to boil (watch it so it doesn’t boil over, the mess is atrocious to clean up – transfer to a larger saucepan if it seems in danger of doing so). Place the candy thermometer in the saucepan; when it reads 238 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the fondant syrup from the heat. (If you are using the bowl of ice water, 238 degrees is the soft ball stage. If you drip a drop of syrup in the ice water, it should form a ball that flattens when removed from the water.)
Immediately pour the syrup onto your cool, oiled item (slab, stone, sheet, whatever). Pour it all on the sheet at once – adding some now and then adding some later is a common mistake that can lead to the fondant seizing.
The slab will cool it down. Fold the syrup over on itself several times with the pastry scraper until it becomes cool enough to touch, then knead the fondant with your hands until it becomes opaque and smooth. It should also be rather stiff and dough-like.
It can be stored in the refrigerator at this point for several months. Seal it airtight.
To prepare the fondant icing for use:
Make sugar syrup: heat 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water in a saucepan. Dissolve the syrup, then bring to a boil without stirring. This time, only allow the syrup to reach 220 degrees F, the soft-thread stage. (If using a bowl of ice water, a drip of syrup should form a thread in the water that will not hold the shape if removed.) Remove from heat and set aside temporarily.
Heat the fondant in the top of a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler, place the fondant in a bowl on top of a pan of hot water, then heat the pan over low heat. When the fondant melts, add the sugar syrup a bit at a time and stir until it has the consistency of thick cream. It’s possible you may not use all the sugar syrup. Food coloring and your desired flavoring can be added at this time.
Dip the petit fours into the fondant icing, or place the petit fours on a wire rack with a cookie sheet beneath it. Pour the icing over the petit fours. Extra icing collects in the cookie sheet and can then be re-melted and used again.
Allow the fondant icing to harden before decorating the petit fours with piped on icing, chocolate, nuts, or candied flowers.
