How to Draw on Fondant

A fondant covered cake is a blank canvas waiting for your creative touch.

Fondant icing is a somewhat stiff icing that can be cut into shapes using cookie cutters or rolled out into flat sheets to drape over cakes. Fondant has a glossy professional look that makes it popular for weddings and other formal occasions. The stiffer surface of fondant makes it capable of withstanding decorative work such as sponge painting or hand drawings. Markers filled with food colorings make drawing on fondant as easy as drawing on paper.

Things You'll Need

• Food coloring markers, fine and/or bold tip
• Fondant, cutouts or covering on a cake
• Stencils, bendable plastic (optional)

Instructions

1. Practice your drawing first on a piece of paper towel or a scrap piece of fondant to see how quickly the "ink" comes out and how much pressure you'll need to use. Test each marker from the package to make sure the colors all work and to see their output before beginning your project.

2. Use fine tip food coloring markers to draw detailing on smaller fondant cutouts that will be attached to larger pieces or the final dessert using buttercream frosting. Draw faces, petals of flowers, polka dots or other patterns that can be applied to small areas. Use the markers as you would a traditional ink marker, pressing hard enough to make the color come out but not so hard you risk piercing the fondant.

3. Use the fine or bold tip markers on fondant covering a cake by carefully working on it section by section. Work on the cake after the fondant has been applied and trimmed because it's the easiest way to check that large drawings like these are symmetrical. Use bendable plastic stencils to help with the accuracy and symmetry of the drawings, creating large images such as lace-like patterns, varying polka dots, stripes, monograms or butterflies.

4. Allow the food coloring drawings to dry for 5 to 10 minutes before applying the fondant cutouts or moving and storing a fondant covered cake.

References

• Ochef: What is Fondant?
• Wilton: FoodWriter Primary Colors Edible Color Markers
• Wilton: Marking with Food Writers