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Hi

I am new to cake decorations , but loving it like anything. Can anyone suggest me what is the difference between fondant , sugarpaste and gumpaste and which one is best for icing and making 3 d model. Is it imperative to add some agent in fondant or sugarpaste to make 3D models ? Same thing for cocoform , apart from sugarpaste would I need to add anyother agent to
make it hard and not floppy

Hi Neha28

Fondant icing and sugarpaste are the same thing just called by different names. Gumpaste, and modelling paste are the same thing and florist/petal paste is similar but makes finer flowers. Modelling paste can be made by adding gum tragacanth to sugarpaste or CMC/ Tylose powder. Gum tragacanth is a natural gum product, the other powders are chemically produced but act in a similar way to stiffen sugarpaste to create a dough for modelling 3D figures and less delicate flowers. Fondant icing/ sugarpaste are for covering cakes, there are many different manufacturers but they are mostly made in the same way. Some sugarpastes contain a little gum tragacanth to make it stronger for use in hot and humid conditions. Fondant such as Satin Ice can apparently be refrigerated and Fonderific is said to roll out thinner without breaking, (these are expensive icings, not necessarily any better than regular icings like Renshaw’s) If you search ‘how to make sugarpaste from scratch’ and ‘Clark Baxter’ (in the search box just above your question), you will see some recipes for each product and may help you better understand how each one works.There is also lots of information online which explains in more detail. Hope this helps some way.

Sorry Neha28

You don’t need to add anything to cocoform to make models, it is chocolate so will set hard.

Thank you so much