Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

If there a particular brand of sugarpaste that works best on square cakes and is least likely to tear on the corners? I’m still a novice cake decorator so any advice would be gratefully received! Thank you.

He best one to use is Massa, it stretches, does not tear and dry too quick giving you time to get it on your cake. Here is a link to it, but other online retailers sell it as well and maybe you could get a smaller amount.
http://www.cake-stuff.com/edibles-c1/sugarpaste-fondant-icing-c8/white-sugarpaste-c16/massa-ticino-7kg-white-tropic-sugarpaste-ready-to-roll-fondant-icing-p7625
Jackie
Ps there coloured sugar paste is also great.

Thank you. I just wondered that I add Tylo to a cheaper fondant whether that would help….I’m trying to keep the cost of this cake down as much as I can to avoid passing on the price of more expensive sugarpaste,

In my experience if you use cheap fondant you spend more time trying to sort it out and sometimes having to take it off to recover and sometime loosing some of the fondant because of the chocolate ganache, or buttercream., therefore in the long run won’t cost you your time. With the massa you don’t even need as much because you can roll out thinner.
Why not try a few? But when you try Massa you won’t be disappointed.
Made it with love has more experience and will no doubt offer you some help too.
Good luck, jackie

Hi Juleswz4

I agree with Jackie completely. I too, use the Carmas Massa brand and will never revert back to anything else unless something much better comes along!
If you’d like to add tylose to a cheaper brand, use 1 teaspoon to 500g of paste and allow it to rest overnight. This helps to activate the gum so the paste is stronger and less sticky and stretchy. Don’t use excessive amounts of icing sugar when rolling out because it will dry your paste and cause cracks. Follow Paul’s tutorials techniques on icing cakes here:

Icing Cakes

Click on lessons and watch all the free videos.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decorating.

I just thought, you could ice your square cake in panels as Paul does in the free tutorial. Rather that trying to do in one whole piece.

Icing Cakes

Thank you both for the advice, it’s really helpful 🙂

Hi Jules
I’ve just covered a 5 tier wedding cake – square – using cheap Asda fondant at £2.15p per kilo. I kneaded in Tylo and had no problem with the corners. However if the cakes were to be eaten then there is no question Massa Ticino is the answer. It will roll very thin so you can reduce quantities a little. It’s really the clients choice, cost or quality. Some are happy to compromise on taste but usually they will go for the better option.

I do use Asda fondant quite a lot, and it’s fine for me on cupcakes and simple models. I have used it on round cakes, but not on a square. The cake I need to make is a novelty one for friends. They are quite happy to pay me for it but I’m trying to keep the cost down if I can. What I think I might do is to have a go with Asda mixed with Tylo, but have some Masso Tacino to hand in case I need something more robust. I don’t want particularly sharp corners or edges on the cake I’m making so I might get away with it…..I’m still on a steep learning curve at the moment so I’m happy to take a bit more time to experiment a bit. Thank you all for your input 🙂

Well ladies I bow to your knowledge and experience. You were all absolutely right about the Masso Tacino. I did try the Asda fondant with Tylo, but had the issue I feared with the corners. Thankfully I had bought some Masso to try. What a dream, I couldn’t believe how well it worked on the cake. No tears or elephant skin. Wonderful stuff!! Worth the extra cost and saving on stress levels! Thank you.

Hi everyone.
I am new to lots of this, so I wondered has anyone tried the Couture sugar paste. Seems a lot better value than Massa but would love to know how it compares. Incidently, I do not like Renshaw at all!!!

Hi Lyn

I haven’t tried the Cake Stuff Couture paste so can’t give you first hand feed back. The product information states that it is similar to Carmas Massa but more close to Satinice. I used Satinice for a very long time and was extremely pleased with the performance of the ivory paste. The white was worse than Renhshaw’s in texture and in taste. I changed over to the Massa because frankly it knocks spots of anything else I’ve ever used. In my humble opinion, for taste, handling and practicality it is the boss! If you try the Couture your feedback will be much appreciated. More feedback about different sugarpastes the better from all members.