fondant n : candy made of a thick creamy sugar paste

English

Etymology

19th century from French fondant ‘melting’, from fondre ‘to melt’, from Latin fundere

Noun

fondant

1. A very sweet, pasty confection used as icing or candy filling

See also

• fondue

French

Verb

fondant

Fondant is a cream confection used as a filling or coating for cakes, pastries, and candies or sweets. In its simplest form, it is sugar and water cooked to a point, specifically the soft-ball stage, cooled slightly, and stirred or beaten until it is an opaque mass of creamy consistency. Fondant is commonly used to decorate wedding cakes. This gives the cakes a smooth appearance.

Chemistry

Fondant is formed by supersaturating sucrose in water. More sugar will dissolve in water with a higher temperature.

Then, after the sucrose is dissolved, the solution is left to cool and the sugar will remain dissolved in the supersaturated solution until nucleation occurs.

• If, while the solution is supersaturated, a seed crystal (undissolved sucrose) falls into the mix, or the solution is agitated the dissolved sucrose will crystallize to form large, crunchy crystals.
• If, however, the solution is allowed to cool and then stirred furiously, violently mixing the entire mixture, it will form many tiny crystals and result in a smooth texture.

See also

• Inverted sugar syrup

References