Rolled Buttercream and Stiffened Buttercream for Modeling

Some people just don’t like the flavor of fondant. I don’t understand why because I have to confess something:I love to eat the fondant by itself – lol!

But this is why some people prefer to use other alternatives to fondant or simply go for the buttercream as a recipe for their decorations.  There is a great alternative for fondant: rolled buttercream fondant, and stiffened buttercream for modeling.

Rolled Buttercream Fondant Recipe

Your cakes can be coated with rolled buttercream. It kinda  looks like your traditional rolled fondant but it’s shinier and with the flavor of buttercream.

Rolled buttercream is a dough that you can mold or shape, while your regular buttercream is softer in consistency and it can only be used as a filling or spread for crumb coating or icing.

I want to share this recipe that I found; it’s almost “universal” because everybody uses the same one as far as I have noticed.

Rolled buttercream tastes just like buttercream frosting and it’s great for decorating cookies, cupcakes or cakes.

I found this recipe in the same proportions and with the same directions on several websites. It is really simple and it does not use a lot of ingredients, so it is an inexpensive way to create a delicious homemade rolled buttercream fondant.

If you’re going to add color to your rolled buttercream fondant there’s another option – you can use butter instead of white shortening.

Rolled Buttercream stands up pretty well to heat. You can also keep it in the refrigerator if it’s tightly wrapped. Cakes coated with rolled buttercream can be decorated with buttercream or royal icing.

Ingredients

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup white shortening
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon butter flavoring
• 2 lbs powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Start with a large bowl or an electric mixer. Stir together 1 cup of light corn syrup and the shortening. If you are using a stand mixer it’s recommended to use the dough hook attachment. If you are manually mixing, you can start by using a spoon and then knead with your hands as you add the powdered sugar.
2. Mix in the ½ teaspoon of salt and the vanilla extract. Then gradually mix in the powdered sugar until the dough is stiff.
3. If the dough is sticky, add more powdered sugar until it’s smooth.
4. You can now add some drops of food coloring. If you want to make different colors, you can split your fondant into pieces and then color each part individually.

How to Use The Rolled Buttercream Fondant

To use your rolled buttercream fondant, dust powdered sugar onto a clean surface (add a little bit of corn starch if you like). Put some shortening on your hands so the fondant won’t stick while you’re kneading. You can also roll the icing out between two pieces of plastic wrap to make the transfer easier.

Knead the dough for about 6 to 8 minutes until the dough is smooth.

Roll out your rolled buttercream fondant until it is about 1/8 inch thick (or even thinner).

Now you can use your rolled buttercream fondant to cover your cake as usual by placing it on top of your cake and working your way down, on the sides. Don’t forget to dust your fondant smoother to make sure it doesn’t stick to the rolled buttercream and ruin it. If you want you can get more tips on my post for how to get a flawless fondant finish.

If you want, you can also cut the fondant into strips to make bows or other decorations.

This recipe requires you to work fast!

Plan ahead, prepare your recipe a day before you need it, test it out, and practice to get used to the texture.

Stiffened Buttercream for Modeling

If you really love buttercream and want to use it for modeling figures for your cakes, there is a way to work some magic on it and make it stiff enough to work with it.

Too hot for modeling chocolate? Say what? If your hands tend to be too hot and you suffer when working with modeling chocolate, then this recipe is a good option for you to work your figures.

The good thing about the stiffened buttercream is that your figures are going to have a crust on the outside but when you cut through them they will be soft and nice, and with the buttercream flavor you like so much.

It all starts with a basic buttercream recipe, the recipe of your choice.

I’ve shared some buttercream recipes before – you can choose one of those recipes or you can use this basic recipe I’m going to share with you here:

Ingredients

• 125g butter
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

Preparation

1. In a stand mixer beat the butter until pale.
2. Add the powdered sugar gradually. Add icing sugar mixture and milk, beating constantly until combined.
3. Pour the milk slowly and keep beating until combined.

Now that you have your buttercream, let’s start with the stiffening process.

You are going to need enough powdered sugar and corn syrup.

• In a bowl, add as much powdered sugar as the buttercream you have. Knead, knead, knead! Work it until you see the buttercream coming to the stiff consistency you’re looking for. If it gets crumbly, don’t worry – that’s expected to happen. Add corn syrup, about half a spoon, and keep kneading.
• Work your way until you see the buttercream coming to the stiff consistency you’re looking for. If it gets crumbly, don’t worry that’s expected to happen. Add corn syrup, about half a spoon, and keep kneading.
• Add corn syrup, about half a spoon, and keep kneading. When it is a good consistency, you can take it out of the bowl, dust a surface with powdered sugar and keep kneading. Add another ½ spoon of corn syrup.
• Coloring it is very much like the fondant coloring process. Divide your mixture, as many parts as colors you will need for the figure you’re going to be working with. Use gel paste, just adding the amount you need and kneading well until combined. As simple as that!

If you want to help the mix get a more firm consistency you can let it chill in your fridge for a few minutes.

You can use your regular sculpting tools, but preferably non-plastic ones because they will tend to stick to the buttercream fondant.

I hope you can take advantage and get good use of these recipes. If you have a customer or a loved one who does not like fondant, then now you have the choice to  use rolled buttercream to please everybody. Have you ever used it before? Let us know about your experience in the comment section below.

Stay creative!