How To Make Grey Fondant: A Guide For Beginners
Learning how to make grey fondant is one thing that is important if you want to master baking. While there are many other colors that you may consider, grey is excellent because it is sophisticated and it will pretty much complement different styles of cakes. If you do not know how to do it, keep on reading the rest of this guide and learn from the tips that I will be sharing. I will try to make it as easy to understand as possible.
How To Make White Fondant
One thing you should know is that it does not start out grey. Rather, you should first start making a white fondant. Once you have the latter, this is the only time that you can experiment with color to make it appear grey.
In this case, the following are the materials that you will need:
- Gelatin, unflavored
- Cold water
- Light corn syrup
- Almond extract
- Powdered sugar
- Glycerin
- Vegetable shortening
Once you have gathered the materials above, here are the simple steps that you should follow:
- The first thing you have to prepare is the gelatin. In a bowl filled with cold water, sprinkle gelatin powder. Allow it to sit for at least two minutes, which should be more than enough for the granules to soften. Place it in the microwave for about half a minute or until when it has already completely dissolved.
- Once the gelatin is dissolved, add glycerin, corn syrup, and almond extract. Whisk it until the ingredients have blended well. Sometimes, simply stirring it may not completely turn it smooth. With this, you can microwave it for another 15 seconds.
- Next, add sugar. When you add sugar, make a hole in the center and mix evenly until it turns sticky.
- Once the mixture is ready, you can now proceed to knead. In a wooden chopping board or any other suitable surface, knead until the surface becomes smooth. It will also be good to rub vegetable oil in your hand as you knead.
- Now, your fondant is ready. If you are not yet ready to make it grey, you can wrap it in clear plastic and store in the fridge. Approximately, its shelf life will be six days. When kept longer, it will most probably dry out.
How To Make Grey Fondant
Now that you already have your white fondant, you already have the main ingredient that is needed. To make it grey, here are the materials that you will have to prepare:
- White fondant
- Latex gloves
- Toothpick
- Food color
Here are the simple steps that you should follow to have grey fondant:
- Knead the white fondant that you have prepared earlier. Know how much grey fondant you will need to have it colored in one batch. Making another batch later on will not be a good idea as matching the color can be difficult.
- Wear latex gloves. This will prevent stains in your hands. Use a toothpick, dip the tip in black coloring. After this, dip the toothpick in white fondant. At first, you can make up to five dots with the toothpick and knead the fondant. This will result in a light gray color. If you want it to be darker, you may want to add more dots, but be careful not to overdo it.
- If the color seems to be darker than the actual shade of grey that you want, you can still add more white fondant.
- In some instances, you might end up with a purplish fondant instead of grey. To repair this, all that you need to do is to drop yellow and red food color. Knead and soon, it will turn grey.
- By now, your grey fondant is ready. You can have it shaped or decorated based on the design that you want.
If you want to add flavor to your fondant, here is what you should do:
- Once you have kneaded the fondant, add a few drops of flavoring. There are different choices, such as mint, chocolate, and cocoa. The choice will depend on what you want.
- Add only a few drops of flavoring. Knead the fondant and have a taste test so that you will know if you have to add more. After adding coloring, follow the steps mentioned above to make it grey.
- However, make sure that the flavoring is colorless or at least, it won’t alter the grey color of the fondant.
What should you do with grey fondant? There are tons of designs that are possible, such as a cute elephant.
Pro Tips
Aside from making sure that you follow the steps mentioned above, it is also important to keep these things in mind:
- You have to be careful in adding food color. This will not only darken the color but can also make the fondant taste bitter instead of sweet.
- If you are not yet ready to decorate fondant, you should keep it in an airtight container or have it wrapped in plastic. This will prevent the fondant from drying out and from hardening.
- Speed is an important concern when you are working with grey fondant. It will most likely dry quickly, which is why you should use it as soon as possible.
- The external environment will also have an impact on the quality of your fondant. If it is humid, the fondant will be too sticky. If it is too cold, this can harden the fondant like a rock.
- The surface at which you will work and knead the fondant will also be essential. Make sure that it is clean. Stainless steel is a good choice, but almost any material would do, as long as it is clean. To begin with, you can form a small ball out of your white fondant and roll it on the surface to effectively get rid of lint and dirt.
- In some instances, your design will call for a stronger or harder icing. In this case, you might want to use Tylose powder. This is a food-safe hardening agent. However, add it only once you are ready to have it designed. If not, this will cause the fondant to be too hard, which will make it difficult for you to work on it.
- Keep it out of direct light. Even if the color is grey, if it is exposed to light this can cause the color to turn lighter.
- When adding flavoring, make sure to not overdo it. An overpowering flavor can ruin your fondant. Also, as noted earlier, watch out for the color of the flavoring to be sure it won’t affect the grey appearance of the fondant.
Conclusion
What are you waiting for? Now that you are done reading this post, I hope that you are already aware of how to make grey fondant. It seems difficult at first. You might also experience ending up with a different color. It can be frustrating, but you should never give up. Just follow the steps mentioned above.
Have you tried making grey fondant before? How did you do it? Are there other tips you would like to share? Feel free to leave a comment below.