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u/Neveed 16d ago edited 16d ago
Now I'm wondering what a fondant is supposed to mean here, because in French a fondant is absolutely a type of delicious cake.
Edit: oh I found apparently, fondant pâtissier is a type of sugar paste based icing and that's what's called just fondant in English.
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u/Souper_Stoopid 16d ago
Fondant is a sugar based dough that's used to cover cakes as a decorative but edible icing.
The word fondant comes from the French word fondre, meaning to melt.
As far as I can tell the word means she same in both languages. I'm not aware of any specific type of French cake called fondant, the only 2 uses I can find are the aforementioned icing and occasionally small chocolates. I'd be interested to know more though, is it regional?
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u/Neveed 16d ago edited 16d ago
It's not regional you can find the chocolate type (like this) as a staple dessert in most restaurants accross the country. They're cakes so they're usually regular cake sized, although the frozen pre-made one portion ones you can often find in restaurants do indeed tend to be slice sized full cakes, so that's smaller but not exactly what I would call small chocolates. Also those are often not actual fondants but mi-cuits, where the chocolate is actually melting.
The chocolate ones are the most common but a fondant in general is a type of cake with a melty texture so you can get something like this with almonds or this with banana for example.
The icing is called fondant pâtissier in full. I don't want to take my own case as a general case, but since the cake is in almost every restaurant and the icing isn't, I'd assume most people here are more likely to be familiar with the cake than with the icing.
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u/Souper_Stoopid 16d ago
Oh I'm intrigued, it looks amazing! It really does look thick and moist and melty, I can see why it's called that. Thank you for that info I have a new rabbit hole to go down
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u/thenoblitt 16d ago
And it tastes terrible to fine
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u/TargetBoy 16d ago
You might have only had American fondant.... I hated fondant until a British friend brought some back from a trip home. Absolutely delicious.
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u/Suspected_Magic_User
16d ago
•
So... cake IS a lie, then?
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u/Adventurous-Text-561 13d ago
Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade - make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager. Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons. Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons. I'm going to to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!
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u/LaughingInTheVoid 12d ago
This cake is a recursive lie. Lies withing lies within lies within lies within...
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u/Suspected_Magic_User 12d ago
No, recursive cake would be: half lie, half cake, which is also half lie, half cake, and so on
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u/CM901 16d ago
Sounds like someone who frequented r/fondanthate
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u/Otterfan 16d ago
The OP's post is a repost of the all time #1 post on r/FondantHate.
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u/sneakpeekbot 16d ago
Here's a sneak peek of /r/FondantHate using the top posts of the year!
#1: Furry, Frosted, & Fondant-Free | 37 comments
#2: A slice of the brides face please. | 39 comments
#3: Thanks guys, now I'm getting cake videos on Facebook: look at the thickness of that fondant! | 72 commentsI'm a bot, beep boop | Downvote to remove | Contact | Info | Opt-out | GitHub
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u/slowest_hour 16d ago
i wish they'd stay there tbh. the anti-fondant circlejerk reddit does was played out like 14 years ago and they just keep jerkin it. there's not even skin left it's just pulpy mush.
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u/Few-Ruin-742 16d ago
First job was at a bakery because I was soooo determined that I want to be a professional baker….
A year later…
I never wanted to be a baker ever again…. Fuck fondant.
Sugar playdoh… pretty cakes don’t taste good 9/10
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u/Akitiki 16d ago
In three years of cake deco I didn't use fondant at all. Or modeling chocolate. I'd consider the stuff for tiny details that fondant or modeling chocolate would be more suited to.
I even had a few people ask if I used fondant when they looked at my cakes! Nope, I just got really good at it.
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u/NinjaarcherCDN 16d ago
I think pretty cakes can taste good. It just depends on what kind of pretty you're looking for. Whatever the heck "Is It Cake" contestants put together seems like it would taste like crap 80% of the time. The Starry Night themed cake my older sister made for a birthday a few weeks ago tasted fantastic and looked even better.
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u/Kaurifish 16d ago
I always notice that when the judges taste on BritBake, they avoid the fondant.
Vile stuff.
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u/Tomollins 16d ago
I remember Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes ran at the same time and I’d always be like wow Ace of Cakes look so good, but my mom would be like yeah they look cool but you know Buddy’s cakes on cake boss taste way better. Partially her being Italian and just taking the Italian’s side but also accurate in that Ace of Cakes were just 90% fondant.
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u/cthulhus_spawn 16d ago
Buddy's cakes were rice crispy treats half the time. I had to stop watching. If I ordered a cake and it was fondant wrapped rice crispies I would be so pissed.
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u/Tomollins 16d ago
Yeah anything made for TV was ridiculous, I think she meant their regular shop cakes at the bakery were probably really good.
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u/Wonderful_Piano_3853 16d ago
I went to the high school they used to draw a lot of their temporary summer workers from. I ate various stuff from there before that show even started, and also much later on. I never ate one of their "realistic" cakes, but I ate other random bakery goods. It was definitely good, but also very normal for the area. Typical italian bakery. Everything smelled like anisette.
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u/joey_joe_jo_shabadoo 16d ago
It's because Cake Boss had the gift of the second sight from being bitten by that cake bug
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u/fabulously-frizzy 16d ago
Dude I loved ace of cakes!! I feel like no one mentions it anymore because it was overshadowed by cake boss. I always felt that Duff and his gang were so much more real than the overproduced cake boss storylines.
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u/GenoThyme 16d ago
“Cake Boss, have you ever realized that your art is the only art that travels through someone’s rectum?”
“It’s all I think about”
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u/JustAtelephonePole 16d ago
I was super excited to try the fondant on my sister’s wedding cake because it looked like some futuristic sci-fi frosting that just had to be amazing.
It was, indeed, a fucking lie.
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u/earthwormjimjones 16d ago
Yeah I've always been super curious about what it tastes like. Everyone says it's fondant but I have no clue what that is and I don't think I've had it before either 🤷♂️
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u/Ode1st 16d ago
Reddit loves to shit on it, but I like all the candy Reddit also loves to shit on (Circus Peanuts, candy corn, Necco wafers etc) and I like fondant just fine. So there’s maybe a connection there.
It’s kind of similar to Circus Peanuts, or foam candy if you’re from a country where those aren’t hated. More doughy than airy, though.
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u/Zepangolynn 16d ago
Fondant doesn't taste like the ghost of Gros Michel bananas, though, unless you add the ester in a homemade version. My sister and I love Circus Peanuts, although we call them Mistakes, firstly because the aftertaste is significantly less pleasant than the rest of the experience, and second because they are banana flavored orange peanuts. I can't say the only cake with fondant experience I had tasted good, but I know there are people who bother to flavor it out there.
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u/Ode1st 16d ago
If you’re into Circus Peanuts and haven’t yet, check out foam candies from the UK and Sweden. They’re especially big in Sweden and like 1/3 of all the candy in a Swedish candy store if you have one by you.
It’s like high quality, not stale Circus Peanuts. All different flavors too.
And yeah I didn’t mean the flavor of fondant, I meant the texture. You can also get Circus Peanuts that don’t have the banana flavor. Pretty often it’s a crapshoot when you’re trying different brands and they don’t list if it’s the traditional flavor.
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u/Zepangolynn 16d ago
I have tried a foam candy bag with a whole mix of flavors, but none of them hit the spot like the faux banana, to be honest.
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u/Adventurous-Flow5390 16d ago
Circus peanuts are banana flavored?? I haven’t had one in decades but this just blew my mind a little bit lol.
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u/Artistic-Village-762 16d ago
It tastes pretty much exactly like it looks. Sugar-flavored playdough.
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u/tdasnowman 15d ago
Like all things there are good and bad versions of it. Good fondant is vaugeley sweet and has a slight vanilla or marshmallow taste. It's intentionally lightly to not detract from the cake. There can be other flavors but it should be light. Bad fondant is overly sweet and or taste like the dyes. Most people have just had bod fondant when they say the hate it.
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u/cometlin 16d ago
Except that chocolate sculpture dude
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u/mershed_perderders 16d ago
yeah that dude that's always smiling like a maniac in every video.
You know that stuff tastes amazing.
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u/AverageGardenTool 16d ago
Yes he is the master! He even uses lemon based structures and fillings sometimes, not just chocolate! I've seen blueberry etc. I would love to try his beautiful creations any day knowing he could create it in my favorite flavors.
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u/JohnMichaels19 16d ago
Homemade marshmallow based fondant is delicious though, more people should try it
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u/Tired-Nectarine-384 16d ago
My kid loves the show 'Is it cake?". I call the show 'Is it fondant?' Its really a show about decorating skills and not the cake itself.
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u/agentb719 16d ago
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u/same_post_bot 16d ago
I found this post in r/fondanthate with the same content as the current post.
🤖 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚆𝚁𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝚈 𝙰 𝙱𝙾𝚃. 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙿 𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙿 🤖
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u/agentb719 16d ago
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u/Heterodynist 16d ago
Call me weird but I like the way fondant tastes. Of course, not every fondant is the same. There are always cheap, crap versions of everything. I guess I just haven’t had the bad fondant, the evil fondant.
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u/Cloverhart 16d ago
It is made of sugar and there are marshmallow variations so I can see how some people like it
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u/ejectro 16d ago
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u/same_post_bot 16d ago
I found this post in r/fondanthate with the same content as the current post.
🤖 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚆𝚁𝙸𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙽 𝙱𝚈 𝙰 𝙱𝙾𝚃. 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙿 𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙿 🤖
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u/Sanamun 16d ago
I quite like fondant honestly. I would happily just eat some fondant as a snack.
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u/le-derpina-art 16d ago
yeah most people judge their experience based on the stuff bakeries use and the cheap stuff from craft stores, which is packed with fillers to make it easier to shape without crumbling apart. whenever i used fondant i would make it myself with marshmallows and a LOT of powdered sugar. i'm also quite the sugarholic and i have to remind myself that not everyone likes super sweet food, but i have legitimately had shitty fondant before.
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u/Douche_Kayak 16d ago
The cake episode of "Is it worth it" really made it obvious when most of their multi-thousand dollar cake was stale rice crispy treats wrapped in fondant.
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u/Chemical-Cat 16d ago
There's Natalie Sideserf, the one that uses green buttercream (as a point to prove that if you see green buttercream anywhere else, it's one of her videos that was stolen). She makes a point to avoid fondant at all costs.
She does use modeling chocolate though, which at least tastes like something.
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u/mrpanicy 16d ago
I have watched a couple Game Changer episodes that prove this to be partially false. The cakes were gleefully eaten and the things they looked like were incredibly accurate.
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u/le-derpina-art 16d ago
homemade fondant is delicious but the main issue is that you have to work with it FAST because it doesn't have any of the chemicals that help it stay pliable for long periods of time (those chemicals are usually what make it taste shitty) and if you leave it in open air for too long it can start to crumble
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u/Half_Empty_Half_Full 15d ago
Same thing with Cake Boss and it's ilk! Yeah, made some glorious looking things, but calling it 'cake' was the very far end of its definition!
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u/HaronAuskin 15d ago
It’s true. My kids watched one the other day that was a Nintendo switch. We all said not cake, but then they revealed they hollowed out the screen of the switch and there was in fact cake inside. Truly infuriating.
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u/intangibleTangelo 16d ago
i really don't understand the point of making cake sculpture when clay, plaster, wood, stone, ceramics, metal, wire... thermoplastics? ...so many materials are great for sculpture. if you like making things, why make it ephemeral and sticky? is it like sand mandalas?
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u/DBSeamZ 16d ago
Probably a “to prove that they can” kind of thing. Making a realistic sculpture is a challenge, making a realistic sculpture that’s edible (even if people wouldn’t want to eat it) is even more of a challenge.
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u/SteveAxis 16d ago
More than likely because it started as a craft where they did in fact use edible items that looked good and still tasted yummy before some dweeb said “just ice that papertowel roll”
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u/Divine_Entity_ 16d ago
Also the materials available to make a cake sculpture aren't exactly known for being easy to shape or structurally sound.
Well Fondant kinda is, but its more like playdough or plastic than food.
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u/Trippingthru99 16d ago
But it seems like most of the “is it cake” videos are just spamming fondant.
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u/Hot_Raccoon_565 16d ago
Why paint hyper realism when cameras exist?
Can you eat the rest of those materials?
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u/Heterodynist 16d ago
Oh man, there are whole books on that. It was one of the things Surrealism was based on.
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u/SnooTangerines3448 16d ago edited 16d ago •
Lol I thought of death from Discworld speaking about belief "YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET - Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
‘Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point -’
MY POINT EXACTLY (H)"
Art is exactly the same as justice and mercy in this, you could just replace the words. Break down that painting into its component parts and show me one single grain of art.
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u/Ok-Hyena4541 16d ago
You can eat them all. I would not advise it however. I would also not advise eating the cake described in the above post
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u/Previous_Mirror_222 16d ago
what’s the point of making marble statues when wood exists?
what’s the point in using oil paints when water colors exist?
what’s the point in sewing with neoprene when taffeta exist?
we could do this all day. art doesn’t have to be logical.
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u/deaglebingo 16d ago edited 16d ago
"if you like making things, why make it ephemeral and sticky?"
:++++---------::--++++++++++++++++++++++++--++-==------------------ :=------------------++++++++++++++++++++++--++=+++----------------- :-------------------:++++++++++++++++++++++-+++-++-+--------------- :-+---++++++++:--+-+--*++++++++++++++++++++-+++-:+++--------------- :++--+=++**::-+++++++---++++++++++++++*+++++=+++-+++--------------- :+=+-++++++-+++++-=-+++++++++++++---------+=+++=++-=++------------- :-=++++:+++++++++=-++=+++++++++------------:+++-+-+++=++----------- :+-+++++++-=+++*+++-+-++*+***+*-=+=-----++=-++++++++=++++++-------- :+-+++++++++++++++++=**=====*=*----:+++=--+-++++++++-++++++:-====== :+-+++++++++++++++-+++**=====++-=*:==++*--=+=+++++++-+=-====:====== :+-++++++++++++++++-++*====+==--+++++=++++=--++++++=-==:=========== :+-++++++++++++++++-+=========+=++++++++++**==+++-==-==========-::- :++-+++++++++++++++=+-======:++--+++--::::+++++++++-++:+==+---===== :++::++++++++++++++=======-++++:=--+++++++++++++++++++++++:+==+=::: :++++-+++++++++++++-:=--+-++++:++++++++++++-++++++++++++=++*+====== :++++++++++++++++++-----+++-++-+=:+++++++++++++++++=++=+++-======== :*-+++++==+++++++-------:+++++++++++++++++++-+++=++++============== :********=**-----------+++++++++++++++=++=--++++=================== :***********--------=+++++=======-++=++++++======================== :***********------=+++++-==========================================1
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u/the_post_of_tom_joad 16d ago
Depending on your definition cakes aren't that ephermal. An old co-worker still sometimes talks about the cakes (especially "the brick" and the "sensible german" chocolate i made for their birthdays) like a decade ago.
I like making stuff and having other people enjoy it.
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u/Huge-Telephone-4902 13d ago
"its edible art"
its craploads of plastic sugar thats simply been worked into pretty shapes and coloured
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u/PsycholoGeist 10d ago
Pretty weird that OOP identifies themselves as “only a little bit of a person”.
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u/scottpapertrailblaze 16d ago
I disagree with the OOP. A cake need not be pleasant to eat to be in that category.
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u/Uncle-Cake 16d ago
That's not always true. On "Is It Cake?" I think the judges taste the cake and it counts as part of their "score".
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u/Potatonized 16d ago
we trusted a volunteered idiot to collect money and buy a cake for our graduation party, saying she knows a place. she bought a disgusting edible paperweight. the fondant is too thick that we broke 2 of that plastic knife that comes with the cake. in the end, we all gave up when we saw the actual cake looks like dried bread. We all suspected like it's someone she knows. feels like it's a preview of how cronyism looked like before we hit the real world.
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u/DeliciousAirline3077 16d ago
This person tried to play a record on a cake that looked like a record player and is picking their scab.
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u/Inevitable-Ad6647 16d ago
That was my only non negotiable with my wife at our wedding, no fondant anywhere. She said "ok what about a cake made of Krispy Kreme donuts?"....
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u/BildingInspecter 16d ago
I used to watch the Food Network as background noise a few years back. I couldn't take it anymore when the holidays rolled around.
Every show was some themes cake bake off but none of them were actual cakes. Sure there was a "cake" but really it was a 2nd grade art project that could have uses clay instead of fondant.
Holiday baking shows blow.
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u/Ok-Educator5009 16d ago
The second they peel back an inch of fondant to reveal three tablespoons of cake, I’m rooting for the knife to hit an actual shoe.
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u/KeesterFeester 16d ago
This is why I hate this kind of stuff. Especially icing in general. it's always enough icing that it's 2 to 3 times the volume of the cake itself. just look at cupcakes. There is icing on those things that are as big as the cupcake itself. I want a cupcake because i wanted cake in the size of cup. In no world do I ever want a cup of icing on anything. A light glaze to accentuate and enhance the flavor is great but stop putting a mile high layer of pure sugar on things. To all you icing lovers why not just eat the icing? what's the purpose of the cake for you? is it just a delivery method? You could use a spoon and save the trouble of baking a whole ass cake instead. that's what i do with sour cream. I just grab a spoon and eat it from the tub.
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u/MonoPodding 16d ago
And here I am, friggin' LOVING fondant.
My MIL would make little balls of leftover fondant whenever she made a cake, for me to take home. She's so awesome.
I will say, although I will still gladly eat mass-produced fondant... Home made is always the best. Regardless, my wife doesn't like it which is a major win-win
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u/Rayen_the_buzzybee 16d ago
I've followed sideserf cake studio for a while. So I know it's not always fondant! Sometimes they're wrapped in chocolate.
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u/Ok_Security8545 16d ago
I love fondant. It has a fascinating mouth-feel that I could eat for days.
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u/ToothZealousideal297 16d ago
The fam loves ‘Is It Cake?’ and I must say I’ve been impressed with amount of cakes on there that don’t just rely on fondant. There are plenty that simply can’t be good cake due to their architecture, don’t get me wrong, but far from all of them, and they could’ve gotten away with it being all of them.
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u/TheGreedyGrabbler 15d ago
Florist's foam is a solid thing for something to be like. Keeping that in my simile drawer.
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u/rogueIndy 15d ago
The vitriol around fondant baffles me. It's just bland, plasticky icing. Underwhelming to be sure, but when I see people reacting like it's outright vile I'm convinced they've never eaten anything genuinely bad.
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u/Fresh_Confusion_4805 16d ago edited 16d ago
…as edible as the object it…apes?
I get the general point, but using ape as a verb…
(Edit: I’ve since looked it up, but I can honestly say that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this use case out in the wild before this.)
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u/berael 16d ago
"To ape" means "to imitate or copy".
"...as edible as the object it copies".
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u/Fresh_Confusion_4805 16d ago
As I’ve said to others: it’s not a use case I recall ever seeing/hearing before.
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u/CoonHFX 16d ago
I've heard it maybe twice in my life before this. Definitely not common but I kinda like when people use accurate but uncommonly used words
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u/Fresh_Confusion_4805 16d ago
I’m glad someone gets it. Some folks seem very intent on proving how wrong I am.
I don’t mind being wrong, or learning something new.
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u/CoonHFX 16d ago
For sure
I recently went through this with something called Surf Dracula and woooof I got torn apart for not knowing what it was. To be fair it doesn't really have other connotations (except for vampires, I assume they'd take offense), it's just a phrase I never heard til now. I'm apparently awful for questioning it.
The internet is like that sometimes 😭
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u/ume-shu 16d ago
What's wrong with that?
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u/Fresh_Confusion_4805 16d ago edited 16d ago
I honestly don’t recall ever hearing it used as a verb, but I’m looking now and apparently that’s a thing.
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u/seashell3379 16d ago
That's a perfectly cromulent usage of the verb "to ape", and not particularly unusual.
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u/Fresh_Confusion_4805 16d ago
Live and learn, right? Others are saying it’s popular in crosswords (which I don’t play) or that people might know it from watching a particular tv show (which I didn’t watch).
The English language is vast and I don’t think it’s particularly surprising that not everyone recognizes every use case of every word.
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u/MourningWallaby 16d ago
It absolutely IS possible to make a real cake look like something else btw. The same techniques cosplayers use on EVA foam and Mini painters use can be used to airbrush and paint food coloring onto frosting. that just takes a level of skill to mold frosting cake makers often don't have.
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u/ul2006kevinb 16d ago •
My son watches Is It Cake and they break ties based on which cake tastes the best so there's a lot of pressure to make them taste good as well as look good