what type of fondant to use

I have seen fondant icing in tesco (ready ice) is this the same as bakers fondant?

Not necessarily. Check the ingredients for other than sucrose, water and glucose.

i got a few packs of that stuff. two things came to light. the bees wouldnt eat it and it tasted of vanilla. i am now waiting for a big cake to come my way to unload the stuff.

honeypot said:

I have seen fondant icing in tesco (ready ice) is this the same as bakers fondant?

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No.........it's not the same at all. Fondant icing in supermarkets is a ready to use, roll-out icing for Chrismas/wedding cakes etc. It has goodness knows what added to make it pliable and also as said above, flavouring. Bakers fondant is a boiled sugar product used warmed to coat the tops of bakery goods like iced buns. It isn't available for domestic use, just in 12.5kg packs from wholesalers, although you may get a local independant baker to sell you a small amount.

There are many theads on here elsewhere suggesting where the correct stuff can be bought from.

Frisbee

I have just purchased some from a beekeeping supplier Thanks

oliver90owner said:

Not necessarily. Check the ingredients for other than sucrose, water and glucose.

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Would some fructose not be a good thing? (being an even better humectant than glucose ... and a major constituent of honey ...)

i get mine from BFP Wholesale, 12.5 Kg for £13.15.
good customer service, ive used them for a few years now

http://www.bfpwholesale.com/

itma said:

Would some fructose not be a good thing? (being an even better humectant than glucose ... and a major constituent of honey ...)

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Yes of course it would - but it is what else which comes along in the same packet which is the problem - glucose, cream of tartar plus no doubt a list of other things with E numbers.

RoofTops said:

... it is what else which comes along in the same packet which is the problem - glucose, cream of tartar plus no doubt a list of other things with E numbers.

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I wasn't suggesting using the vanilla-flavoured icing!

Glucose? ??? That's standard for fondant/candy !
Maybe you meant Glycerol/Glycerine? Would a trace of that really be a problem?

But Fructose strikes me as something that it would be positively good to include, its rarely if ever mentioned in the fondant context, and the wording used by o90o would have people turning down a product on account of including Fructose!

And "E numbers" aren't definitively bad. Vitamin C is an "E number" (E300), as is the Lecithin in Hivemaker's emulsified Thymol brew (E322). Some people even spray their bees with E270 ...
Its E for all-Europe approved, not e for Evil (even if I'd be happy to manage without some of them.) Just sayin' ... !

Even the Bako 163 Fondant has one additive - Sulphur Dioxide.

The bees seem to like it OK though

is white sugar paste fondant or something else

Alabamaeee said:

Even the Bako 163 Fondant has one additive - Sulphur Dioxide.

The bees seem to like it OK though

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Sulphur dioxide is used as a food preservative.

Bad BBKA advice

yet more bad advice from BBKA!!!

Just noticed that the Beginners notes (p7) of latest issue of beecraft states that supermarket sourced fondant can be used, without qualification.

UUUUUUGH, MOST SUPER MARKET FONDANT CONTAIN A GUM that gum breaks down and it is toxic to bees, the sugar is oka but not the other ingredients is waht to worry about

the BBKA will be telling us to creosote hives next

drstitson said:

yet more bad advice from BBKA!!!

Just noticed that the Beginners notes (p7) of latest issue of beecraft states that supermarket sourced fondant can be used, without qualification.

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doc- which issue is that? I've just looked in the December beecraft and cant find mention. Another issue maybe, or was it the BBKA rag?

Thought it was the dec issue! the one saying they'd had more than enough applications for BBKA trustees and announcing the death of someone who'd been a trustee for two years.

Think that may be the BBKA rag (cant remember what its called?) rather than beecraft - not read it though so may be wrong.