Fondant Cake vs Frosted Cake

Buttercream, hands down.

buttercream with a some cream cheese to balance it out, and fresh, but edible, flowers for decoration

I'm not much of a cake-baker, but as a cake-consumer I prefer not-too-sweet buttercream over fondant every time.

I agree with you, Ono. I'm not fond of decorating cakes. During my catering days, I used to bake them and take them to a friend who loved doing all that piping and flowers. A yummy fudgy frosting does wonders for almost any kind of cake, and cream cheese takes care of the rest. ;) I also like the poured molten frosting of a SacherTorte. Like to spell out the name of the honoree instead of "Sacher" on top.

Fondant has its place but give me cream cheese or chocolate fudge if I have a choice.

We had a big discussion about this subject over dessert on Mother's Day. My brother criticized my "home-made" style presentation expecting that I would have produced something a bit more polished (this coming from a guy who's never baked so much as a cookie in his entire life). I was trying for the opposite of "I just went to the bakery and bought you a cake, Mom" but that concept was lost on him.

All for buttercream, because you can then eat the whole cake without getting 'sick', though my children are happy to munch through square inches of the stuff.

For decorating, I prefer the ease of buttercream, allowing sufficient time to do a good crumb coat. I also love ganache.....though I know that isnt an option you give ir oerhaps are considering.

Good luck

I'm going to swim against the stream, and say I prefer fondant. Not for it's taste -- I do a nice layer of buttercream or ganache underneath the fondant for the flavor -- but for the decorating options! I've used the mini-marshamallow fondant for rolling and covering and think it works about as well as the Satin Ice brand. I like to flavor it with a little orange blossom water. Satin Ice tastes about like a marshmallow so not horrible, but definitely not delicious. Wilton fondant tastes terrible -- really terrible.

Suzanne, I feel I am not a perfectionist with piping, but I am sure that I am not bad also. Personally, I prefer buttercream cakes. As said above that I want to give best to others so helps clear out my confusion by asking what do others choose if asked for. Now, I am thinking that I use buttercream or any frosted cake and then may be make a big peony or rose from fondant and stick it on one side of the cake or something of that sort.Thanks

I definitely prefer buttercream to fondant, I agree with Chef June about the taste and texture. It does make for a beautiful wow factor cake but buttercream can also produce a beautiful cake especially if you are proficient at piping. Nothing more beautiful than buttercream roses or flowers and deft piping.

Regular fondant is not going to taste good. You can make your own marshmallow fondant, which will certainly taste better. I've only done that for figurines, however, and never to roll out for covering a cake, so I can't speak to that. Frosting will always taste better, and if you crumb-coat the cake, etc., it can look pretty darn good. Swiss buttercream is my favorite, because it is not tooth-achingly sweet.

forgot to add that my presonal preference is buttercream. :)

I am not a fan of fondant for its taste/texture. I agree it may produce a more "finished" cake, so it all depends upon what you're going for. Do you want everyone to say "WOW! How gorgeous?" Or "WOW, how delicious?"