The Fondant Substitute That Had Instagrammers' Heads Spinning

Whether you love it or hate it, fondant is a baker's essential. It's simple to make and has a flexible texture perfect for rolling out and molding. Even more so than frosting, fondant gives bakers the ability to add decorations, layers, and shapes to their cakes. A standard fondant is made mostly from powdered sugar, shortening, and corn syrup — though some recipes call for marshmallows — but regardless, some people think the outcome tastes like plastic.

Instagram creator @wolkentoertchen posted a recipe for a substitute that uses ingredients not found in typical fondant. Melted white chocolate and honey come together in the Instagram recipe to form a fondant-like substance that could perhaps be more suitably compared to modeling chocolate. Made with melted chocolate of any kind and corn syrup, this substance has a clay-like texture and could be visually mistaken for fondant. The inclusion of honey in the Instagram fondant substitute also makes it distinctive.

But just as fondant is highly divisive, this unique substitute is no different, as evidenced by @wolkentoertchen's Instagram comments. "Fondant tastes like plastic and y'all are complaining because this is too sweet? Take your plastic and go," one person quipped, while another simply said, "It's too much sugar for me."

The battleground of the comment section contained everything from intrigue to disgust. Those in favor of the substitute were mostly just anit-fondant people who believed that "fondant tastes like styrofoam" and who "literally peel fondant off [their] cake" to avoid eating it.

The other side of the discourse proved that, like fondant, many people dislike honey and white chocolate. One commenter admitted, "I don't like honey and I hate white chocolate, I'd take the fondant honestly." Yet the people who enjoy traditional fondant were also present, saying, "Fondant looks good, AND TASTES GOOD unlike white chocolate and honey." Others brought up the fact that honey and white chocolate make an ultra-sugary pairing. The substitute is bound to be "so sickeningly sweet," although traditional fondant is pretty sweet, too.

The most sage advice came from one person who reminded everyone to simply "find what works for [them]." Whether it's fondant, the fondant substitute, or just buttercream frosting, bakers should coat their cakes in whatever they like best.