Fondant is a smooth, pliable icing made from sugar, water, and other ingredients that can be rolled out flat like dough and draped over cakes to create a flawless, satiny finish. Professional bakers use fondant to cover wedding cakes and fancy birthday cakes because it gives them perfectly smooth sides and sharp edges that regular buttercream frosting can't achieve.

Think of fondant as the Play-Doh of the cake decorating world. Bakers can roll it thin, cut it into shapes, mold it into flowers or figures, and even paint it with food coloring. A cake decorator might sculpt fondant into realistic-looking roses, delicate ribbons, or tiny cartoon characters to sit on top of a cake.

While fondant creates stunning cakes that look almost too beautiful to eat, many people find it too sweet or chewy compared to traditional frosting. Some bakers use a thin layer of buttercream underneath the fondant to add flavor and help it stick to the cake.