How to frost a professional looking cake with pourable faux fondant in minutes!
Feb 27, 2013, Updated Sep 19, 2023
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Ever want a delicious, beautiful cake but don’t have a ton of time to make it? Take a bunch of Cake Decorating Classes, but don’t love the amount of effort you have to put in to make a beautiful cake?
Or read about pourable fondant or how to smooth icing to look like fondant- but you just don’t have the time to pull it off before a big event?
It’s time to learn How to frost a professional looking cake with pourable faux fondant in minutes!
I have the most awesome trick in the world for you- you can get a smooth cake that looks like poured fondant in minutes.
And the best part? You will be using store bought icing, so you can do it in any flavor in just minutes! It is easy to color, flavor, add sprinkles, or any other decorations.
This is the perfect way to get a professional looking finish for birthday cakes, baby shower cakes, cake pops, brownie pops, shaped cakes, petit fours and even wedding cakes!
Pourable Faux Fondant Icing
To do this trick, you’ll need:
-A cake, cupcake, bundt cake, or cake pop
-A can of store bought icing (2 if a particularly large cake- more than 1 box worth), I use Pillsbury Creamy Supreme because it has a great flavor and sets well
-A microwave
-Cooling rack
-thin, flexible cutting mat
-sprinkles or other decorations, optional
First off, set your cool cake on a cookie rack over a flexible cutting board. This will help catch leftover icing that you can scoop up and re-use if needed.
Next, microwave your frosting for two 15 second bursts- it should be completely melted but not hot.
Let it sit for a minute or two to cool a bit (you want it still liquid- just no warmth).
Then, in a circular motion, pour over your cake. Once you have used about 1/4 the can of icing and it looks pretty covered, let it sit and firm up for about 10 minutes.
Microwave the icing again, for 15 seconds.
Repeat the icing step to get a thicker, more even layer.
Repeat once more if needed after cool.
Once cake has set, slide it off cooling rack and onto clean cake plate.
If there are any large lumps or mistakes in the frosting, you can smooth them out after the icing is set by dipping your fingers in water and softly rubbing them out. Don’t have a ton of water on your fingers- but you want them to be slippery so they don’t stick. You can radically smooth out lumps and lines this way!
Decorate with sprinkles, fondant shapes, etc. Enjoy!!
I’ve made a short video showing the process I use (detailed video coming soon!). Check it out here, and be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel for more easy recipes and ideas!
For a slightly tweaked version to get picture perfect faux fondant poured icing cupcakes everytime, please check out this post:
And for a pourable home-made icing, please visit this new post:
A couple of tips and tricks if you run into problems: -if your cake looks lumpy, take a knife or offset spatula and gently smooth the icing.
Then add a thin layer of icing that is slightly warm over the cake -if your icing runs like crazy, it is too warm. let it set up for a minute. -if all else fails, sprinkle that bad boy up.
Sprinkles are instant beauty for cakes and kids love sprinkles!
Wait a couple of minutes before adding sprinkles or decorations.
Update: I used Cherrybrook Kitchen’s gluten free Chocolate Cake Mix and Pillsbury Creamy Supreme frosting for the people who asked.
Again, if you run into lumps or areas you don’t love, you can go back over it with your fingers lightly when still very wet or after it has set with wet fingers.
This just makes the icing spreadable, like a petit four. For a perfect result you will have to be sure your cake is level and not super lumpy just like any other cake you decorate. Love this idea? Sign up for daily emails from Sweet C’s Designs!
And be sure to follow me on pinterest where I am always finding something fun!
Wow what a great idea!!! And the cake looks absolutely fabulous! Love all the colorful sprinkles too, so fun!
I’m sorry but I’ve seen this pinned too many times to not say this. The cake looks terrible..
Huh!!! This person must think ALL THOSE OTHER PINNERS are wrong and they are right! Why even bother with the “I’m sorry but…”?
I’m sorry this person was so ill mannered … thank you for what you do and for sharing your thoughts and ideas!
I just followed one of those pins because this is a GREAT IDEA!
Haha, thanks Greta! Different strokes for different folks, its not everyone’s style. Didn’t upset me 🙂
If I have a cake that has a cut side to eat will this method still work? Should I do a crumb layer first?
If only you could do this with fancy flavored frostings. ie, buttercream, Swiss meringue. Nothing against store bought, just love the flavor of home made, but hate the work ????
I get you totally. I haven’t found a homemade consistency that works well for this apart from my slightly more royal icing recipe linked here. I have been expiramentimg with some other ingredients to get a smooth pourable finish so far to no avail. So when I want rich, buttery icing that’s homemade I aim for a “messy cake” with icing looking perfectly imperfect. But this is my go-to for kids parties because mine seem to never notice!
Great Idea!! …if you wish to poison your children…GOD!! how can you use this frosting for kids parties!!?!?
You can post whatever you like, it’s you blog..but i am sad to see how many moms are going to do this for their kids parties!!
Being a bit melodramatic, I think. This isn’t healthy frosting, but it’s not “poisoning children” to use it on occasion for a birthday party here and there.
Great method. Can’t wait to try it!
Well said!
I wonder if it is possible to use this technique for “3D” cakes that need to be iced on the underside as well. Have you tried this at all? I don’t think I’m prepared to dive into the world of fondant.
Kerry- it is! You can see how I used this in these 3d dia de los muertos cakes: http://sweetcsdesigns.com/dia-de-los-muertos-mini-confetti-cakes/
Thank you!! I’m doing a fairly larger 3D cake – should i do the pouring method to get the bottom side and then repeat for the top? Thank you so much, I’m excited to try this method for my dad’s birthday
Thanks for the idea! I tried this, and it’s not perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than they way I usually mangle a cake when I frost it! 🙂