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!
Hannah
This is a great idea for petit fours or cupcakes, but it doesnt look good or professional on bigger cakes because first of all the cake should be very flat on all sides and you have to cover the cake 4 to 5 times or even more depending on how covered you want your cake to look, so for me the title is very misleading. The cake in the picture doesnt look professional. On the contrary. The beauty of real fondant is that you always can use some tools to flatten the fondant but with this faux fondant you cant. Any way, I think is also a good idea if you just need a cake decorated for your kid-last-minute birthday party with no guesses.
Lola
Guesses? U mean guests?
Billie
I think if you put a regular thin coat of icing on cake stick in fridge then pour this over you would get better results trying today
Janice
I would really use a better picture, the cake does not look well decorated. This leads me to reason that my cake would look like this cake if I used this ‘easy’ frosting method. I would not like my cake to look like the cake pictured here.
LA
Really??? That’s all u have to say? I think it’s a great idea.
Jaime
I can’t wait to try this on petit fours! Has anyone tried coloring the icing? I would love to dye the icing but I don’t know if it will harden or make lumps.
Mel
Should be fine. I’ve colored frosting using Wilton’a food coloring gels, did not affect frosting texture or taste at all.
Erin
Great idea! Those can be tough to glaze evenly, and impossible to frost. I’ll try it out, too!
Brenda Sullins
What a great easy solution! Do you think this would work well with a cake made in a cake mold? Would the details come out OK? Plan on using this for the base, then piping on outlines of the details
Courtney ODell
Brenda- yes! It is PERFECT for that!
Erika
Can you use whipped store made frosting?
Candice
Thank you!! I’m terrible at decorating cakes, always something goes wrong, but this was the easiest, best idea to date!!! Can’t wait to do another one!
The Insane Blogger
Ohmygosh that’s so awesome thank you!!!!!!
Abby
This is a great idea! I have a buttercream recipe that I love — do you think I could warm it and pour it like you have done here? I am looking for a smooth finish for Lego blocks (but I don’t want fondant).
Courtney ODell
Abby- you can try, but it often doesn’t turn out and becomes a greasy blobby mess. Butter isn’t as stable as whatever chemical is in the store bought stuff, and I havent been able to get an even result with it. I do have a recipe for a homemade pourable icing that is more of the consistency of a glaze for petit fours.
Kirsten
Hi Courtney,
I have a similar question as one of the people interested in using homemade buttercream. I live in Denmark and I have never seen store bought frosting here…*(perhaps a good thing?) Anyway, this is a brilliant idea, can I have that homemade pourable frosting recipe of yours? The link in one of your previous comments didn’t open. I really would love to have your fantastic trick in my repertoire. 🙂 Thanks!!
Wendy
No, you a host try to just warm a traditional buttercream frosting. The butter will become oily, causing the icing to break and separate.
Beth Casey
This looks amazing! I’m going to make a cake for Easter desert this weekend. I’m curious if this method will prevent the icing from melting if it’s left on the counter (versus being kept in the fridge)
Courtney ODell
Beth- it just depends on the temperature outside. If its really hot, it might droop a bit. If it’s not in direct sun and around 70 degrees it should be just fine!