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How to frost a professional looking cake with pourable faux fondant in minutes!

February 27, 2013 by Courtney ODell 153 Comments

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How to frost a professional looking cake with pourable faux fondant icing in minutes– with store bought icing! Get a smooth cake frosting finish for birthday cakes, wedding shower and baby shower cakes and more!
the easiest way to frost a cake get a faux fondant look in seconds- you POUR store bought icing! #cake #party #fondant #recipe

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!

How to pour frosting to look smooth like fondant- I love this hack for storebought frosting!

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!

Such an awesome trick- pour canned frosting to look smooth like fondant!

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

easiest way to frost a cake ever- this is awesome! get a faux fondant look with store bought icing taste #cake #party #fondant #recipe

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:

the easiest way to frost a cupcake EVER- faux fondant poured icing cupcakes! These are GENIUS!

homemade pourable icing- this is an awesome way to get a faux fondant look in minutes! So easy- why didn't I think of this!

And for a pourable home-made icing, please visit this new post:

How to get a professional faux fondant cake look in minutes- this tip at sweetcsdesigns.com is life-changing! There are also ways to do it for cupcakes with homemade frosting or doughnuts!

 

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.

Such an awesome trick- pour canned frosting to look smooth like fondant!

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!

Sweet C’s Designs
this is the best thing I found on Pinterest- POUR ICING to look like fondant!

Filed Under: DIY, featured, party planning, Recipes

About Courtney ODell

Courtney loves to share great wine, good food, and loves to explore far flung places- all while masting an everyday elegant and easy style. Courtney writes the popular creative lifestyle blog Sweet C’s Designs- a site devoted to delicious everyday recipes, home decor, crafts, DIY inspiration, and photography tips to help make your every day extraordinary.
Advertising, media and other inquiries- please contact hello@sweetcsdesigns.com

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Comments

  1. Hannah

    April 5, 2016 at 8:49 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Lola

      December 23, 2016 at 8:55 pm

      Guesses? U mean guests?

      Reply
    • Billie

      January 26, 2017 at 11:31 am

      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

      Reply
  2. Janice

    August 4, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • LA

      August 23, 2015 at 1:28 am

      Really??? That’s all u have to say? I think it’s a great idea.

      Reply
  3. Jaime

    June 2, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Mel

      July 11, 2015 at 1:13 am

      Should be fine. I’ve colored frosting using Wilton’a food coloring gels, did not affect frosting texture or taste at all.

      Reply
    • Erin

      March 3, 2016 at 12:31 am

      Great idea! Those can be tough to glaze evenly, and impossible to frost. I’ll try it out, too!

      Reply
  4. Brenda Sullins

    May 15, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Courtney ODell

      May 16, 2015 at 8:59 pm

      Brenda- yes! It is PERFECT for that!

      Reply
  5. Erika

    May 12, 2015 at 9:55 am

    Can you use whipped store made frosting?

    Reply
  6. Candice

    April 16, 2015 at 3:35 am

    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!

    Reply
  7. The Insane Blogger

    April 14, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    Ohmygosh that’s so awesome thank you!!!!!!

    Reply
  8. Abby

    April 6, 2015 at 2:02 pm

    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).

    Reply
    • Courtney ODell

      April 6, 2015 at 2:25 pm

      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.

      Reply
    • Kirsten

      April 18, 2015 at 1:01 am

      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!!

      Reply
    • Wendy

      June 22, 2015 at 8:07 am

      No, you a host try to just warm a traditional buttercream frosting. The butter will become oily, causing the icing to break and separate.

      Reply
  9. Beth Casey

    April 3, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    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)

    Reply
    • Courtney ODell

      April 3, 2015 at 8:22 pm

      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!

      Reply
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  1. Frosted Marshmallow Popcorn Balls Recipe | diethood says:
    October 20, 2015 at 8:54 am

    […] sweet friend, Courtney from Sweet C’s Designs, taught me this cool trick with store-bought Frosting, and it couldn’t have come at a better […]

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Hi- I'm Courtney O'Dell, the writer and photographer behind Sweet C's. I’m a travel obsessed foodie and mom of two sharing the best recipes, tips ... more about me!

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