Fondant for a Saturday birthday cake and fondant for a wedding tier usually come from different places. A grocery baking aisle or Michaels will sell you a tub of Wilton the same afternoon, which is fine for a single-tier party cake. The brands decorators reach for on showpiece work, such as Satin Ice, Massa Ticino, and Renshaw, mostly sell through brand sites, cake supply shops, and Amazon, so they need a few days of shipping. Decide which of those two jobs you have first, and the rest of the buying decision gets simple.
Fondant icing is the smooth sugar covering that turns a plain layer cake into something you would expect in a bakery window. Its appeal is control: it holds sharp edges, cutout letters, and fondant flowers that buttercream cannot, which is why it shows up on so many birthday cakes and wedding tiers.
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Who Makes the Major Brands, and Where Each One Sells
Five brands come up again and again in US stores and online listings, and each one has a home channel. Knowing the maker also tells you which dietary labels to expect, since those come from the factory, not the store.
| Brand | Maker | Easiest place to buy | Label notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilton Decorator Preferred | Wilton Brands (Naperville, Illinois), owned by Germany’s Dr. Oetker since 2018 | Grocery chains, Michaels, Walmart | Vanilla flavored; 24 oz and 5 lb tubs |
| Satin Ice | Satin Fine Foods, Chester, New York | Brand site, cake supply shops, Amazon | Brand states vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, kosher |
| Massa Ticino Tropic | Carma, a Barry Callebaut brand, made near Zurich since 1963 | Pastry wholesalers such as Baker’s Authority | Made for warm, humid kitchens; vegan and halal per the maker |
| Renshaw | Liverpool firm founded in 1898; UK packs list British Bakels as manufacturer | Amazon, UK importers | Certified vegetarian, vegan, and kosher on UK listings |
| Bakels Pettinice | New Zealand Bakels, Auckland | Amazon, specialty importers | Gluten free, halal, kosher, vegetarian on the product sheet |
One detail surprises people: Renshaw and Pettinice sit in the same Bakels family, so a decorator who likes one often tries the other. FondX, a sixth name you will see online, is distributed by CalJava and comes in 2.2 lb and 11 lb tubs. Read the label on the exact tub you buy, because formulas and certifications can differ between sizes and countries.
Rolled, Poured, and Marshmallow Fondant: Which Type You Need
Fondant is a pliable sugar paste made from powdered sugar, corn syrup or glucose, water, and a gelling agent such as gelatin, gum tragacanth, or vegetable glycerol, rolled thin and draped over a cake for a glass-smooth shell. One name covers three products, and they are not interchangeable.
- Rolled fondant is the dough-like kind sold in tubs and bricks. It kneads out like cold clay and is what you buy to cover a cake, cut letters, or sculpt figures. White fondant takes color well, and most tubs need only a short knead before you roll out fondant on a surface dusted with cornstarch to prevent sticking.
- Poured fondant is a cooked sugar icing warmed until it flows, then brushed or poured over petit fours, eclairs, and napoleons. Barry Callebaut sells it under its Mona Lisa line in large buckets for bakeries; it is rarely on retail shelves.
- Marshmallow fondant is how most people make fondant at home: melted marshmallow kneaded with confectioners’ sugar and a little shortening. It tastes better than many commercial tubs but is softer and less predictable.
Knowing the types of fondant matters at checkout, because a listing that just says “fondant” in a bakery-supply catalog can mean the pourable kind. British and Australian decorators call the rolled kind sugarpaste or ready-to-roll icing, which is why Renshaw and Pettinice listings often skip the American word. Search both terms when you shop imports.
Buying It in Person
In-store shopping means Wilton almost everywhere, plus whatever a craft chain happens to carry. It is the fastest option when you have to decorate a cake tomorrow.
Grocery Baking Aisles
Grocery chains shelve Wilton Decorator Preferred white in the 24 oz tub near the cake mixes, sprinkles, and writing gels. H-E-B, ShopRite, Stop and Shop, Giant, Lowes Foods, and Kroger banners such as Fry’s and Harris Teeter all list it. Walmart goes further with the 5 lb white tub and colored 24 oz tubs in pink, purple, and other shades. Colored fondant selection varies by store, so check the app’s stock flag before driving over.
Michaels and Hobby Lobby
Craft chains run the deepest assortment of tools outside a cake supply shop. Michaels carries Wilton Decorator Preferred White Vanilla in the 24 oz size along with silicone molds, cutters, and impression mats. Hobby Lobby lists white, colored, metallic, and chocolate vanilla fondant next to a wall of fondant tools, edible glue, and CMC powder. Pick up a fondant smoother, a wide rolling pin, and a cake board on the same trip; they are rarely bundled with the paste, and working with fondant without a smoother leaves finger marks and air bubbles. Jo-Ann announced in February 2025 that it would close all of its roughly 800 stores, so these two are the remaining national craft chains.
Target and warehouse clubs stock cake decorating supplies inconsistently. Treat them as a bonus find, not a plan.
Ordering Online
Online is where the professional brands, bulk sizes, and specialty colors live. Order at least three days ahead of the bake, and longer in summer, when heat in transit can soften a tub.
Amazon
Amazon, the largest online retailer in the US, lists Wilton, Satin Ice, FondX, Renshaw, and Bakels Pettinice in single tubs, color multipacks, and kits that bundle a rolling pin and cutters. Check the seller name on the cheapest listing, since the same product appears from several third-party sellers with different stock ages.
Brand Sites and Cake Supply Shops
Satin Ice sells direct from its own shop, offers free US shipping above an order minimum, and runs a store locator for local cake shops that carry it. Wilton.com sells its house brand, including flavored versions such as white chocolate that grocery stores rarely carry.
Cake supply shops such as Global Sugar Art, NY Cake, and WebstaurantStore sell the pro brands in sizes grocery stores never stock: NY Cake lists Satin Ice in 2, 5, and 20 pound tubs, and WebstaurantStore sells it by the case. For Massa Ticino, look at pastry wholesalers such as Baker’s Authority and Pastry Depot. These suppliers publish full ingredient statements, the place to confirm a gelatin-free, nut-free, or kosher formula before you order.
Walmart.com and eBay
Walmart.com mirrors the in-store Wilton lineup and adds marketplace sellers; those orders ship on the seller’s terms, so read the return details. eBay lists this icing under its cake decorating category, where discontinued colors, imported brands, cupcake toppers, and pre-made fondant flowers turn up. Check the best-by date in the photos before you bid.
How Much to Buy, and How to Keep It
Wilton’s coverage chart is the reference most packaging follows. It assumes a round cake 4 inches tall (two standard layers) covered over buttercream, with nothing set aside for decorations.
| Round cake, 4 in tall | Amount to cover | What to buy |
|---|---|---|
| 6 inch | 18 oz | One 24 oz tub |
| 8 inch | 24 oz | One 24 oz tub plus a spare for trim |
| 10 inch | 36 oz | Two 24 oz tubs, or a 5 lb tub |
| 12 inch | 48 oz | A 5 lb tub |
Taller tiers, square pans, and a ruffled skirt all push the number up, while cupcake toppers and other small cake decorations barely dent a tub. Size up when you are guessing. Running short halfway through covering the cake means rerolling a sheet you already colored, and matching a tinted batch is hard. Excess fondant is not wasted; wrap it and save it for the next cake design.
Storage is where most waste happens. Keep the fondant wrapped in plastic wrap inside an airtight container at room temperature. The refrigerator is the wrong place: condensation forms when the cold paste meets warm air, which turns the surface sticky and streaks the color. Unopened commercial paste typically carries a shelf life of about 12 months, which is what the Bakels Pettinice sheet and Barry Callebaut both list.
Four Mistakes That Waste Money
The most expensive mistake is buying on price alone, then finding the paste tears when you drape an edge.
- Clearance bricks with no date stamp. Sugar paste stiffens even inside sealed packaging, and a hard brick cracks instead of stretching. Skip anything undated.
- The cheapest tub for a showpiece. A grocery brand handles a single-tier birthday cake fine. For a wedding cake or a modeled centerpiece, step up to Satin Ice or Massa Ticino. Torn corners cannot be smoothed out later.
- Pre-tinted dark shades on large surfaces. Factory black and deep red can bleed onto lighter decorations and stain your hands while you knead. Many decorators tint white paste with gel food coloring instead and add color a little at a time, kneading until the shade and smooth texture are even.
- Ignoring the room. Standard formulas go soft and sweaty in a hot kitchen. Massa Ticino Tropic is rated by its maker for 24 to 28 degrees Celsius (about 75 to 82 Fahrenheit), and Satin Ice sells a Tropical version for the same reason.
How to pick, in order:
- Decide whether you are covering cakes or glazing pastry. Covering needs the rolled form; glazing petit fours needs the poured kind.
- Match the tier to the stakes. A kid’s party cake tolerates the grocery tub; a wedding tier does not.
- Check the coverage chart against your pan, then add half a pound of margin.
- Buy white and tint it yourself unless you need black, red, or navy.
When Buttercream or Chocolate Is the Better Buy
Three other finishes do part of the same job, and one is the better answer more often than decorators admit. Use fondant when the design has to hold a shape; frost the cake when it has to taste good. Plenty of bakers who decorate cakes for a living cover the entire cake in buttercream and save the sugar paste for a few accents.
Buttercream. Cheaper, better tasting, forgiving to apply. Well-scraped buttercream frosting gives you clean sides and near-sharp edges, but it will not hold a mirror-flat top or a standing figure. It is also the layer underneath almost any cake covered in fondant, since the sheet needs a thin, chilled coat of frosting to grip and to hide cake crumbs.
Modeling chocolate. Melted chocolate plus corn syrup, kneaded into a clay. It is easier to sculpt than sugar paste and tastes better, though it softens in warm hands and humid rooms. White chocolate versions take color cleanly.
Royal icing. Powdered sugar and egg white, dried hard and glossy. It is the right pick to decorate cookies, pipe detail, or assemble gingerbread, but it is a decoration medium, not a covering.
Skip the sugar paste entirely if the cake is a casual dessert people will eat rather than photograph. You will spend more and guests will scrape it to the plate edge.
Five Fondant Brands Worth Buying
These five cover the range from same-day grocery convenience to pastry-shop grade. Prices move with size and seller, so compare per pound on the listing before you order.
Best overall: Satin Ice Rolled Fondant. Widely used for wedding tiers. Kneads smoothly, drapes without tearing, and the vanilla version tastes pleasant. The vegan, nut-free label makes it the easy choice for a cake with fondant when you do not know who is eating. Shop on Amazon
Best budget: Wilton Decorator Preferred. Stocked at grocery stores, Michaels, and Walmart, so you can buy it and decorate the same day. Flavor is plain, so plan on some guests peeling it off. Browse on Amazon
Best Satin Ice alternative: FondX. Sold in 2.2 lb and 11 lb tubs with a wide color range. Decorators are split on its firmness for figure work, so test a small tub before committing a big order. Browse on Amazon
Best for heat and humidity: Massa Ticino Tropic. A Swiss-made bride-white paste that the maker says rolls out to 1.5 to 3 mm and holds up in tropical conditions. US wholesalers mostly sell it by the case, so it suits busy decorators more than one-off projects. Check on Amazon
Best flavor: Bakels Pettinice. The New Zealand Bakels paste, with a vanilla note that suits a fondant cake meant to be eaten, not photographed. Shop on Amazon
Start by deciding whether you are covering or glazing, then check the coverage chart against your pan. If the cake is due tomorrow, buy Wilton fondant at a grocery store or Michaels and accept the tradeoff. With three days of lead time, order Satin Ice or Pettinice and get a paste that rolls thinner and tastes better. For related projects, see our guides to buying a cake, tres leches cake, and gingerbread house kits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is fondant made of?
Rolled fondant is mostly powdered sugar and corn syrup or glucose, plus water and a gelling agent such as gelatin, gum tragacanth, or glycerol, usually with a little vegetable shortening or palm oil for suppleness. Satin Ice uses plant-derived glycerin, which is why it can carry a vegan label. Marshmallow fondant melts mini marshmallows with powdered sugar instead.
Is it safe to eat, and what does it taste like?
Yes, it is edible: commercial paste is food-grade sugar icing. It tastes very sweet, usually with a vanilla note, and has a soft, chewy texture that some people enjoy and others peel off. Flavored premium brands and homemade marshmallow paste taste noticeably better than a basic grocery tub.
How long does a store-bought tub last?
Unopened tubs and bricks carry a best-by date, often about a year from production. Once opened, wrap the unused portion tightly and store it airtight at room temperature, then use it within a couple of months. Refrigerating it is the common error, because condensation makes the surface sticky.
Is it cheaper to make at home?
Usually, yes. Homemade fondant recipes built on a bag of mini marshmallows and confectioners’ sugar cost less per pound than a commercial tub. The tradeoff is consistency: a marshmallow fondant recipe makes a softer paste that holds fine detail less reliably and resists deep tinting. Buy commercial when the design matters.
What do British bakers call it?
In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, the rolled kind is usually called sugarpaste or ready-to-roll icing. Renshaw sells it as Ready to Roll, and Bakels sells Pettinice as RTR icing, so search those names when you shop imported brands.
Reviewed by the wheretobuyguides.com editorial team. Stock and prices change often, so confirm on the retailer page before you buy.