Renshaw Microwave Fondant Icing. I first saw this stuff on Twitter last week and was very curious indeed.

I did a little research and found this information on the Lakeland website;

Forget the ‘perfect’ finish – if you’re after on-trend, colourful drips and splashes, get the look with Renshaw’s range of pour-over fondant icing. Simply heat in the microwave, stir, then drizzle, feather and flood over your cakes. In a host of tasty flavours, they’re great for dipping biscuits too – and for making your very own fondant fancies.

Skip forward a few days and a successful Bluewater trip later and I have it in my possession! I had some left over dough from my Giant Jammie Dodger recipe so I’ve made some heart biscuits as my test subjects!

They nearly didn’t make it to the testing arena, mind. I told Tim what I was doing to which he replied “OH! I nearly ate those biscuits earlier. You should have said.” It seems tasty treats in my kitchen need to be nailed down or they risk being scoffed!

First Impressions

It’s nicely packaged and has a distinct red branded lid in uniform with other potted Renshaw products, like their ready to use Royal Icing and Colour Melts.

At £2.48 for 400g, it’s more expensive than buying fondant icing sugar to make up yourself, but it’s already flavoured and at the right consistency to use so I can see why it would be popular on the shelf. The full flavour range includes: Chocolate, Lemon, Vanilla and Caramel.

I’ve bought the vanilla flavour to try today.

Trying It Out

The instructions are clear; “Remove lid and heat on full power for 30 seconds, then stir for 30 seconds. Hey for a further 15 seconds and sir until fully combined.”

After heating it for the time stated, it still looks rather thick to me. It also has on the back; “If a thinner sauce is required, heat for a further 15 seconds” so I opt for this.

I do notice that it smells VERY sweet. Not like the slightly ‘alcohol’ smell a vanilla pod would give off, but a sugary sweet smell. (Not very shocking, I mean it IS sugary fondant icing after all…)

I hadn’t really thought about what design to do on my biscuits so I go with my instinct!

The first two, I decided to flood. I pour on the fondant icing and it’s still really thick. I can get a nice covering though by giving it a bit of gently persuasion with the back of my spoon.

The next two, I decided to drizzle. This was slightly tricky as it’s not the best consistency for drizzling, so I let the fondant icing fall off the spoon, back into the pot for a few seconds before going back and forth over my biscuit. It looks quite cute and I’m pretty pleased with it. I then decided to do a thinner, criss cross drizzle. If you work quickly using a little bit on the spoon, it’s easy to create this style.

The last two I decided to dip. By having a strong biscuit, I could easily plunge it into the fondant icing and back out again, but I wouldn’t fancy my chances dipping cake into this. I think the cake would break apart unless it was frozen.

If you want to sprinkle your biscuits, you’ve got to be quick! By the time I decided to sprinkle these and get my decoration out of the cupboard, the fondant had almost dried too much for the sugar to stick. Luckily I was just in time for a few to stay on but bear that in mind; if decorating with sprinkles or sticking on other decorations, do it as soon as you’ve covered/dipped the biscuit.

I left them on the cooling rack to dry and it took only a few minutes to become ‘touch’ dry but about an hour to fully set.

I have decorated 6 large biscuits and used about half a pot.

Verdict

The Renshaw Microwave Fondant Icing was easy to prepare in the microwave and really easy to use.

In less than a minute I have fondant icing ready to pour. A few of my recipes call for fondant icing, (such as my Lemon & White Chocolate Slices) and I know from making that, it can take a lot longer to get a liquid fondant icing by using the standard fondant icing sugar, water and flavouring.

It’s a little on the thick side in consistency but that is easy to fix with a bit longer in the microwave. I would be interested to test out the other flavours to see if they are as thick. It tastes super sweet too.

I like it! I’d say this product would be great for using at home with the kids, and if I needed a quick decorating fix to flood some cupcakes or drizzle on biscuits, I would totally buy this again!

You can buy this from Iced Jems here.

Have you used it yet? What do you think?

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Happy baking,

Britt xo