5 Best Rolling Pins for Fondant
There’s something about a cake covered with fondant that elevates it to a professional level, even if your cake decorating skills are basic, at best.
Rolled fondant is surprisingly easy and inexpensive to make, with the perfect rolling pin being the most extravagant purchase you’ll need to make.
So what makes a rolling pin perfect for fondant? Stickiness is a factor when you’re working with fondant, so the best rolling pins for fondant are made out of non-stick materials like silicone or stainless steel.
To avoid creating dents and seams, an extra-long rolling pin will help you roll out your fondant so that it’s large enough to cover your entire cake. Finally, fondant should be perfectly even, so finding a rolling pin with thickness rings will help.
Working with fondant gets easier with practice and, in addition to sharing our 5 favorite rolling pins for fondant, we’ve rounded up some top tips for using them too.
Best Rolling Pins for Fondant
Here are our top 5 picks of rolling pins that will bring your fondant-making to another level!
| Rank | Product | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Pantula Fondant Rolling Pin and Baking Mat | Removable thickness guides, silicone mat |
| 2. | Wilton Fondant Roller With Guide Rings | Color-coded guide rings, 20" |
| 3. | Ultra Cuisine French Rolling Pin | Non-stick stainless steel, lightweight |
| 4. | Hanyan Embossed Rolling Pins | Embossed, 8 patterns |
| 5. | SK Mini Fondant Roller | Compact, non-stick |
1. Pantula Fondant Rolling Pin and Baking Mat
A stainless-steel rolling pin will make sure your fondant doesn’t stick, stain or pick up any contaminants from your cooking space.
This one comes with some handy fondant-friendly accessories.
Key features:
- Removable thickness rings give you 4 options of how thick you want your fondant and also make this rolling pin versatile for baking pizza dough or getting perfectly measured cookies
- A silicone pastry mat with measurements will help you roll out your fondant to just the right size, making sure your fondant doesn’t stick to the counter, but also providing a nice, non-slip surface to work on
- The roller, pastry mat and all the adjustable rings are dishwasher safe so cleanup is a breeze
2. Wilton Fondant Roller With Guide Rings
We love this rolling pin primarily for its length, which makes it ideal for rolling out swaths of fondant large enough to seamlessly cover even a giant-sized cake.
Key features:
- 20 inches long, this roller is fantastic if you’re creating large or tiered cakes
- 3 color-coded rings make getting the perfect thickness completely foolproof
- Wilton is a leader in the cake decorating industry, so you know you can trust their quality
3. Ultra Cuisine French Rolling Pin
Another stainless-steel rolling pin that’s perfect for getting a smooth finish on your fondant.
This one has fewer bells and whistles and is ideal for a budget-conscious baker who wants just the basics, but the best basics they can find.
Key features:
- 15.75” is a good length for rolling out fondant or dough and it will fit nicely in a drawer without needing special space
- As with all stainless-steel tools, this pin is non-stick, food-safe, easy to clean and won’t stain from your fondant colorings
- Lightweight so your kids can help out with the decorating!
4. Hanyan Embossed Rolling Pins
If you really want to step up your cake-decorating game with little to no additional skill or effort required, this set of 8 embossed plastic fondant rollers is exactly what you’re looking for.
They’re not the longest pins on the market, but with so many designs to choose from, they had to make our top 5.
Key features:
- 8 different patterns at your disposal, perfect for every occasion, from delightful Christmas cookies to elegant wedding cakes.
- Using these embossed rolling pins is a breeze; roll your fondant, and the beautiful embossed design will appear like magic. To guide you towards perfection, each set includes a simple and helpful guide.
- Made from high-quality food-grade plastic, these rolling pins prioritize safety and cleanliness in your baking process. The non-stick surface ensures easy use and cleaning, and their lightweight design makes rolling a joy, even after extended periods.
5. SK Mini Fondant Roller
Check Current Price on Amazon.
If your cakes tend to be on the cup-sized end of the spectrum or if you’re using your fondant to make decorations, a mini fondant rolling pin will be perfect for you.
Key features:
- Less than 8” long, this is an unobtrusive rolling pin that will get small jobs done right
- It’s acrylic, which is non-stick and easy to clean
How to Get the Smoothest Finish on Your Fondant
Now that you have the right tools, you need to set yourself up to use them to the best of their ability.
Preparing your surface area is more important with fondant than with just about any other type of baking project. Fondant is incredibly sensitive to any moisture, so make sure your work surface is not just clean, but completely dry as well.
A large silicone pastry mat is very useful for rolling out fondant, but a clean, dry counter with lots of space a dusting of cornstarch mixed with powdered sugar will work as well. If your air is really dry, as opposed to humid, you can spread a small amount of shortening over your surface area to keep your fondant from drying out.
Before you start rolling, you want to make sure your fondant is nice and pliable so it won’t crack on you. Let it warm up to room temperature and then knead it thoroughly so that it’s soft and smooth.
Rolling Out Fondant
Using your favorite fondant-friendly rolling pin, roll out your fondant so that it’s large enough to drape over your cake with a bit extra that you can cleanly slice off. An easy way to get the right size is to measure your cake. For a round cake, your fondant should be a circle that is twice the height of your cake plus the diameter.
Always roll from the center outwards, but don’t let your roller completely drop off the end.
Covering a Cake With Fondant
When your fondant is ready, make sure you have a crumb cover layer of ganache or buttercream frosting covering your cake. This will ensure a nice smooth surface and help the fondant stay put.
You’ll want to lay your fondant over your cake as quickly as possible once it’s rolled, so having your cake frosted ahead of time is ideal.
When you’re ready, place your roller in the center of your fondant and loosely fold the fondant over your pin in order to distribute the weight evenly when you pick it up, preventing tears.
Starting at the base of your cake, drape the fondant over the top of it by simply rolling it off your pin.
Once it’s loosely covering your cake, use your hands or a fondant smoothing tool to gently smooth the fondant down and make sure it sticks to the icing underneath.
For the sides, pull the fondant away from the cake carefully with one hand and use your other hand to smooth the fondant down the side. This will push the creases and bumps down to the bottom of your cake while also making sure all the fondant is well attached to the icing underneath.
Use your hands or a smoother to get a nice clean finish, and then finally use a fondant trimmer, pizza cutter, or knife to carefully cut off the excess fondant.
Voila! You should now have a beautiful fondant-covered cake.
Related Questions
Do I Need a Fondant Rolling Machine?
A fondant rolling machine can be a fun gadget to add to your kitchen wares and, if you’re an avid baker and cake decorator you might want to consider one.
They’re an added expense, with commercial-grade machines pricing out in the thousands of dollars, and they will take up a large amount of storage.
For occasional fondant needs, a pasta maker can be used to roll out perfect fondant, but a great rolling pin will work just as well, with just an extra minute or two and a little bit of muscle power.
Why Is My Fondant So Sticky?
Fondant is very sensitive to moisture, so if your room has a lot of humidity or if there’s any moisture left on your counter when you try to roll out your fondant, things can get really sticky, really quickly. To combat this issue, you can dust your surface with cornstarch, or a mixture of cornstarch and confectioner’s sugar.
If your fondant is too sticky to even think about rolling out, let it rest for a while. Sometimes the extra moisture will absorb on its own. If not, knead it some more with a sprinkling of cornstarch. Continue kneading and resting until it’s the right texture for you.
How Do I Stick Fondant Together?
If you’re adding extra decorative fondant pieces to your already fondant-covered cake, you’ll want to use either Tylose or fondant glue.
Tylose is a plant-based powder that you mix with water and let sit overnight. It can be used both to stiffen up your fondant or glue pieces together, but the downside is that it does need to be prepared ahead of time.
To make fondant glue, you simply take a small ball of your fondant, put it in a microwave-safe bowl with a tiny amount of water, and warm it up for 15 – 20 seconds.
You can use water to stick your fondant together, applied sparingly with a pastry brush, but it can be the trickiest and messiest option, so use it as a last resort and be very, very careful. In a pinch, you can also use shortening or diluted corn syrup.
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