Homemade Vegetarian Fondant Recipe from scratch – Vegan & Parve
Homemade Vegetarian Fondant Recipe – Vegetarian Sugar Paste Recipe
This homemade vegetarian fondant recipe is a fondant recipe without gelatin. This simple easy and effortless recipe uses agar agar which is plant based. The recipe is adapted from my most popular recipe homemade fondant recipe from scratch. This vegetarian fondant is also vegan, eggless, dairy free and Parve and can be used to cover cakes, cookies or cupcakes.
Homemade Vegetarian Fondant Recipe from scratch
While my homemade Fondant recipe is very very popular, it also contains gelatin making it unsuitable for vegetarian consumption. And I have tons of people requesting how to change or substitute it to vegetarian fondant. So of course I had to go and figure out how it would work out without gelatin.
Homemade Vegetarian Fondant Recipe
So finally I did test my recipe and am happy to say this is what works best for the vegetarian fondant version. This recipe is basically adapted from my homemade fondant recipe as you can see most of the ingredients are the same with changes made to the amounts so do try and keep the amounts mentioned in this recipe accurate.
Here is the cake I made with this Vegetarian Fondant. I did not take any progress pictures because the method is exactly the same as my Homemade Fondant recipe.
How to make Vegan fondant, Homemade Vegetarian fondant recipe
Agar Aagar
This is a vegetarian / seaweed based gelatin that comes in powder form. It’s works quite the same as gelatin most often. Different qualities are available in the market and often some set a better than the other so do take a note of that.
Those of you in India who get agar agar in the form of china grass. I thinks that’s what the term is. It is agar agar but very diluted and does not set much the same. So if you use it you many find that the fondant is less stretch or elastic.
Homemade Vegetarian Fondant Recipe from scratch
Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin for later)
- Water – water is the easiest to dissolve agar agar, having said that I personally often use fresh cream (just like my homemade fondant recipe). If you want you can use fresh cream but not everyone seems to have success with agar agar dissolving in fresh cream. So to keep things easy – let’s just do water.
- Light corn syrup – can be found in any cake decorating store. If you cannot find light corn syrup you can also use glucose. Use the same quantity the only difference is glucose is more thicker than light corn syrup. That’s ok.
- Agar Agar – You can use 1 tbsp of vegetarian gelatin instead. I made a special note about agar agar – please read above.
- Glycerin – Please use edible glycerin found at most cake decorating stores or pharmacy. Often non edible glycerin can be found for the purpose of cosmetic use.
- Clear Vanilla – The purpose of clean vanilla is to maintain the white color of the fondant. If you cannot find clear vanilla you can also use rose extract or almond extract.
- Powder Sugar – also called confectioners sugar or icing sugar. I highly recommend using powder sugar made with cane sugar not beet sugar. Beet sugar has the tendency to be very grainy.
Make sure you do not have lumps in your powder sugar -if necessary sift the sugar. These lumps of sugar can be a real pain in the finished fondant (don’t ask me how I know that)
Here is another cake I made using this fondant
Homemade Vegetarian Fondant from Scratch
Recipe – Vegetarian Fondant, Vegan Fondant , Parve Fondant, Dairy Free Fondant Recipe (Save/Pin)
Tools
- Mixers with dough hook – Kitchen-Aid or K-Mix– You can use a mixer but just make sure your mixer is strong and is able to take of load of a sugar dough. Some old mixers are not able to.
- Small bowlsfor mixing the ingredients
- Zip-lock bags
- Plastic Storage Boxes
Ingredients
- Water – ¼ cup water
- Agar Agar powder – 2 tbsp.
- Light Corn Syrup – ½ cup
- Veg Shortenig – 3 tbsp.
- Glycerin – 1½ tbsp.
- Powder Sugar /Confectioners – 700 grams to 1 kg
- Clear vanilla extract – 1 tsp
Method:
Dissolved Agar Agar
- Dissolve Agar Agar flakes in water – let sit for 5 minutes
- Heat in microwave at 30 sec interval until dissolved.
- Alternatively place on low heat and stir until completely dissolved
Prepare wet ingredients
- To the dissolved agar agar
- Add veg shorting, light corn syrup, glycerin and vanilla.
- If making a batch of colored fondant add the gel food color now – if not you can color small batches of fondant as needed later.
Add dry ingredients
- Place 700 grams of powder sugar in a bowl
- Make space in the center of the powder sugar and pour the liquid ingredients
- Use a wooden spoon to combine the powder sugar and liquid
- Then knead with your hand – adding additional powder sugar to make a pliable dough
- Note: Do not add too much powder sugar as the fondant will firm as it rest in the fridge.
- You want it to be pliable but not sticky nor do you want it to be stiff. You can add more powder sugar later too
Rest until set
- Divide the mixture into two (or more) portions and place in a zip lock bag.
- Place these zip lock bags in a plastic container to prevent drying
- Let rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or over night
Using the fondant
- Bring fondant to room temperature by leaving it out for a couple of hours
- Once set fondant can be stored at room temperature (see storage)
- Knead well before you use. Kneading is key to getting a smooth fondant covered cake.
- If the fondant is too stiff – a 5 sec burst in the microwave works great
Storage:
- Regular Fondant can last for months if kept properly.
- The high quantity of powder sugar works as a preservative.
- This fondant can stay at room temperature for about a month on the counter. I usually portion mine into 1 kg / 2 pound bags.
Having said that, in the interest of safety If you are not using your fondant it’s best to keep it in the fridge rather than on the counter especially in summer months. If you have hot and humid weather it’s best to keep the fondant in the fridge if not using for a few day just to be safe and ensure good preservation. - You can place them in the fridge for up to 3 month. If you need to keep it longer store it in the freezer. Thaw it in the fridge Just take it out a couple of hours or the night before you need it.
- Being a cake decorator my fondant doesn’t usually stay long. I make a couple of batches in one month. So if you do have any information to share please put a comment at the bottom of this post so it will help the other users.
Price Disclaimer
Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.
Homemade Vegetarian Fondant Recipe from scratch
Homemade Vegetarian Fondant from Scratch
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 1 Kg
This homemade vegetarian fondant recipe is a fondant recipe without gelatin. This simple easy and effortless recipe uses agar agar which is plant based. The recipe is adapted from my most popular recipe homemade fondant recipe from scratch. This vegetarian fondant is also vegan, eggless, dairy free and Parve and can be used to cover cakes, cookies or cupcakes.
Ingredients
- Water - ¼ cup water
- Agar Agar powder - 2 tbsp.
- Light Corn Syrup - ½ cup
- Veg Shortenig - 3 tbsp.
- Glycerin - 1½ tbsp.
- Powder Sugar /Confectioners - 700 grams to 1 kg
- Clear vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Instructions
Dissolved Agar Agar
- Dissolve Agar Agar flakes in water - let sit for 5 minutes
- Heat in microwave at 30 sec interval until dissolved.
- Alternatively place on low heat and stir until completely dissolved
Prepare wet ingredients
- To the dissolved agar agar
- Add veg shorting, light corn syrup, glycerin and vanilla.
- If making a batch of colored fondant add the gel food color now - if not you can color small batches of fondant as needed later.
Add dry ingredients
- Place 700 grams of powder sugar in a bowl
- Make space in the center of the powder sugar and pour the liquid ingredients
- Use a wooden spoon to combine the powder sugar and liquid
- Then knead with your hand - adding additional powder sugar to make a pliable dough
- Note: Do not add too much powder sugar as the fondant will firm as it rest in the fridge.
- You want it to be pliable but not sticky nor do you want it to be stiff. You can add more powder sugar later too
Rest until set
- Divide the mixture into two (or more) portions and place in a zip lock bag.
- Place these zip lock bags in a plastic container to prevent drying
- Let rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or over night
Using the fondant
- Bring fondant to room temperature by leaving it out for a couple of hours
- Once set fondant can be stored at room temperature (see storage)
- Knead well before you use. Kneading is key to getting a smooth fondant covered cake.
- If the fondant is too stiff - a 5 sec burst in the microwave works great
Courses Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 100 g
Amount Per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|
Calories 359 | ||
% Daily Value | ||
Total Fat 3.9 g | 6% | |
Saturated Fat 1 g | 5% | |
Unsaturated Fat 2.4 g | ||
Trans Fat 0.5 g | ||
Sodium 13 mg | 1% | |
Total Carbohydrates 83.8 g | 28% | |
Dietary Fiber 0.1 g | 0% | |
Sugars 81.6 g | ||
Protein 0.1 g | 0% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
If you use homemade fondant often, you may like to check out the
other Homemade Fondant Recipes I have for you
A Collections of Homemade Fondant Recipes by Veena Azmanov
Are you new to cake decorating? Do you love cake decorating?
Click here to see some of my Index of all cake tutorials from basic to advance.
hiii.i made the agar agar fondant but sth went wrong.its not stretchy and i cant roll it.i try to stretch it and i get chunks of fondant.nothing like a playdoh thing…i added alittle glycerine and it got softer but still not stretchy….what cna i do or what did i do wrong????
Sounds like the agar agar did not give it any stability or stretch. Did you heat it properly? Usually it should work well. Sorry to hear that. I highly recommend checking the quality of your agar agar.
Hi veena.. Thank u for the wonderful recipe.. Can u pls temme how could i store it for a longer time say foe an year.. Any preservatives that i can add??
Hey Shruti. Yuu can freeze the fondant for a longer time. Just thaw it in the fridge a day before you need to use it.
I finally have success with homemade fondant. Thank you so much. My search for the best fondant recipe is over. Will be using this from now on.
Thank you Cameron. Happy to hear you finally found your recipe. Thank you for coming back to write this feedback. Appreciate it very much.
Hi madam, thanks for the veg fondant recipe. I have veg gelatin can I use that and I wanted to know the quantity of the same. One more thing can this fondant be used for making 3 d models are do we add anything for that please let me know.it will be of great help. TIA
You can use veg gelatin for sure Reena. Same amount 2 tbsp per batch. You can make models with fondant but they tend to be very soft – to make them firm we add Tylose or CMC with are edible gums that helps make the fondant firm and are vegetarian too.
Hello Veena ji
I am not able to find vegetable glycerine in my area. Can I omit it?
Thanks in advance.
You can omit – you may find your needs a bit more needing though..
Hello Veena,
Thanks for sharing the vegetarian fondant. Its a great help 😊.
But for some rrason even am facing the same problem with agar agar powder. My fondant doesnt come out to be stretchy. When the agar agar powder dissolves in the water while heating it does it end up in a clear liquid ? Can we add more water while heating if the mixture seems tp dry up ?
Today was my 4th attempt.have kept it aside for the fondant to set. Not very hopeful though 😀
Thanks again !
Ah Sorry to her that Neha.. I will check the recipe again and see what I can do to find a solution to this. If you add more water you will need to add more powder sugar too resulting in less stretch.
Thanks Veena 😊.. do you remember the btand of agar agar you got from ebay ? I know i am doing something wrong while heating it. Not sure how long to cook and how the dissolved agar agar look like.
Sorry Neha.. you having issues with this. I have just ordered another batch of agar agar – unfortunately I order from ebay so the names are in language I don’t understand. It’s not branded so just regular agar agar. You are not the only one having this issues recently. SO I plan to re test this recipe and see again what I can do about it.
I’d take the recipe off but there are a few who seem to be having great results with it so I’m confused and will retest it again.
Hello veena
Thank you very much for the recipe!!! love you!!
got some problems with agar agar pwd. When I mixed it with water & kept it for blooming it was hard paste after heating it doesn’t devolve at all (heated around a minute steering in between), still it was hard paste. Tried with cream proportion . was bit okay. still was confused if its ghee on top but Then I need to strain it. still can see small bits in fondant. will you suggest some thing?
Thank you
Sorry to hear that Shweta.. Not sure what to say. I will try a different brand or agar agar and see if it gives me different results. I Have made this a couple of times. I use a agar agar I got on ebay and it always works for me. I will retest this recipe again soon. I know you have to heat the agar agar slowly until it’s liquid… The only thing I can say is may be the agar agar is different?
Hii Ms Veena..
Thank you for this recipe.. i want to know what is light corn syrup can it be made at home or what is glucose syrup water n glucose or something else. Please tell any method to make anyone of the above mentioned things at home if possible or are they easily available in market.. please do reply.. thank you once again. Mridu Kapoor
Mridu – you can find light corn syrup or glucose syrup at any cake or confectionery shop. You can make homemade corn syrup but it’s not exact and not sure if it works because I have never tired it. I suggest you look for it as any shop that sells ingredients for cake or deserts.
The glucose powder mixed with water is not the same as this glucose used here. This one like a syrup and is used in desserts and sweet confections.
Hello Veena ji. what can be the substitute of vegetarian glycerin. It would be very much helpful.
I don’t know Pooja… I’d say just omit it.
Once again thanku for all the tutorials that u make for beginners like us. But this time we badly need ur tutorial on veg fondants. I have tried thrice following ur instructions but failed. First 2 time I used China grass but when it didn’t turned out good then I bought proper agar agar powder from cities mall delhi. I was very costly so thought it should turn out good. When I soaked it in 1/4 cup of fresh cream it turned out in lumpy dough. So again added 5 tablespoon of cream . But even after 3 times of microwave it never dissolved. So I think there is something wrong in the way I m handling it or the type of agar agar. If u will make a video then we will b able to see the quality of agar n how it becomes after microwaving.
Also do u think we can make fondant using veg gelatin. As read in comments above I tried to add CMC to 1 tsp to the fondants but still then aren’t strechy n tear when I try to roll and wrap a cake. Plz help ma’am. Plz. I m totally relying on you. N sorry for such long comments
Pallavi – I’m sorry to hear that.. I will re test the recipe again – if possible I will make a video as well. I have made this vegetable gelatin but it’s very hard to find here and quite expensive.
Dear Veena,
I tried the vegan fondant and obviously am doing something wrong it’s just not working out. The fondant keeps cracking when I try to cover the cake. I feel I am going wrong with the agar agar…. Should I cook it to a transparent consistency or should I use flakes?
Let me know ..
Rashmi
Rashimi.. Definitely sounds like something is not right with the agar agar. Sounds like you do not have any elasticity at all. Is the agar agar dissolving properly? would adding more help? perhaps this quality is not so strong? I don’t get flakes so have not tried the flakes but worth a try. Definitely sounds like you need more agar agar. Can you make a small batch with may be double agar agar then mix the old and new to see if you can help the old? Also adding a tsp of tylose might help.
Can we first powderr the flakes and then use it.Is agar agar means falooda sev?
Not sure the strength of the flakes is the same as the powder Rupali. I suggest you make a small batch so you do not waste ingredients – If it works then you know to make more.. Thanks
Hello veena ji can we substitute pectin powder with agar agar if so how much and in what proportion TIA
Sorry Deepthi!! Not sure pectin powder substitute darling..! Have not tried it yet. Is it stronger then agar agar? If so use the same amount – if not add a tsp extra lol. Try and let us know as well. Thanks
Thanks a ton for this amazing recipe dear veenaji. So many of us wanted this vegan recipe. Im so glad i came across this. I tried another recipe last year and it was a disaster ? but this time while i eas kneading it was actually blushing, coz the texture was exactly like a fondant. I cant express how happy i am. God bless you and please keep helping us beginners like this ??
Aww. Kanika…. thank you so much for this lovely comment. You made my day. Nothing makes me more happy than to see that my recipes give my fans successful results. Thank you !
Hello Ma’m, I want to make fondant lace with the receipe you gave here. I want to know if I can make the flexible lace that dries up faster with this receipe. Can you kindly help me in this?
This is fondant recipe.. you can made fondant lace and that will be soft like fondant. You can add cmc to make it more firm and dry hard as well but then it will not be flexible. You can buy vegetarian lace.
Hello veena thanx for this recipe . I have one question regarding fondant, can I put fondant cover cake into the refrigerator or just leave it on counter.
Yes you can keep it out or in the fridge.. If you live in a warm climate the fondant will have condensation but dry out on it’s own if you leave it alone <3
As far as I know and internet sites confirm agar-agar and china grass powder are the same. May you please let me know what brand of agar-agar you use? Thank you.
I buy a non brand gelatin from the local cake shop <3
Is there any substitute for vegetable shotening…
vegetable shortening is vegetable fat. You can use butter if you have veg!! Margarine works too <3
Hii Veena.. Can I use honey instead of corn syrup?
No I have not tried honey. I think Corn syrup or glucose would work
Hi…. Can I use veg gelatin instead of agar agar??
yes!! you can use vegetarian gelatin
She has out swap out alternatives if you want to make it vegan 🙂
I stay in south africa what can i youse, we do not have corn syrup or glucose syrup. What can i use. Can i use honey or normal syrup?
This is not vegan, only vegetarian, it uses cream and butter
thanks veena
thanks veena
Hi veena i hv tried this recipe atleast 3 times now and the agar is forming a thick gel with water and its not soluble . The fondant is just breaking when i try to roll . Cn u suggest sumthng by wich i cn gt a more elastic fondant
Hi veena,
Successfully I hv made dis fondant. I hv to make a cake covered in fondant Wid simple flowers and butterflies sticked on it. Can u please suggest me whether to use dis fondant or gumpaste or fondant Wid Lil cmc to make flat flowers n Lil bit curvy flowers n butterfly..n a figure to stand upright on d cake. What is used to stick dis things on d fondant.
Thanks.
I use gum paste to make all flowers. They dry hard and store well. But do not put them in the fridge.
please help me bc i am having trouble i used heavy cream and 2 tbsp of agar powder, it does not come out white and is still sticky.
i have also used 3 pounds if confect. sugar.
What Agar Agar are you using? Check the quality of it please. I think some people mistaken china grass (I believe that’s the name) but it’s different.
hi mam
i have query i just work on your veg fondant recipe .it was not smooth and flexible its goes to break again again.please mam help me
You need to look into your agar agar powder. It needs to dissolve well. It’s also not the same as China grass? If you are using the right agar agar and it’s still not elastic you can try increasing the amount next time. For now add a bit of cmc powder and I hope it helps.
Hi Veena!
I was just trying this recipe and I'm getting stuck at the dissolving agar agar part. I tried with water and milk, both times left the powder in it and then microwaved. But all I'm left with is a solid mass which breaks into chunks. Seems like there isn't water to dissolve so much powder. Any tips or suggestions?
Hi Veena, thank you so much for sharing this recipe along with all your other recipes. I love your original fondant recipe and use it all the time. I have a question about this one. Regarding the agar agar powder, I tried heating it in the microwave like you suggest and ive also done it on the stove. Both times the powder is just clumping together and is not very liquidy like with normal gelatin. Any ideas what is going on?
Thanks
Not sure darling. try less power perhaps. I don’t have the clumping. Also ensure you let it soak well before you heat it up.
Hi Veena,
I tried your vegetarian Fondant recipe using agar agar powder. The problem I am facing is that the resultant fondant is still too soft ( even after overnight refrigeration) to work with..Tried rolling it but it keeps breaking.. Can you please let me know what could have gone wrong?
Thanks
ankita
Sounds like you need to add more powder sugar. The weather effects the fondant needing more or less powdered sugar. Trying adding more Powder sugar until it’s easier to roll but not too dry. If you have add 1/2 tsp of cmc to stabilize it. Hope this helps
Hi Veena,
U r so AWESOME AWESOME!!!
your website really helping me a lot…
i am not able to find recipe for vegetarian gum paste…
Plz do help me to find the same in your wedsite…. or plz do share ur recipe…
Thanks
Revathy S
Hi Veena,
Is confectioner sugar same as icing sugar?
yes Confectioners sugar. powder sugar and icings sugar are all the same. They contain cornstarch to prevent the sugar from clumping together
Hi veena Thank you somuch for your recipe.but bangladesh fondant jel colors and matareals not available.I want to buy how can buy this?
So thoroughly inspired by your art and talent Veena!
I'm wondering, is the vegan fondant good for making decorations or better to cover a cake? I haven't made it yet but plan on it soon!
How about using Veg gelatin we get in stores.. Will that work with the same recipe?
Yes!!! Should work!
Hi Veena as always thank you for your time effort and love you give to all of your fans. I made the veg fondant and for those that say
It’s too sticky adding more powdered sugar worked for me I didn’t measure but I kneaded in more powder sugar until it was no longer sticky. The 2nd time I made it I increased the glycerin to 2 tbsp and The fondant was perfect!
Hi! Venna, thanks so much for share…How can i paint this fondant? Do you know where can i found " vegetarian colors", I don't know if is correct name colors…..
Hello Veena could u please tell me what is corn syrup and how can we make it or is there any substitute for that.secondly what is the difference between icing sugar and confectioner sugar.
I dont knw what is gum paste that is used to paste flowers and etc and for making bows or figures I read abt tylo .I have no idea.i will really appreciate your help.
Hi Veena, Thanks for your recipe! I tried the recipe exactly as you have mentioned but it still seems to be very sticky. I am not adding more powdered sugar at the moment (I have added more than 750gms I think and I have used cream) but as suggested by you I have put in the refrigerator. Hoping that when it rests for a while it will be less sticky but right now it is way too sticky – do you think I can add more powdered sugar when I take it out tomorrow? I saw some sites which suggest that we can add corn starch to dry it – do you think I could try that?
Hi Veena,
Tried your recipe last week. The taste was great and it formed a soft smooth dough but it lacked the elasticity when rolling it out. What adds the elasticity to the mixture and what could have gone wrong?
Thanks for all the recipes. Have tried many of them including the fondant. The only trouble that i have with fondant is that it starts to bleed and melt . I had kept the decorated cake in the fridge and this happened when i took it out. I live in kolkata.
Thanks for your reply. I tried it today before reading your comment, so made it with Amuil cream. Its resting in the fridge now, so fingers crossed ! You are amazingly talented!!!
Well agar agar is a substitute for gelatine darling. So you have to try and find at least one.. See the link above you can buy it online too <3
Check the link above darling. You can buy it on line. <3
Fresh cream is malai. I'm not sure if Amul cream will work it is made from veg fat not milk. SO try!!
Thank you so much darling. I will stop by your page to have a look. <3
thanx for d reply Veena ji ….
Hi Veena,
Fresh cream is 'malai' or can I use Amul cream which is 25% fat?
Amul cream with 25 % fat is perfect… I tried it and the fondant was the best ever… And amul is not veg fat… It’s diary
Hii karishma need some information. What kind of agar did u use. Can u send a pic. Plz help me I hv failed thrice n so much of wastage. Plz help
No brand Pallavi. Just something I picked on Ebay. I have to shop for it on line and buy what ever look good – so no brand here.
hello Veena ji ….agar agar or gelatin is not available here .can we make fondant without using agar agar.
Dear Veena what can be substituted instead of agar agar powder?