Happy Thursday everyone! Last week I shared the news that Chef Nicholas has become the Brand Ambassador for Renshaw’s line of rolled fondant and gumpaste. Chef Nicholas wanted to share the store of how rolled fondant was initially brought over to the US, and below is his account of how it all happened! I hope you all enjoy!

Commercial rolled fondant and its history in the United States

The following is the story of how commercial rolled fondant was developed and how it came to be introduced into the US market.

I believe it’s time that everyone knows the real story. I have heard many individuals claiming that they were responsible for introducing rolled fondant into the US and other conflicting stories, but this article is not written for self gratification. I have written it so that you will know the true story and to demonstrate the love and passion I have for my art.

In 1981, at the age of 19, after an apprenticeship at a bakery in my hometown of Chelmsford, Essex, UK, I attended the National bakery school in London for two years. I graduated with distinctions from the City and Guilds 121, and was awarded the Burton Cup for the most outstanding student. After graduation, I took a position at Woodnuts in Hove, Sussex as principal cake designer. Elaine McGregor, the joint owner, had relocated from Australia and had used Pettinice (a commercial rolled fondant) there and couldn’t understand why a commercial rolled fondant was not available in the UK. Elaine and her husband, Stewart, scheduled a meeting with Renshaw, a company that was producing marzipan, almond paste, and other nut based products. Tombi Peck, my dearest school friend, was also included in the meeting and helped with the project; she had relocated from South Africa where she had used rolled fondant manufactured there by Bakels.

Together, we worked closely with Jimmy Winterflood and others at Renshaw to formulate what would be known as Regal Ice. I was one of a handful of people who did taste testing on cakes to ensure that Regal Ice was perfect in workability, texture, and taste! Regal Ice was born! At that time in the UK, rolled fondant (known as sugar paste in the UK) was not used to cover cakes. Most wedding cakes were fruit cakes enrobed in marzipan and covered in royal icing, this trend also applied to Christmas cakes and most other celebration cakes. Working in the bakery prior to joining Woodnuts, about 90% of our cakes were fruit cakes and the other 10% were Madeira or sponge cakes enrobed in poured fondant (also called petit fours icing in the US).

Once Renshaw, working with Tombi and Elaine, introduced sugar paste into the UK market, all of our cakes at Woodnuts were either fruit or Madeira cakes, enrobed in marzipan and then covered with rolled fondant. Nowadays in the UK, especially in bakeries and supermarkets, it’s normal to see cakes covered with rolled fondant instead of royal icing. Most cake designers use rolled fondant as a covering medium instead of traditional royal icing.

In 1983 I wrote my first book for Merehurst publishing, and authored 11 more books during the following years. In promotion of my books each year I did a total of nine world tours; for five months I would tour 26 different countries, including the US. In 1983-1984, while visiting the US, I could not believe that there was not a commercial rolled fondant available. I asked Renshaw and Merehurst to sponsor me with products for classes and demonstrations for the ICES convention. At that time, Regal Ice was being used by Jeanette McCall in Toronto, Canada, so initially it was sent down from Canada. Renshaw sponsored product for a couple of years until Jeanette starting producing her own line of rolled fondant in Canada. With this, Renshaw sadly disappeared from the US market.

I believe that I am one of the firsts to introduce commercial rolled fondant being introduced into the US during those early years. After the ICES convention in Seattle Washington the following year, on British airways flight to London, I sat next to Lex Kerr, the marketing director of Pettinice Australia. I had met him in Australia several times because I often taught classes there. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa all had Pettinice manufacturing plants. We spoke about the increased interest in rolled fondant in the US, and I asked him to consider opening a manufacturing facility in the USA! Taking my advice, American Bakels was started in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Pettinice was the first rolled fondant readily available here in the US.

It was great to finally have a commercial rolled fondant stateside. Everything went well for many years, and Pettinice was the only commercial rolled fondant available in the US for the longest time. A business decision was then made to close the Arkansas facility. You can still find Pettinice in the US, but it is imported from New Zealand.

Today there are many commercially rolled fondants available in the US and in the rest of the world. Kevin O’Reilly and John Busch worked together at American Bakels, and upon the closing each decided to go in different directions. Kevin moved to Upstate New York and founded Satin Ice. John moved to California, and with Daniel Budiman of Caljava, created Fondx and Fondx Elite.

Renshaw is the world’s largest manufacturer of rolled fondant and so that’s why I’m so excited to be part of the return of the Renshaw brand to the US. The formula has been changed from the original Regal Ice that I helped to develop to be more suitable for today’s style of cakes and climate here in the US.

I have been working very closely with Larry Italiano, the Renshaw US representative, to offer you the very best product available. ISAC now has the Ready to Roll Decor-ice rolled fondant and Decor-ice gumpaste in our retail gallery and web site. The Decor-ice gumpaste comes in a 500g box with two 250g packages inside; this is a fine gum paste suitable for fine flower making. It’s great for Patchwork Cutters and Tap-Its, and can be mixed with Ready to Roll (RTR) Decor-ice. This product at the moment is available in white, red, black, green, blue, purple, and yellow. Renshaw is currently developing some different colors for the US market. The Decor-ice gum paste is comparable to my Tylose gumpaste recipe, but commercially available.

The RTR Decor-ice is a fabulous product; it has the quality, workability, and flavor of other European rolled fondants but is competitively priced with other US brands.

Renshaw is based in Liverpool, England (home of the Beatles); I visited for two days last fall to see the operation first hand. It was an incredible opportunity to see the manufacturing process of the rolled fondant and gumpaste and development of other exciting products. Renshaw was founded over 100 years ago in 1898, and originally manufactured nut based products and has the Royal Warrant to her Majesty the Queen as purveyors of almond based products to the royal household. Renshaw also produces many other products (like mallows, butter creams, and chocolate based food products). There are Facebook pages for both Renshaw US and UK were you can find resource information, competitions photos, and posts from customers, and distributors like ISAC. Between our two companies, we offer you over 150 years of quality and experience. So, just as with the Beatles, watch out for the British Invasion America!

Sweet wishes, 

Chef Nicholas Lodge

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