What is the difference between Gum Paste and Fondant?

Both Gum Paste and Fondant are used for decorating cakes. You might easily confuse the two while decorating your cake because Gum paste and Fondant are both pliable doughs and they are made with sugar. However, despite the fact that they share some similarities, they are different from each other when it comes to how they are used and what they are used for.

Fondant is a pliable icing and is made from powdered sugar, gelatin, water and glycerin. When you apply it on a cake, it hardens the cake very slightly on the outside and the inside remains soft. And because of the softness of the inside, it makes it desirable for eating but to make designs out of it might be very difficult. While Gum paste has a composition of vegetable shortening, eggs or meringue powder and powdered sugar. It can be used rolled to look very thinning and when applying on cake, it dries off completely unlike fondant which slightly dries off. Gum paste can be used to make a lot of designs on the cake.