AHi all, I'm totally an entry level baker. Love it but not very experienced and I had the bright idea to try and make a fondant cake for my kids bday in 3 weeks. I tried a test tiered cake but my cake doesn't come out super clean. Any pointers? I sprayed with Pam, floured and lined bottom with parchment. cake cooks through and I let cool for 15 min, ran a knife through and flipped. Some of my sides crumbled! Help please!! I read a previous post with similar issues and people said to make sure the cake was cooked all the way and cake pulls from sides. Mine doesn't pull but comes out clean when I do the poke test. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

AAlso, any way to salvage a cake with messed up sides???

sometimes the toothpick gets scraped off on a crusted cake top but it's important to use the test recommended with that particular recipe -- 'the pull away from the pan' one is nearly fool proof -- although not all recipes will do this -- i'd suggest you bake off several cake layers one at a time and see how the experience of making so many in a row enhances your success -- expands your horizons -- make a small layer make some cupcakes -- maybe make a second batch on a day when you have time to  experiment --

as far as repairing damaged sides -- idk -- if you can trim it into a smaller size that might work --

define crumbled though -- i mean my cake sides get crumbly -- i just massage/roll off the excess crumbs usually - not all cakes come out super clean -- no worries -- that's why we decorate them  

AThanks [@]-K8memphis[/@] for your response. I just had a slice of the cake and it was cooked all the way through and super moist. Maybe it's a recipe that doesn't pull away from the sides. I'll try again and leave it in a tad bit longer next time and see

It's not super crumble where it totally falls apart but when I take it out of the pan, some of the sides stick and then when I crumb coat the edges fall apart and some of the sides come off in chunks. I tried to fill it with frosting but some of the chunks were too big where it leaves it a bit lopsided. Hopefully the more I practcie this the better I will get at icing to his the flaws. any pointers? Thanks again for your reply!!! I really appreciate it

so an idea for you is to roll off the excess crumbles -- like i do -- and put on a mayonnaise thick layer of icing to hold everything in there -- let it set up a bit if it's crusting -- if it's a meringue icing let it chill and then slather i=on the final coat --

google crumb coat for more -- best to you -- you got this --

oh and if a chunk comes off wipe some icing on it like glue and stick it back on -- no worries