Help! I recently started having a baking fetish and all I want to do is bake all day and every day!!

I've been having problems working with fondant and the way it lays on top of my cake. How can I lay the fondant down and make sure it doesn't have any wrinkles? Is it because I am still new at this or is there a trick to laying and stretching the fondant without it ripping?

I am also trying VERY hard to smooth out the icing on my cake by using my spatula and using VIVA paper towels afterwards but it doesnt seem to cut it for me. Any tips that can help me out on perfecting my cake to become smooth?

Everyone here seems to know how to smooth out their cakes. Please let me know if im not doing a great job or maybe this isnt cut for me. =[ Thanks so much!!! [/b]

i have never used the paper towel method because I always use a non-crusting buttercream, but i smooth my cakes with a thin aluminum spakle spreader or paint guard (that you get in the hardware stores) and I wipe the edge off with a wet towel after every swipe.
The best way to get smooth fondant is to let the icing set up in the fridge for a couple hours (I like overnight, if possible) the roll fondant big enough to completely cover entire cake. Then use a piece of foam or your hand to smooth the fondant working from the middle of the cake smoothing out to the edges. Carefully lift up the sides and gently pull outward as you smooth across the top, this will let the air at. Then when top is smooth (you can use a pin to poke a hole in stubborn air bubbles to let the air out)smooth the sides by carefully pulling the fondant away and down near the bottom of the cake.

the viva method is usually for the buttercreme icing. When you have placed the fondant on the cake, dust your hands with icing sugar, and use your hands in a circular motion to smooth as you fit.....the both hands working together. It will come with practice, but I have found that using fondant that has been rolled a bit thick (1/4") is easier to work with than a thinner fondant, especially for beginners. Remember to work the fondant into place over the entire cake, top and sides, leaving the 'skirt' extra for last to be cut off. I use a pizza wheel...

I use a non crusting BC (IMBC) as well so the paper towel method doesnt' work for me. I use my spatula (sp?) and I have a metal straight edged spreader (from Grahm Kerr). It takes me while to get it smooth.

For covering your cake in fondant...yes, make sure it is larger than your cake by a few inches all the way around. Smooth the top first, do not let the side touch the cake...let it spread out and as you work to smooth down the sides gently lift and pull the bottom of your fondant AWAY from the cake. You can use the palms or your hands or a fondant smoother. My hands are rather warm so I use the smoother. It does take some practice.

When doing square cakes do the corners first.

I have found a few things that work for me.

For smoothing BC, I use either clean computer paper (after the icing has crusted) and my fondant smoother, or the Melvira roller method (there's a link here on CC). Both are good.

For fondant, I agreee with angie - roll it a bit thicker. Also, I find the best wrinkle remover is to really take some time GENTLY rubbing and smoothing the fondant downward as you adhere it to the BC underneath. I too use a pizza cutter to trim off the excess once it's smoothed.

First of all, don't give up...cake decorating is an art and a skill...the art part of it is your natural talent, the skill is practicing until you know what works for you and can do it every time. I've been making cakes for ten years and they still don't come out perfect every time.

I'm not doing anything with buttercream anymore (I'm only baking for fun and for family, so they take what I give them) because I like fondant so much. Besides (my excuse) with the humidity and heat here, it's hard to get buttercream perfect, and even if I do, after 10 minutes in the heat no one can tell what it was like originally.

If the fondant wants to stretch and rip when you're putting it on the cake, try rolling it out with crisco instead of with cornstarch or powdered sugar. Some people will roll it out on a flexible mat and then flip the mat over the cake. I don't like to do it that way because I do use crisco to roll it out, and the side touching the mat will have little imperfections and pits. Other people use a long rolling pin, and gently fold the fondant over the pin to transfer it to the cake. I usually will work both of my hands underneath the fondant (if it is a large piece) and lift the fondant on my hands and arms to put it over the cake.

Use enough buttercream to make a nice cushion under the fondant. When you do a square cake use a little less than normal, because you'll have to smooth it enough that the excess buttercream might squish out the bottom. It helps to put the cake on a raised surface that doesn't stick out as far as the cake board, so you can hang the excess fondant off of the board until you get to the trimming point. I measure the height of the cake with the ruler, then I roll out enough for the diameter plus two times the height, plus one inch...that way I have enough to cover the cake but not so much that it makes a mass of folds at the bottom.

A fondant smoother is a good thing to have, especially one with one straight edge. I use the straight edge to indent a line around the bottom of the cake, which I cut with a pizza cutter or (more recently) a small pastry wheel. I tuck in the edges of the fondant with a small plastic spatula. Then...and this is the most useful part to know...I take whatever decorations are going to go on the cake, and I use them to cover up any flaws that my fondant might have. I think everyone does that

Thanks EVERYONE! i think this is going to help me with my next project I will attempt to do and help me accomplish smoothing out fondant quite easier! <3