When apply ing the rolled fondant onto the cake cracks appear, particularly around edge where the fondant drapes over. I have paid great attention to pressing those areas as soon as the fondant falls into place but it still cracks. One thing I have noticed is that it seems to happen to the coloured fondant and isn't as likely to happen with the plain white. I use crisco on the board to roll, I have it on my hands, not a lot just a very small amount. I've tried adding it to the fondant, microwaving the fondant. I'm stumped. I'm sitting here with my naked cake having had to remove all the fondant (and the lovely cream cheese buttercream) and I just don't know what to do? Help.

Did you use box fondant, MMF, or make another recipe?

I use a semi-homemade fondant and NEVER get those. I think different fondants just perform differently. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to e-mail me.

I HATED those little cracks

Jen

OH migosh!! >That happens to me all the time!!! It drives me nuts!! I've made 3 batches of home made fondant and I'm DONE with that!! I've used wilton premade fondant but have still gotten the cracks!! in the "corners" I get them but mainly at the bottom, it just tears and opens a gaping hole from which u can peer into the cake!!! That's why I'm kind of scared of fondant right now LOL!!

I am very new to cake decorating and I have had all of the fondant problems you can have...all in one day no less....I noticed some cracking in my homemade chocolate mmf so i simply added more crisco....to make sure it wasn't sticky when rolling i used cornstarch instead of powdered sugar....this worked way better, also I found a mmf that was perfect and tasted pretty darn good....the recipe is posted here under ultimate mmf....I can't remember if the crisco used in the recipe was supposed to be added to the mixture, however, i accidentally did this with WONDERFUL results.

I too have had this problem with premade fondant but wondered if I maybe rolled it out too thin?

I have been decorating with fondant for many years - and Friday this happened to me as well - for the first time!
I was totally shocked (it happened during the night!) Luckily I had time to diguise it with an extra blanket (Dog-under-a -blanket cake) just before the customer came! But now I am worried as well!!!
I'll be watching this topic for an answer!

Farnum, i too have had the same problem with several different batches of homemade fondant, which I knew one of the batches was good, b/c i just used it days before. However, I think my problem was the humidity. The air was so dry, it dried my fondant out kinda fast, So, maybe you could try a humidifier. Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the tips. I had used Virgin Ice premade fondant (Cdn brand). It's soft & pliable and I'm thinking that maybe it;'s too soft especially after adding a lot of colour (in this case). I hated to do it but I broke down and bought wilton. It worked much better, but I found that I ended up with "elephant skin" around the base, a new problem! I must be having a bad fondant week. I will go back to the drawing board and try out all the tips I have gotten to figure out exactly what's causing these problems.

a few months ago i was making mmf with a neighbor and we made several consecutive batches.. one turned out quite differently then the others for some still unknown reason.. same steps , amounts etc. go figure.

I ALWAYS get those cracks around the edges - no matter what fondant I use - MMF, Satin Ice, crappy Wilton! Doesn't matter - I really hope someone know how to fix it or what I'm going wrong - so frustrating!!!

[quote]I ALWAYS get those cracks around the edges - no matter what fondant I use - MMF, Satin Ice, crappy Wilton! Doesn't matter - I really hope someone know how to fix it or what I'm going wrong - so frustrating!!!

I'm not alone! I hope the answer is in the technique so I can fix it, otherwise it just might drive me over the edge

try making it bigger/longer and trim off the cracks?

Its cracking along the edge not at the bottom.

It sounds like you are on the right track. If it is too dry, you get small cracks on the surface(elephant skin). If you get tears at the corners, I would guess you have rolled it too thin. I use Michelle Fosters recipe from here on CC. If I add a lot of color to it, I usually have to let it set for a while before rolling out. Immediatly after adding the color it tends to be too sticky and soft. It also helps me to have a well-chilled cake. When the cake is firmer I can work much faster and get a better result. HTH Sugarshack has a DVD on fondant that really helped me out.

I usually use a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of white chocolate fondant (chocopan) and Wilton. While I'm not a big fan of the taste of Wilton, the texture is easier to work with and doesn't pull and crack as much. I much prefer the taste of the Chocopan, but it's too soft and it stretches and tears way too much. I use cornstarch to roll the fondant out for smaller cakes, but larger cakes I will roll the fondant out on a large piece of plastic. I coat it with a very thin layer of crisco and then roll the fondant out to the size I need. Then I pick up the whole piece of plastic and put it over the cake and peal the plastic back. This keeps it from being too dry. I have only had cracking once and that was when I covered a frozen cake. When the cake thawed, it expanded and pulled on a section that seemed to be a little weaker then the rest. Good luck!

I had a near-disaster with this very problem last night. First, I logged on to YouTube and watched a great tutorial. I really looked at the texture of the fondant on their, then back to work I went. I used Michelle Foster's recipe, and it can crack like mad, and it did last night. I ended up kneading in A LOT of Crisco. Probably a few tablespoons. What I ended up with was a lovely, smooth pliable fondant that did NOT crack. In fact, I think it was the nicest looking cake I've done in some time.

I also roll the fondant fairly thin - probably no more than 1/8". I delivered the cake this morning to rave reviews. I hope this helps!