I know there are alot of newb questions being asked over and over again, i did some searches but couldn't find exactly what i'm looking for.

I would like to know everyone routine for preparing the cake for fondant.

I'm bake my cakes, let them cool, stack them and then freeze for a couple of hours. After I take them out of the fridge i crumbcoat it with BC (I am going to try the ganache next though) and then let it sit and try to let it crust a little bit so i can smooth it out with a paper towl.

So here are the problems i have.... Bulging after I cover. I'm not sure if I need to let them sit longer or leave them in the freezer longer.Once again i'm not sure if I'm just not giving them enough time to set. Wrinkling and elephant skin. Also as far as not being able to get them smooth. I'm not sure if I'm not waiting long enough for the BC to harden a bit or what.

See attached example, i gave this cake to the customer the night before and this is how it looked the next day, I was so embarrased. I'm also attaching a pic of how it looked when i was almost done with it. There is some wrinkling but no where near the second pic.
I appreciate all of your help.

Im afraid I could only see one pic... And I can't really help you, but I have been wondering about elephant skin myself. I THINK it is either because the fondant is too dry or it has been rolled to thin.. Not really sure..

Here's my routine: Bake, cool, level, and freeze (unstacked). Remove from freezer, stiff dam between layers, fill, stack, and crumb coat. Let crust & thaw completely, apply final coat of BC, smooth, let crust, smooth with paper towel if necessary and let settle for several hours to prevent bulging then cover with fondant.

Heres my method:
Bake cool for 10 minutes remove from pan cool another 20-30 minutes Wrap in Saran Wrap and let it sit in fridge over night. Take out level dam fill and crumb coat (smooth) cover with food safe bag and let sit again for at least 2 hours in fridge. roll out fondant and put over the top smooth out wha la (I learned this from the sugarshack dvd. My cakes have all turned out beautiful since then.

Thanks

If you let your cake rest a bit then gravity will do it's job(but you can always squish by hand or with a ceramic tile like Indy)and your cakes will not squish under the added weight of your fondant. I squish squish squish!!! A cake needs to come back to room temp to really squish because freezing makes it firm and it stands agains gravity or hand squishing. After filling I squish again to make sure it will not settle like that. If you like chocolate there is a hardening ganache that can be used on the outside under fondant for extra support and stability. The pirate cake in my photoes was ganached and packed and smuggled onto a cruise ship via duffle bag and never settled after I put it together. What a trip..lol I would reccomend ganache for you. It is pretty easy... and so strong. Let me see if I can find the thread.

Here ya go... it's a lot of reading but well worth it. Enjoy!!!

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=633264&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

thanks so much for all your help, i think i am stacking too quickly

Thanks so much for all of your help, I think one of my problems is i'm stacking too quickly too. I'll will def put your tips to use, thank you.