I did my first fondant cake for my son's 2nd birthday. I had a few problems. If anyone has any tips or advice for next time it would be appreciated greatly!
I did a 4 layer 10 in chocolate cake. i used a box and the cake came out WAY too moist. It was hard to stack straight because I couldn't move it once I put the layer on. Also it collapsed when I cut it.
I made MM Fondant. The fondant became sticky when i added gel food coloring (and i had some shortening on my hands to prevent coloring them). When i added more PS it was too dry. When the fondant hardened it cracked. The bows collapsed a bit. Any suggestions?
Where can I buy disposable gloves so I do no have to use shortening to prevent coloring my hands?
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Thanks for your help!
Jennifer
You said you used box mix did you follow the duncan hines pound cake instructions( you add a instant pudding mix) a extra egg and decrease the amount of water. Well, the recipe is on the side of most Duncan hines mixes. It really a makes big difference when handling fondant.
I have found that DAWN works great with getting food coloring off of skin. I use it anyway with the crisco, b/c it cuts through the grease so well, but I would make sure it was the original DAWN, I haven't tried the other brands so Im not sure if they work as well or not. I wish I could give advice about the fondant, but I'm not all that great with MM fondant, to me it heats up too fast and is hard to put over a large cake, I guess I need to work with it more or try to tweak my recipe.
I agree with the DAWN comment. I haven't used gloves yet when working with food coloring (wilton, even red and black) and it comes off without a problem. As for the other problems I haven't a clue as to what to say since I don't have that much experience with cakes yet.
I sounds like your cake wasn't dense enough... try another recipe. Also you just need to add the color with a toothpick.. if it's still to sticky ad a slight dusting of powder sugar, not a lot or you will dry it out.
you said that your 4 layer cake collapsed when you cut it, anything over 4 inches high will be too heavy and there is a great chance of collapsing due to the weight. If you want a tall cake, you must split it and use a cake board and supports for every 4 inches of cake. I have the same problem with mm fondant, I use MFF and love it. HTH
I made MM Fondant. The fondant became sticky when i added gel food coloring (and i had some shortening on my hands to prevent coloring them). When i added more PS it was too dry. When the fondant hardened it cracked. The bows collapsed a bit. Any suggestions?Thanks for your help!
Jennifer
Adding cornstarch can help tremendously when MMF becomes too sticky.
I use powdered food color for red, brown, and black, but it still requires a lot of paste color so I just automatically toss in 1/4 c of cornstrach to the bowl while I am making dark colors.
To add to MMF hat has already been made, I pour some cornstarch in a big bowl and knead as much of it as I think will remedy the problem.
Works like a charm.
Jen - your first fondant cake is really cute, love the color combo.
For the bow, you want to use either a 50/50 mix of gumpaste and fondant or add tylose to your mmf to help it dry harder, then it won't sag.
fondant weighs a lot so you want a nice sturdy cake recipe. Try the WASC (recipe is in recipe section of site) next time or do the added egg, pudding and less water to the mix recipe. Make sure your cake is really cool before working with it. Usually I bake one day and work on decorating it on another, it give the cake time to set up.
HTH - good luck on your next cake!
Jen -
For the bow, you want to use either a 50/50 mix of gumpaste and fondant or add tylose to your mmf to help it dry harder, then it won't sag.
fondant weighs a lot so you want a nice sturdy cake recipe. Try the WASC (recipe is in recipe section of site) next time or do the added egg, pudding and less water to the mix recipe. Make sure your cake is really cool before working with it. Usually I bake one day and work on decorating it on another, it give the cake time to set up.
Exactly my same recommendations except for Jen's mention of it sliding as she assembled... a good "dam" (not the out-loud one 
) will help your layers from slipping. I use either additional powdered sugar in my buttercream to stiffen it to the consistency of play-doh then pipe an outside circle with a coupler as a dam, or I mix crumbs into my bc to the same consistency and pipe the outside circle, or I use modeling chocolate as my outside circle. That firmer outer edge on the layer keeps the mushier inside filling from wanting to spill over the sides. Someone else mentioned you were trying to go too tall and needed support, etc., but if they were one inch layers, that's still not too bad. I torte many cakes with four layers and don't use extra support. The key is truly the density of the cake and the damming --again, not out loud.
I have found that cutting a ten inch and larger cake in half then in quarters, and then into individual slices (which gives you rectangular pieces vs. wedges) is the way to go. You can support the slice as it comes off with a server.
And Jen, that cake is cute! We are our own worst critics and see the flaws that no one else picks up on.
Thanks for the info pattycakesnj, really helpful for newbies
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