So I just did my first cake covered in fondant (pictures to come later). There are parts that I am okay with and then there are parts that I am not okay with. I made MMF yesterday and used it today. The pink cake came out okay but the blue not so much.

Anyways I was wondering a few things:

1. Is there such a thing as too much corn starch or powdered sugar? I feel like it dried out pretty quickly and was cracking and ripping.
2. Also, how do you work you work the fondant over the cake so that there are no overlaps on the bottom?

I think there are more but that is all I know for now. If you have any other advice or suggestions I would love to hear them.

Sure, it's possible to get too much cornstarch or PS while you're rolling it out. Until you get used to it, it might be easier to grease your rolling surface with crisco. Unlike the PS or CS method, you don't have to keep picking the fondant up to grease again. The greased surface won't be as pretty so plan on that one facing down toward the cake.

To get the fondant on smoothly, this is what I do:

Frost the cake on a board that is exactly the size of the cake.

Put it in the fridge to chill a bit.

Set it on something smaller than the cake board (coffee pan, upside-down cake pan, etc).

Mist with water, very lightly.

Put the fondant over the cake and right away, open out any folds or creases that form.

Trim any excess fondant that is hanging really low below the cake board with kitchen scissors.

Smooth the cake starting from the top down. The fondant will stretch so that the sides get smooth.

When you've got it how you want it, use kitchen scissors to trim the fondant just below the cake board. It may shrink up a bit, so leave a little extra.

Put the cake on a decorated board. If you use fondant on your cake board too, the cardboard that the cake is on will probably stick with no problems. Otherwise, you may want to use a smear of frosting or a bit of double-sticky tape to hold the cake on the base board.

I agree with TexasRose, I just wanted to add, when you are covering it pulle the fondant out and the bottom while smothing the top of the sides. It is hard to explain but there are many youtube videos to show you. Also it matters the shape of the cake, rounds are easier, if you are doing a square of any other shape with corners smooth the corners first. It is also harder to do the smaller cakes like 4". It just comes with practice. Hope that helps.

Sarah

Here's a link to show covering a round cake with fondant.

Thanks so much!!! I really think if there wasn't a site like this I would have quit this a while ago!