I am new to fondant, and I am trying to perfect my skill, I just don't know why this keep happening...

Maybe your cake settling after it is covered??? Most people suggest that you leave them to settle for a while after filling and crumb coating... Could be something totally different though!

The cake should be cold when covering in fondant. Also check the how thick the fondont is when putting on cake. Always roll out more than you need, then place on the cake, smooth in the side and work upwards. Working downwards with cause the sugarpaste to slip and maybe tear at the edges.

If you are covering in butter cream and filling in the middle, the sides should be a little amount, too much butter icing will cause the fondant to slide. Also, for the filling in the middle, dont put too much and never put to the edge. The weight of the fondant on the cake will cause the filling to spread out.

Hope this help

Louise

was this a sponge cake? looks to me the cake couldn't hold the weight of the fondant.

Reiterating what has been said: Make sure the cake has settled well. How thick (heavy) is the fondant? I roll mine somewhat thin. Are you trimming the fondant enough? I sit my cakes on top of (for example) a crisco can, so the excess fondant and hang over the edge of the cake/cardboard, then trim it. From the pic, it looks like there is too much excess fondant (although this CAN be caused by the cake settling after the fondant is applied).

I also use cake mixes for my cakes and they support the weight ok .... but like I said, I dont roll my fondant thick.

Start using ganache under your cakes. You will never have this kind of issue if you do.

maybe you put too much fondant on it ???

although i'm relatively new to cake decorating i haven't encounterd this problem perhaps it's coz i roll my fondent out quite thin and don't use too much butter cream to stick it down but it seems to work for me, i also watch a well known cake dec program on sky and every time they have this problem they put it down to the fondent being too thick/heavy
happy decorating hope this helps

Agree with all the above, also, are you making the fondant yourself?

This can happen if it's the wrong consistency (too stretchy) or too warm when you apply it.

When do the wrinkles appear? If it looks perfect when it first goes on, then think cake settling, if it's happening as you apply it then think fondant consistency/temp.

As you're applying it, can you feel it sticking to whatever you've coated the cake in to make it stick? (buttercream etc)

Is your icing moving around underneath the fondant? If the icing hasn't crusted it could cause this problem. A similar problem happened to me recently, the fondant went on smooth but shortly after I could see lumps from the icing underneath. I'll be switching to ganache for my next cake.

I just have to say that I saw this thread BEFORE I did my first fondant cake, and indydebi's trick worked SOOO well for me. (the crisco can) and I rolled it real thin, so it worked like a charm.. MY fondant went on perfect, and aside from some minor cracking where I painted with vodka it was still perfect the next day!! (I think the vodka might have dried it out too much, it was where I painted MORE than in the other places... )

When I stack and fill cakes, whether for fondant or bc, after putting on each cake layer, I take a bigger cake board (or inverted separator plate) and push down on the cake layer to make sure it's secure on the cake. I do this with every layer before adding the filling. I have found that my cakes don't settle when I do this.

By the way, what shape is the cake in the picture? I'm having trouble figuring it out and picturing it.

~Chelle

Ganache is so beautiful for fondant. I swear by it if you make it pourable, I put the cake over a large bowl on a wire cooling rack and I pour the warm (not too warm) ganache over it. Smooth it out a bit with a warm metal spatula and let it harden.

When you are ready to cover in fondant just lightly mist or paint with a tiny bit of water. It looks so amazing and crisp, its unbelievable!

just a quick question for those that use ganache under fondant...sorry to hijak...once youve put the fondant on, do you then store the cake in the fridge? I can never seem to find a definitive answer as to wether ganache is safe to leave out of the fridge or not.

OP, did you use a cake smoother? I think you look like you have a little too much fondant on there and maybe too much buttercream underneath.