I am new to decorating and was wondering why people use buttercream and then put fondant on????

Thanks

Hi there! Welcome to CC!

I'll take a whack at this one. I may not be 100% on the money, but hey...it works for me.

When covering a cake in fondant, you need something for it to stick to so it will lay flat and smooth against the underlying cake. Also, having some sort of "glue" under the fondant will help keep it from slipping down the sides of the cake and ending up in a big heap at the base of your cakes.

Also, fondant covered cakes are preferred over BC covered cakes because fondant is much smoother and more uniform in appearance than some BC covered cakes tend to be. But there are decorators out there who can make BC very smooth! Fondant is also much more forgiving during transportation than BC cakes can be.

BC is not the only glue you can use. Some decorators in other countries cover their naked cakes in fruit jams or glazes, then cover that in marzipan then put fondant over the marzipan. You can also use royal icing, piping gel, or pretty much anything to get that fondant to stick to your cake.

Now...since most people's experience with fondant has only been with the Wilton variety, they hate fondant and think of fondant as a non-edible covering that you peel away before eating. I've even heard fondant compared to the "wax on cheese." In that regard, some like a very thin fondant layer for appearance with a nice thick layer of BC underneath for flavor.

i ice all my cakes the same with a nice layer of BC because that is what should be on a cake... I personally think of fondant as an extra... the cake is still there if its on there or not and if people peel it off you still have cake KWIM

Thanks soooo much

Wow, RobzC8kz! That answer was awesome! I loved reading it!


Rachaelsmom:
I have been learning here all about cake decorating since 2007. I never took a class, so it's CC, me, trying and retrying (here in Portugal cakes are decorated differently)

So I'm going to show you an example of one of my cakes when I used jam under the fondant (early days). Look at the texture:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1206389

And now, the first time I used a good layer of buttercream. Look at the texture
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-606308-0-days0-orderasc-.html (I took pictures of the cake as I made it, so I decided to make a tutorial)

So, ever since for me, it's buttercream underneath (or ganache sometimes)



(If you like to watch tutorials, I can send you the links of others I also made).

anamado - if you use ganache underneath, does the cake then have to be refrigerated?

thanks!

A normal layer of BC or ganache enhances the flavor & taste of the fondant & I always flavor my fondant to either to compliment or the same flavor as the BC.