Hi i am making a wedding cake in a few weeks. Decided to do a practice cake. I made the cake a few days ago, then about 2 days later practiced some patterns on it and while i was scribing, bits of icing around the cake crumbled? I assume it's because i let the fondant dry. Should i scribe my pattern as soon as ive covered the cake? Thanks. Also what is the best way to hide cracks in fondant?. Thanks.

What exactly do you mean by scribing your pattern?

I would do it while it's still fairly soft.

thankyou. Scribing is when you use a scriber needle to copy a design onto your cake. Then you go over it with icing.

Ahh okay. Yeah I'd do it when the icing was fresh.

You need to do it when the icing is fresh to avoid just the situation you described. This is true whether you're using fondant or buttercream (it wasn't clear to me which one you used on your practice cake). And be careful to use more of a punching motion than a dragging motion to avoid dragging your icing or fondant along behind the scriber. I actually prefer to use a straight pin or heavy needle to do this and make a punch every 1/4" or so, but that's because I need to use a pattern drawn on paper to guide me along! If you can do it freehand, I bow down before you!!!