I tried covering my second cake with a MMF that I had made, but I could not get the fondant smooth. I iced with a store bought icing, since i'm new at this and just practicing, let it sit for 20 minutes or so. I was careful to smooth the buttercream very well before I covered in fondant. Rolled my MMF out to about 1/4 inc thick and put it over the top. I just couldn't get it to look smooth. Anyone know what may have cause my problem?

Here is a picture of the top of the cake that I couldn't get smooth - the sides were ok, but the top was so uneven looking. The little nick in the top of the cake near the edge is from my fingernail - gotta keep those short to play with fondant

Thanks!

What do you use to smooth? Smoothers or your hands? I find MMF a bit harder to smooth well since it's stiffer.
A smooth surface is as you write essential and also that the buttecream or frosting is not to hard. I also smooth my ondant on teh table - roll it out and run my plastic smoother oer the surface to make it an even thickness

I just used my hand to smooth the fondant as I don't have an official "smoother". Do they work much better than using hands?

Fondant takes practise, and this is actually not bad for only a 2nd attempt, Invest in a fondant smoother, It really makes a difference! Also, Make sure your Cake is a level as possible before you cover it with ganache or buttercream, And also get that as smooth and level as you can. the smoother that is, the easier time you will have with your fondant.

egensinnig said not to have the buttercream to hard, But you do need it firm. if its too soft, when you come to smooth your fondant, its just going to smoosh around underneath and youll get unsightly lumps, but like egensinnig said, after ive rolled my fondant, before i put it onto the cake, i give it a once over with the fondant smoother to get the surface nice and neat before i start, it gives you a good starting point this way

remember, Keep practising, its not the easiest thing in the world to do, but once you get the knack of it, you'll wonder why you never tried it sooner! x

I agree with Caths - not too soft either. I just find that if my BC is too hard it's hard to smooth out any imperfections in the crumb coating. If its firm but no trock hard I can warm it with my hands and then work the surface with my smoother.
I've been doing fondant cakes for about 1 year and I still have trouble osmetimes to get it smooth so she's right about practice as well!

Did you crumb coat the cake with buttercream or ice it? Smoothing fondant on a cake with a lot of buttercream could cause bumps. Also, could any of these bumps be air bubbles? If so, you could prick a bubble with a clean hat pin and then gently smooth the air out.
Looks like you are doing a great job with your fondant - keep it up!

Thanks for all the useful tips and encouragement!

I didn't fully "ice" the cake like I would just a buttercream iced cake, but I used more butter cream than I would for just a crumb coat on a buttercream only cake. Do you think I should have used less?

I did get a small air bubble in the top - I think because the cake was fairly cold when I covered it in fondant - which I won't do anymore. I popped it with a pin (under one of the lilies) and smoothed it out, but it was still a bit uneven. I'm going to try again this week using the WASC recipe I just found on here.

I will invest in a fondant smoother - they aren't too terribly expensive.

Would it help to do the Viva paper towel smoothing technique on the buttercream or would that be overkill?

When ever you have a chance, invest in the Flawless Fondant DVD by Sharon Zambito. She has some great techniques that will help you out in different shape pans.