SO, I have been cake decorating since last Sept and I will be tackling my first topsy turvey in a couple of weeks. I decided to do a trial run yesterday. Man, what a disaster. I used only some left over cakes I had in the freezer. I attempted to try the stackin but my bottom tier didn't make it so all I was left with was the top. I carved while part frozen and covered with fondant. I should have let it completely thaw before covering, right? I believe that is why the fondant is SOOO bad. I am guessing the condensation underneath killed it. Am I right in this? Was going to post a pic but can't figure THAT out! Good grief. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

I would carve while partly frozen and put a thin crumb coat on then wait until it's completely thawed to put the fondant on.

Thanks Kind of a duh I am sure but I lose all common sense when it comes to my own issues for some reason.

While there are many, many cc experts out there, here is some information I've piece-mealed together from these forums:

-I will let my cakes thaw, then fill/crumb coat them - i never put fondant over a frozen cake...i've read this can be very bad...
-I let them settle like that over night (someone wrote "it helps the filling/cake mold together)
-if I'm carving, then i would let the cakes thaw, but still be slightly cold - for some reason that helps when I crumb coat them (maybe there is another way, but this works for me)
-it appears that the straws seems to work the best for stacking - I haven't done that yet and have always done dowels, but i will eventually try the straw
-don't use too many dowels because that messes with the natural cake structure and makes it weaker
-pound a long dowel through the middle of all cakes (through all the tiers) and that will help with the support to
-make sure you have a good, sturdy support board for the cake
-don't put too much bc on the cake before the fondant, that can make it buldge or slid


Again, those are just some of the tips I've gotten/read. Not sure if it helps. Did you look at the link under the "how do I" forum - it is called "I made an instruction sheet for a crooked cake". That helps a lot too.

Good Luck!

YES! that does help I will def allow my cakes to sit over night after filling and stacking. Thanks for all of that! I have that tutorial printed so I will try that method. I guess it just didn't dummy it enough for me. lol