Hello Everyone
Im new to baking/ decorating cakes with fondant. ive made 3 so far, and they all taste great, but im having issues with the fondant, biggest is tearing...when i put the fondant on the cake it starts to tear almost immediately. as i said im am new to all this, ive looked online at how to's on making and applying fondant, but none of them help for this... also it is marshmallow fondant i am using, ive tryed homemade and storebought and still have the same issue

There are a couple of things that might be causing it. Make sure it is kneaded well and soft. If it is too dry, it will tear. Also, if you roll it too thin, it tears easily. It needs to be at least 3/8" thick. I recommend Fondarific. It is all I have been using for the past year and it does NOT tear. It also tastes great.

In addition to that great advice - which will probably solve your tearing -I don't know how you're trying to cover your cakes but I know some self taught cakers put their cake on a coffee can, etc to elevate it so the drape hangs down - if your fondant is too thick it will be heavy and tear just from the sheer weight of it hanging there - I place my cakes on the counter, roll the fondant to 3/8",roll it onto my rolling pin then unroll it onto the cake- if your "tearing" is coming from poking a finger through trying to lift it onto a cake that technique may help with that.Also, dont stretch your fondant quickly when smoothing it onto the cake-slowly manipulate it as you need to. My last suggestion is to practice practice practice on an inverted cake pan-no need to ice- just practice getting it on there-wad it up and practice again - worth the cost for the practice!

when i put my fondant on a cake, before smoothing, i add a little shortening around the edges to moisten and avoid tearing, hope this helps.