It started out to be a dream. It was so easy to roll and felt so good. I should have known then that something was not right, lol.

Luckily for me, it was a cake for a friend, but still...it hurt just the same and she tried to pay me, but I refused. (I actually hid the money on her end table and ran out of the house and jumped in the car before she noticed, lol.)

Anyway, like I said, the cake decorated like a dream with this. I finished up and headed out the door. About 10 miles down the road, I noticed that the top tier seemed to be sliding right down into the bottom. I pushed it back up with my hands and prayed. No luck. It just kept sliding down. The fondant was literally sliding down the cake. It would never set or harden enough to hold on.

I still don't know what happened. I really would like to try the homemade fondant again, because I really hate the store-bought stuff. And it's so expensive. But I'm scared now, lol.

Has anyone ever had this experience? By the time I got there, all I could do was apologize. My friend was so gracious, tho. They loved it anyway,and thank God it tasted great! I just showed them how to keep pushing it up til they were ready to cut it, LOL!! What else could I do?!! Atleast it was somewhat pliable and let me just keep doing it all the way there.

So...any ideas? Did I not knead it enough? Was it the buttercream underneath? I really don't know what went wrong!

What type of fondant? MMF, MFF, etc?

I'm not sure what happened, but I'm so sorry that happened to you. It's so frustrating!

I use this recipe and method

and it always turns out great for me. I follow her directions to the T.

Was the cake cold? Did you apply the fondant to the cake frozen? Was it warm from the oven?

It was just a recipe for MMF that I found online. It worked for them, lol!

I didn't apply it to the cake frozen. Should I have? It had been frozen, but was completely thawed by the time I applied the fondant.

Thanks for the link. I'm gonna check that out now. I know I won't use the old one I have, lol!

do you mean in tore and slid? i'm confused

Did you put cardboard under the top layer and support sticks in the bottom to support the weight of the top layer? I forgot to once and the bottom layer of the cake sagged under the weight and this pushed the buttercream from underneath the fondant also.

I use homemade MMF and love it. Some recipes call for shortening but I use butter for a smoother feel and better taste.

I mean that all the fondant just headed south! It didn't even tear, it just all started sliding down the sides of the cake. I had a fondant rope around the base of the top tier and it was ALL just going down, lol. I did have the bottom tier supported properly. The cakes themselves were fine, just that darn fondant.

I'm sorry, I'm still having a hard time picturing this. Did you only put fondant on the sides, or did the top stretch?

I was trying not to give the top time to stretch. It started sliding down the sides and I kept trying to push it up.

I'm sorry, I don't know how else to explain it. I covered the cake in fondant, and it all started sliding down. Maybe I didn't roll it thin enough? It seemed right to me, it wasn't my first fondant cake, just first time with homemade MMF.

It's hard to tell without a photo but I also learned that the buttercream underneath the fondant can't be too thick either or it will cause the fondant to sag. I use a 'crusting' buttercream (which just means that the outer layer forms a thin crust and it caused by having a higher ration of sugar to fat in the buttercream) and make it a little stiffer than the recipe calls for.

I do hope you will try again though as it gets easier every time!

I bookmarked the above link for the MMF and I will definitely try it again. I guess I'll do it on a practice cake first, tho, lol!

I used the crusting buttercream as well, so I just really don't know what I did wrong.

Ah, well...live and learn.

Do you happen to have a picture?

I have looked and looked, and for some reason I do not have a picture. I'm thinking I needed batteries that day and figured I'd get pics from my friend, but I never did. I'll see if she took any and try to post one later.

Was the MMF room temperature when you used it? If you use it too soon after you've made it and the mixture is still warm it would handle differently.

Yes, it was room temp. Maybe that's what went wrong, I probably should have let it chill?

Anyway, I found a pic! It was just in the wrong place.

It was the style of cake that she wanted, as per a pic that she sent...although I thought it was kind of awkward. I did fondant each tier separately, too.



I really don't like this cake...for so many reasons...

If the environment is warm a soft fondant can "melt" - I have had this happen. I don't use a crusting buttercream and typically don't have a problem. I have never used MMF so I don't know what typical issues people have with it, I use MFF. Was it warm in the car? if not, maybe the fondant was just way too soft so it just gradually started stretching with gravity and the jostling of the car.

I would venture to say, that possibly you didn't get enough powdered sugar in the fondant and it was stretching out on you or your cakes hadn't rest long enough. Cakes have air pockets in them and when you put the fondant on top it squishes the air pockets down. This shortens the cake which makes the fondant appear to stretch. I have heard of some on here that will actually place some type of weight on top of the cake to help with this problem. What I will generally do is put my fondant on and just allow it to drape for a few minutes before smoothing it down. It may not have been the fondant at all. Try another recipe and see if you still have the issue. If so, you may need to let the cake settle or weigh it down.

I had no idea about the whole air pockets thing, but it makes total sense! I know they are fluffy and have air, I just never thought about compressing it! And coupled with the fact that I probably didn't have enough powdered sugar, it was a recipe for disaster, lol!!

Thanks so much for the info!

Sounds like you didn't have enough powdered sugar in you MMF... It looks fine at first but when you put it on the cake gravity starts to work and the fondant 'melts'... HTH