How Do I Get My Fondant Cakes To Look Like The Ones In Books
Decorating By tracey6277 Updated 27 Jun 2011 , 8:56am by tracey6277
when i look at pics in cake books the fondant looks perfect but mine never is. could anyone give me easy step by step instructions on how they do it?
I think the source of my problems is with the buttercream under the fondant as i can never get it perfectly smooth and i cant find this viva paper anywhere (i live in the UK) do you just do a crumb layer or how thick do you apply it?
any tips would be great.
The best advice I can give you is to find a way of covering a fondant cake that works for YOU and practice, practice, practice. Every decorator does it differently but in the end it's all about perfecting a technique.
After I've finished carving the cake I crumb coat the cake, not too thick, like 1/4 cm. and put it in the fridge, then it's firm and takes the fondant nicely and stays looking smooth because the cake and frosting has little give because it's cold.
I use a fondant smoother. If you don't have the paper towels, you can use parchment paper as easily.
All I can say s practice practice and more practice!! I would suggest buying sharons videos on smoothing buttercream and flawless fondant. I'm not a pro...but I think my fondant cakes have def improved over time. Sharons website is sugaredproductions.com
Well worth every penny!!
Or YouTube has awesome free tutorials also!!
when i look at pics in cake books the fondant looks perfect but mine never is. could anyone give me easy step by step instructions on how they do it?
I think the source of my problems is with the buttercream under the fondant as i can never get it perfectly smooth and i cant find this viva paper anywhere (i live in the UK) do you just do a crumb layer or how thick do you apply it?
any tips would be great.
Remeber, too, that many "cakes" you see in books are dummies rather than real cakes and sometime maybe weeks of work have been done on them to make them perfect.
I think the source of my problems is with the buttercream under the fondant as i can never get it perfectly smooth and i cant find this viva paper anywhere (i live in the UK) do you just do a crumb layer or how thick do you apply it?
any tips would be great.
Recently, I ran out of Viva paper towels. (Oh my, the horror! How did I ever ice a cake before Viva Paper towels?!) 
I only had a few minutes so I ran to the closest store and found Scott Shop Paper Towels. They are blue and they worked wonders. They are thicker then Viva Paper towels and I liked them alot!
Viva Paper towels are simply a smooth sided, thick paper towel. Often times I have seen folks using regular paper towels to get the patterns in their buttercream. The trick is to let the buttercream sit for about 15 minutes to get a slight crust on it and then smooth it with a paper towel and fondant smoother, if desired.
Edna De la Cruz is my hero! In this tutorial she shows how to ice and smooth a cake.
http://designmeacake.com/id48.html
I hope this helps.
tokazodo
I use a small foam paint roller to smooth my crumb coat, it doesn't leave the "pattern" some paper towels do and is easy to roll around the sides of the cakes. I also chill my cakes overnight after I crumb coat and before adding the fondant.
what's the trick with viva paper towels? I've never heard of this. 
Edna's tutorial
http://www.designmeacake.com/id48.html
The Viva towel method is at 5:42ish.
ah thankyou ladies, i have done loads of fondant cakes and sometimes they are good and other times they arnt!! maybe its because i dont put the cake in the fridge before i put the fondant on as my fridge is always full. great tip about the roller i will give that a go for my next cake, i am a little heavy handed! i will also try using partchment paper instead.
thankyou you have given me some great ideas!
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