I am making a cake for Sunday. I baked it and dirty iced it. I am planning on covering it with fondant. I have only covered one other cake with fondant and within 12 hours it was starting to bubble on the sides and lose its shape. I am not sure what I could have done wrong because I was completing it in class and I figured my instructor would have told me if I was doing something wrong.

I was thinking about waiting until Sunday morning to put on the fondant and decorate it. Will my fondant stick to the crusted buttercream? If not, what should I do?

Also, I see that a lot of people do not put their cakes they are working on in the refrigerator because of the moisture. I used coffee creamer in my buttercream, but I don't know if I should put my frosted cake in the fridge while I am not working on it.

HELP PLEASE

I have a spray bottle and give my cake a very light misting with water to make the fondant stick. As far as the fridge, I do a very thick layer of buttercream under my fondant, so I refrigerate it to firm it up before I put the fondant on. After you put the fondant, people seem to feel very strongly about this issue. I refrigerate after my fondant if there is something perishable in the filling or if it's going to be sitting for an unusually long time. When you take a fondant covered cake out of the fridge, it will sweat. Don't panic and don't touch it! It will dry on it's own in a couple of hours. Some people prefer not to refrigerate after fondant, and if there's nothing perishable, I would tend to agree. HTH

I first do a thin crumb coat of buttercream icing, then I put it in the fridge to harden up, after taking it out I then put on a final thicker layer of buttercream icing before the fondant goes overtop. I also use a spray bottle to lightly mist the buttercream before I place the fondant on, that way I know it has something to stick to.

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If your cake was bubbling on the sides, it could have been due to putting fondant on an cold cake. You will need to let the cake rest at room temperature before covering it in fondant. Also, before you ice the cake, make sure you put good firm pressure on the cake to expel any trapped air in between the layers. I usually refrigerate my fondant cakes because I use a perishable filling. I put the cake in a cake box so any moisture will collect on the box and not the cake. Haven't had any issues since I've learned this technique.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the help! How soon do you complete a cake before it is 'due'? I don't want the fondant to stretch or get elephant skin before I deliver it.