Hello. I am covering a cake for the first time in fondant. I have my cornstarch and all the supplies needed. I saw on a video I should put my frosted cake in the refrigerator to harden up. Do I put the fondant on a cold cake? Is that okay. And can I have the fondant covered cake sitting out overnight and some of tomorrow? I was going to put the finished cake in my pantry which is cool and dark.

Thanks so much.

Hello,

I made my first MMF cake last night. Fun stuff!
I did put my cake in the fridge to help stiffen my BC up.. maybe for like 20 min?
Then I took it out before I started rolling out my fondant so that my cake was right there ready to go to be covered in fondant. Also in my head it made more sense to put fondant over bc that was a tad sticky.
I left my cake out overnight. I put it in a cake plastic container with the lid on. It did well.

I'm not sure if you know this (but if you're using homemade fondant (and you didn't specify in your post) I think you're supposed to let the fondant sit out for 24 hours tightly wrapped in saran. I did NOT do this last night. I made it and quickly put it on my cake. I had a very powdery feeling cake last night. Today it was much better.

ANywho, that's my little bit of experience with the stuff so far.

Your cake will be fine in the pantry over night, and I always put my buttercream cakes in the fridge before covering with fondant. I usually let it sit in there while I am rolling the mmf then pull it out right when I am ready to cover it. I also like to put back in there for like 10 minutes after covering then pull it out again.. I find that this prevents air bubbles. @The Cword. I usually make my mmf the night before. I think it makes it easier to work with and is more stable. These are all just things I do and by no means am I am expert.

Thanks for your help. I am not using homemade fondant. Satin Ice is the fondant I am using. I'm still not sure how long the finished cake can sit. I won't be presenting the cake until tomorrow afternoon but would love to get the cake decorated and finished before then. I don't want the fondant melting or sagging so I'm not sure what to do.

I agree with everything everyone's said, but don't be afraid to put your fondant-covered cake back in the fridge. Condensation does form when you bring take it out and it will go a bit shiny, but as long as you don't touch it when it comes back to room temperature it will be fine and the shine will go away.

Personally, I like to throw my fondant on my cake as soon as it comes out of the fridge so that I can keep the edges of my buttercream nice and crisp and this makes for better edges on the fondant. It will be sticky enough in my experience. But that's just me!