What is the secret to covering a ball shaped cake with fondant without having it bunch around the bottom?Ive seen such beautiful work but when I try it myself its a disaster! Now I have an order coming up and I'm a nervous wreck! help!

Hi,
What has really helped me is making sure the fondant is not sticky, sprinkling icing sugar over it helps, so when you lay it over the cake its easier to smooth and you can keep lifting and smoothing, lifting and smoothing, start from the top down to the bottom.

hope this helps, good luck, don't panic!

What has really helped me is making sure the fondant is not sticky, sprinkling icing sugar over it helps, so when you lay it over the cake its easier to smooth and you can keep lifting and smoothing, lifting and smoothing, start from the top down to the bottom.

I agree with JamAndButtercream I was looking for an easy way and that help so much. And as she said don't panic you will do wonderful job!

I think practice helps too... smoothing from the top and and patience is key, as stated by other cc'ers. When I get near the bottom, I gently lift and tug as I smooth. But be sure not to tug too much or it will rip. Also, I use a thicker fondant so I have room to tug without fear of ripping. Good luck!

This is how I covered my tea pot cake. Hope it helps.

Put a very thin layer (just enough for stickiness) of buttercream around the entire ball, then put the cake in the frig (not freezer) for around ½ hour to get cold.

Roll out your fondant about 1/4 inch think (you start out thick because the fondant will stretch as you cover the ball).

Pull the cake from the frig and place it on top of a small clean tuna can (or something similar in size).

Drape the fondant "wide" over the ball.

Start at the top of the ball and begin "slowly" smoothing the fondant around and slowly down the sides of the ball cake (dont pull or press to hard against the cake).

IMPORTANT!!!
Keep the skirt of the fondant away from the bottom of the ball cake, until you're ready to smooth it against it.

I agree with GlendaleAZ on the wide circle, but make sure you DON'T roll the fondant too thin the more stretch you have the better to work out wrinkles and I suggest a good 1/4 inch thickness. Then if you still get a wrinkle try a bit of Crisco and rub with your smoother. If you roll the fondant thicker you have enough material you can manipulate. HTH

Are you using the wilton ball pan, or similar? The ways other people have suggested seem to be the best, but as someone for whom fondant is often tricky I thought I'd share my method!

I did a 'cartoon bomb' cake for a client a while back, and I covered it by covering each half separately (flat side down on worksurface, cover each half sphere and trim but leave a 'lip') and then putting the two halfs together and smoother the fondant as much as possible.

Be warned though, you can't put a lot of filling in the cake as when it settles it may bulge out and break the join in your fondant!

Like I said, a little easier to achieve than the above methods but the finish isn't as nice. Thought it was worth a mention though good luck!

these are all great suggestions! Thanks to you all for your time...wish me luck

I did a ball cake not long ago and was very stressed about it also. I took a coffee can and placed the ball on top of it and draped the fondant on the ball, worked from top down.. it worked like a charm.

If you're still feeling a little apprehensive about the process, you might want to try what I did ..... I purchased a small Styrofoam ball (the same size as the cake was going to be), wrapped it with plastic wrap, and then just start practicing. It took me about 10 tries before I finally did it without any wrinkles at the bottom. And, it really boosted my confidence for when it was time to do the real thing.

Tammy

when i did a football (the soccer sort not the american sort!) cake i cut the individual hexagons and pentagons out of icing and stuck them on!

I know this may not be suitable to a lot of ball cakes (such as the bomb of teapot cakes mentioned here) but most sports balls have individually cut sections.

In case you do want a football cake simply take the diameter of your cake and divide it by 15 to get the lengths of the sides of the shapes. you need 12 pentagons (black) and 20 hexagons (white) for the whole ball. start with a pentagon on top and attach hexagons to every side etc.

i would like to see your finished result whatever method you try! so let us know how you get on please!

well this will be a basket ball when its completed but I will definately need to do some practicing! I will post some pics when its done for sure

well this will be a basket ball when its completed but I will definately need to do some practicing! I will post some pics when its done for sure