So I have been using a gelatin fondant and really love the flavor but at times I have a hard time getting my cakes smooth. I always make sure they settle and I try not to put too much buttercream on the cake but it seems there are cakes that always have a bulge around the middle or I just can't get it smooth. I'm wondering if I need a stiffer fondant (the gelatin fondant is very stretchy and sticky so maybe I need to add more powder sugar) or if I'm rolling it out too thin (I roll it out to the point that I can see the powder sugar that I put on the work surface) Help!!!
If there's a bulge you probably need a stiffer filling, not stiffer fondant.
It may be a question of making the buttercream finish a harder quality to add your fondant to ! I put a layer of fondant on the outside of the cake and let it stand for 20 minutes to harden slightly - then with a little paper towel dab it down and smooth it so that the buttercream gives a quality finish to the exterior of the cake. Then add another very thin layer of buttercream to get the stickiness back and apply the fondant immediately. Hope that makes sense and hope it helps.
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So I have been using a gelatin fondant and really love the flavor but at times I have a hard time getting my cakes smooth. I always make sure they settle and I try not to put too much buttercream on the cake but it seems there are cakes that always have a bulge around the middle or I just can't get it smooth. I'm wondering if I need a stiffer fondant (the gelatin fondant is very stretchy and sticky so maybe I need to add more powder sugar) or if I'm rolling it out too thin (I roll it out to the point that I can see the powder sugar that I put on the work surface) Help!!!
This is probably a stupid question, but after your cake settles, do you scrape off the bulge? Just checking ;) Assuming, you do that, I'd think what costume czar said was correct.
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So I have been using a gelatin fondant and really love the flavor but at times I have a hard time getting my cakes smooth. I always make sure they settle and I try not to put too much buttercream on the cake but it seems there are cakes that always have a bulge around the middle or I just can't get it smooth. I'm wondering if I need a stiffer fondant (the gelatin fondant is very stretchy and sticky so maybe I need to add more powder sugar) or if I'm rolling it out too thin (I roll it out to the point that I can see the powder sugar that I put on the work surface) Help!!!
You could add some more corn starch (not powdered sugar) to the fondant to stiffen it up and see if that helps too. I missed the part about it being sticky, it shouldn't be sticky when you're workign with it. But the only time I get a bulge to deal with in the tiers is when the filling is something soft like cream cheese.
AThanks for the idea, I was using cream cheese frosting. How do you prevent that on a red velvet cake? The whole reason for a red velvet cake is cream cheese frosting ;)
A
Original message sent by ducethomas
Thanks for the idea, I was using cream cheese frosting. How do you prevent that on a red velvet cake? The whole reason for a red velvet cake is cream cheese frosting ;)
Well, if you're trying to cover real cream cheese frosting with fondant it will never be smooth and it will sag like crazy. When I do red velvet I fill it with cream cheese, then i cover it with regular vanilla icing. Cream cheese doesn't work well under fondant so it's not worth it to even try. I don't know what cream cheese recipe you're using, but mine is cream cheese, powdered sugar and that's it. I've put cream cheese into meringue icing and that tastes good but it's still soft. If you use it under fondant it will sag at some point, either when you put it on the cake or when the cake warms up if you covered it when the icing was cold.
AThanks so much for the info, I will stop offering it under fondant. It will save me a lot of anxiety from here on out. Thanks again for the help!!!
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