Someone Tell Me About Putting Fondant On Square Cake Please!
Decorating By springlakecake Updated 22 Aug 2006 , 9:02pm by cakesbyjess
I am still pretty new at fondant, but I have pretty much gotten the hang of it. But I have only done rounds...could someone tell me the method for square? How do you do the corners? Do you do them first? Any hints or advice appreciated! Thanks!
It is much harder to do a square cake with fondant. I am also new to fondant and still have a hard time getting a perfect square cake . I've made 2 square cakes so far.
My advise will be:
-Roll your fondant bigger than your cake.
-Start with the corners, make sure the fondant is attached to the cake on the corners and then continue smoothing it out on each side.
-When smoothing the sides remember to press from the top of the cake to the bottom and not sideways. Check that tecnique here (round cake): http://www.atecousa.net/learn/satin_ice_1.shtml
Good luck!
I find squares easier than rounds. Start at the corners, and ease the excess along the sides. As in other applications, it help to elevate the cake just a bit. If you are working a dummy, be sure to soften the edges at the top. They can cut the fondant and the sides fall down (personal experience LOL)
I did a Tiffany-style box cake, and it was square. I cut the fondant about 2 inches bigger than the cake size, and then I started on the top, leaving the corners until last. Once the rest was smooth, I snipped off the excess fondant where I had "pinched" it at each corner. Then, I used an X-acto knife to make a slit down the fondant at the corner, carefully trimming until the edges met neatly on the corner. I used small, sharp scissors, too, to trim away excess fondant, a little at a time until it was just the right size. Then, I wet the edges of the cut fondant, and gently pushed them together so that they "stuck". It worked for me, but I am still working on a flawless finish!
It is annoying annoying annoying - and it just gets easier with practice. Make some small practice cakes and you'll find your way. One trick - roll out fondant stightly thicker than you normally would - then it wont start cracking and ripping and making kinks and waves as quickly as it would if it were a bit thinner.
so would most people say it is harder than doing a round? I have the rounds down...well good enough for now. Just want to know what I am getting into.
I agree that squares are more difficult than rounds, and they do take practice. Like others have said, make sure to roll out more fondant than you need ... that will make you less tempted to "pull" the fondant down over the corners (which will result in tearing) to make sure it fits over the cake. Keep your non-dominant hand under the edges of the fondant, sort of lifting it and guiding it so that your dominant hand can focus on smoothing the fondant onto the cake. When I was first learning, I tended to want to pull down with my non-dominant hand, but as I said before, that can lead to tearing. So instead of pulling down, you may want to almost push up (not really, but it helps to think in those terms) on the fondant with your non-dominant hand to keep yourself from pulling down. Does this make sense at all? It's hard to explain, but hopefully this will point you in the right direction. Just be patient, and definitely practice on some "giveaway" cakes and/or dummies before you do the real thing. Good luck!!! 
Oh, here's an afterthought ... I don't do the corners first ... I just do them as I get to them. I do put the cake up on a turntable, and I have the side that I'm working on at the far end of the turntable. Hope that makes sense.
Saw a tip somewhere (sorry, been surfing a lot of cake sites since becoming addicted to decorating a few weeks ago....don't remember where I saw this!) for avoiding the ruffled edges on fondant. Haven't tried it yet on a square (have only done 1 round so far!) but might work.
Place the cake on a "pedestal" that is smaller than the cake - for example put a 8-10" cake up on a can. USE GREAT CARE of course! By doing this. the ruffles that inevitably form will fall below the cake plate rather than on the cake plate/turntable, leaving the actual cake sides smoothe.
I tried this on my monkey cake when I did the monkey on the top. Worked well!
HTH!
ME2
ME2 ... that is a really great tip! I'm going to try that sometime! Thanks for sharing, and welcome to CC!!
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