What Am I Doing Wrong That I'm Not Having Fun With Fondant?
Decorating By redbird Updated 26 Aug 2009 , 6:56pm by liamsmommy
The recent posting about the mmf recipe inspired me to try it again (3rd time). I put in a whole bag of sugar and it still sticks to my rolling pin. So I use cornstarch to get it unsticky. When I put it over my cake, my cake always seems to shift so that one side of the fondant is bulgy. I'm taking my first fondant course next week and I'd thought about making mmf instead of buying the wilton but not if I can't have the same consistency as everyone else. Look in my gallery at the football cake. Oh, and making a football cake wasn't my original intention. I started to make a garden cake (thus the fencing on the side). I probably should have put the words D-fence over the fence to make it tie in. Luckily its just for my family.
my suggestion is to start out with a premade fondant. Wilton is good to start with so that you know what the consistancy should be and how you would like it to handle. Just please remember wiltons is not tasty at all.
The one thing that comes to mind with your cake is, you may have had too much buttercream on the cake. It looks like it squished out of it. That would cause the shifting in the cake. I like to cover a cake that is cold its much easier to handle. I fill and ice my cakes then pop them in the fridge until they are solid, then cover with the fondant. But i certainly think that you have too much buttercream under the fondant, if you are covering the cake with the buttercream fresh then you only should have a crumb coat on it.
Have you ever worked with Wilton (or any other brand that's already made) fondant? If not...I'd start there. Then that way you'd know what your MMF is supposed to be like. I'm not sure what happened with your football cake...but being a Wilton Instructor myself...I'll bet you'll get a lot of questions answered during class! And you can see how the instructor covers a cake with fondant as well.
But like I said...I'd definitely buy the premade fondant.
Good luck and have fun! 
I wouldn't waste your money on Wilton fondant, see if you can find a local source for Satin Ice. Have you checked in the yellow pages for a cake supply store. Maybe a local cake shop would sell you some or just give you a tbsp just to see the consistency. It shouldn't be really sticky but do put a very light coating of shortening on the rolling pin, enough so it doesn't stick but not so much that is slides on the fondant. Are you kneading it until it get a really smooth pearly finish consistency? MMF shouldn't be causing you so much grief. Don't be timid with it, knead it and then knead it some more, and then let it rest for 24 hours in an airtight plastic bag at room temp. Don't give up and don't throw it away in despair. You can't hurt it, add in more sugar and then more crisco, you might find it ends up working for you. It isn't as hard as cake batter and you can do that!
since you say you didn't have much icing on the cake. Heres what i'm thinking now (i took a second look at the cake) It seems like the top was quite smooth. The sides look like the fondant creased on you. Its easier to smooth fondant that is rolled thicker then thinner. I know alot of people don't want to place all that fondant on their cakes, but it really is easier to handle. Place the cake you are covering on a board that is the same size as the cake, roll your fondant out to the size you need, place the cake on top of a can (something stable but smaller then the cake) drape the fondant over the cake, then smooth from the top to the bottom of the cake working, about an inch or two down at a time (don't do a whole section top to bottom at one time) cut the fondant off below the cake board and then trim up as needed. Your major folds should be under the cake and not on the sides of it.
Try covering a cake dummy or the back of a cake pan to get the hang of how to cover and get yourself comfortable with it.
The other thing that is often thought is that a covering of fondant will give a bumpy cake that beautiful smooth satin finish with little to no work. Well a fondant will accent the flaws in the cake instead of hiding them (ever paint a wall that you thought was sanded smooth, only to see every flaw in it) well its the same kind of thing with fondant.
I agree with everyone else about practicing with the pre-made fondant first. From what I could tell, the consistency of your fondant didn't look too bad. It takes alot of trial and error sometimes to work with fondant. I also agree with the others about the thin, smooth coat of buttercream and refrigerating. I like to roll mine out on a sheet of vinyl with a tiny bit of shortening on the vinyl and rolling pin. I can then just flip the whole thing over on the cake and peel the vinyl off. If your cake is on a cardboard that just fits the cake, try elevating the cake on a can (I usually grab my can of shortening since its right there!). It makes it a little easier to smooth the sides.
Play with it and see what works well for you! Have fun!
Just wanted to sub to this thread I am so not having luck with fondant either 
Try Toba Garrett's fondant recipe. I tried MMF several times with bad results. The first time I made Toba's it came out great and it tastes great, too. I haven't tried to cover an entire cake with it but it is so much easier to work with, imho.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2127-0-Toba-Garretts-fondant.html
I too understand your struggle. I am very new to cake decorating and decided to make a fondant cake last minute for my brother in laws birthday. And I did use the White Wilton boxed fondant because I didn't know about this website at the time or that you could make your own. Anyway my main reason for this post is to warn you that if you do choose to buy the "ready to roll" Wilton fondant don't believe the "ready to roll" statment like I did. The Wilton box has no instructions and only says "ready to roll" so that is of course exactly what I did with the big white brick shaped fondant and let me tell you I worked up a sweat, bruised my hand, and about broke my rolling pin. The next day, after it was all said and done and lucky for me my cake turned out great, I read in my Wilton Fondant Cake Book that you are always supposed to kneed the boxed Wilton Fondant until it is a workable consistancy. Well wouldn't it be nice if Wilton could write that on the box of Fondant, and no just in a seperately purchased Cake Book.
Good luck and remember, if you do use White Wilton Boxed Fondant.......... kneed the heck out of it before you struggle to roll it out. Maybe it will be easier that way. If kneeding it first doesn't make it more workable than the stuff just is terrible all the way around, because it certainly doesn't taste good.
The funny thing is that I also used Wilton Fondant Primary colors and it was very easy to work with. I have no idea why the White was so awful.
Good Luck 
Larissa
I have pretty good luck with MMF....the trick I think to it is a few things... 1st of all NEVER put all of the PS into it.....2nd once the MMF isn't sticky sticky take it out of the mixer and onto a lightly crisco'd surface (I use the counter)....knead...knead and knead some more and while you are kneading if it is tearing then add just a tad bit of crisco and keep kneading...till when you go to knead it doesn't tear....once you have no more tears while you are kneading it is finished......it will be heavy...if your MMF isn't heavy then it isn't right.....
Also I find MY success with MMF also means to let it sit for at least 6 hours before trying to work with it..I do however color it if I want before I let it sit..
HTH
Christi
I'm kind of wondering what kind of powdered sugar everyone is using to make their mmf. Are they using C & H Pure Cane or other brands. The other brands have cornstarch which makes me think that is why I felt I needed to use the whole bag of sugar plus cornstarch to get it to not be sticky. I'm not sure if it will matter if I use the Wilton's (except for the cost) since my family doesn't like the taste of the MMF either. I take that back. My young children do but then I remember loving lots of frosting & frosting decorations at their age, too.
Hi all.. I have a question on homemade fondant.. I did the marshmallow with water, greased bowl and micro'd it till it was melted..well at least the middle to bottom was melted.. I took it out put it in the bowl and started to mix in the sugar.. before I knew it the marshmallow was all the way up the beater and rising 
.. I pulled it off the best I could and tried mixing again .. powder sugar was being blown out of the bowl and what a mess..lol.. so i got a spoon and with the spoon and my hands I mixed in the next couple cups of powdered sugar then put it on greased cookie sheet with powder sugar and kneaded till it looked and felt not sticky.. I have it wrapped and in the fridge so I won't know whether or not it's ok till morning.. now when I take it out.. I unwrap and put in a bowl and micro for how long? just one more question.. I have my 2 six in. cakes in the fridge.. when I take them out in the morning do I cut them in half to fill then or do I wait till the cakes get room temp..when I fill the cakes how much filling can I put in each layer and 
( I'm sorry I know its alot of questions.) how long do I wait for the cake to settle on the icing before I cover it.. whew.. I'm done 
first off I want to apologize for asking so many questions or whatever i did .. i don't post alot as you see.. there were a couple of post i did that ended like this one.. no replies.. 
.. i don't know if i come on wrong or what but i am sorry.. i guess that put me back in my shell.. i will say that the fondant i made tasted good.. it was a bit greasy in my hands.. don't know if its suppose to be or not.. but to all on this post i apologize if i did any wrong..
You see my posting ID???
You ain't alone honey. 
I have tried three kinds of fondant, and what I've learned and my personal preference is; Wilton is easiest to work with but taste like soap, homemade (the recipe I have) PS, water geletin, glycerine and crisco get too soft and stretch/wilt and is just plain hard to work with. . tastes okay, MMF my fav so far, easy to make, sometimes hard to knead but after a good kneading works very well (I've just recently found my husbands strong (CLEAN) hands work wonders on the MMF) I think he's a keeper. I have a tub of Satin Ice but have yet to use it...
by the way, I found (after spending many $$ and since then deciding never to use it again because of taste) Walmart sells Wilton very inexpensively, all other craft stores are $3 more per box... so if you are a first time user or just want the experience of fondant, $5 is a pretty good deal, to try on mock cakes or people who wouldn't eat fondant anyway.
Okay this is getting long winded sorry but anyway, just wanted to add... if your PS is blowing out of the bowl, you can drape a large clean dish towel over the mixer & bowl before turning it on and most will blow back into the bowl but at least not all over the kitchen. I swear my lungs are coated with PS because I smell it all the time and if I cough it tastes sweet
i don't know why i didn't think of covering the bowl.. lol.. thank you.. i did make the mmf.. and it does taste good.. i kneaded it for a good while and it seemed to be ok didn't tear .. after letting it sit in fridge overnight i let it sit on counter till it was ok to start kneading again till it was workable.. does it leave your hands greasy some?.. my hands were greasy .. should i add more ps to it.. it has a nice high gloss to it..
I have made mmf a handful of times before with mixed results. Sometimes it is perfect or just a tad dry. This last week I made a a cake for a bridal shower and it was a total disaster!! They fondant was gooey, sticky, and would not set up for the bow or flowers I was making. And the fondant was sliding off the cake! I was mortified! I am glad it was for family.
I watched Loraine's video and can tell you my fondant nightmare is mostly due to the fondant! I hate the wilton stuff. It totally gross and gets expensive. I prefer to make the mmf. I know the consistency it is supposed be. I took the wilton fondant class.
How do I get the right consistency ...EXACTLY??? If it is humid outside could that have made it super sticky?
What do the pro's do?
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%