Hey everyone,
I have just completed my first fondant cake today and just had a few questions. I have never taken any cake courses (I learned by watching my mother make cakes, who also never took courses) and have always worked with buttercream/royal icing and started this cake without having much knowledge on fondant.
Making the fondant was easy and so was tinting it to the colours I needed. Cutting out shapes was also simple, it's just when I have to place the fondant over the cake it frustrates me.
How do I flatten it out while it's on the cake? If I try, the fondant tears and the buttercream seeps through.
Also, at the bottom of the cake where I need to cut out the excess fondant, how do I rid of the waves? As you can see below, it looks like lines and it's all uneven.
Please help me out!
Thanks!!
Hi there! I think you did a nice job-especially for your first time. Everyone seems to have their own way of rolling and covering with fondant, so you have to experiment with what works for you. I like to roll mine between two layers of vinyl sheeting. Then I peel the top layer off and flip the other one onto the cake. I then peel the second layer of vinyl off and the fondant kind of falls gently around the cake.
If your fondant is ripping easily, it might be a little too thin. Try to roll it just a little thicker, then investing in a couple of fondant smoothers is very helpful. You can put them onto the fondant to smooth without getting fingerprints and hand marks all over the cake.
I usually have my cake sittin on something else which raises it from the table just a little so the fondant can hang down a little lower. It seems to help with the pleating issue. Gently pull the fondant away from the cake at the bottom to help smooth out and then use your hand first, then the fondant smoothers to gently smooth the pleats out. Continue all the way around.
I hope this is helpful. If you buy some cheap fondant or make your own, practice on dummies, even covering cake pans if you don't have dummies, just to get the feel for it. 
your cake looks alot better than my first attempt!
I always stress out when I have to use fondant. lol. But i'm getting the hang of it now. I think a good investment is a nice big solid rolling pin to help you lift the icing off the bench. use a little corn starch so it doesn't stick, and gently ease the icing onto the cake in a rolling motion so that you don't have any air bubbles. then gradually, using your hands, smooth out the icing around the top edges, so that there is less weight as you smooth out the sides, always pull up the icing along the sides before you smooth to avoid the crinkles. I always find it harder to ice a cake with BC underneath as it tends to slip alot. but I think you did a great job on this cake.
Hope I was some help to you. 
Marina
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