I attempted to cover a 2 layer cake in fondant last night. It went much better than I anticipated, except handling the excess fondant on the sides. The top laid on and smoothed out very well, but when I got to the sides....I smoothed and smoothed and then ended up with excess that I ended up folding. Can someone offer help wth this??
I also wanted to share a tip (I'm sure I'm way behind on figuring this out) for those that may have trouble getting the MMF off the counter and on the cake or whatever surface. The first time I worked with MMF, I needed to cover a cake board and it took over an hour! That was a month ago and after that I swore off MMF. I was so worried about the obvious confectioners sugar when rolling...I used the shortening, but that turned out to be a big, greasy mess for me. This time, I didn't worry about the sugar...I used a lot of it to roll it out and keep it from sticking. I also lifted the entire piece frequently as I rotated it to ensure that it wasn't sticking and to keep spreading more sugar under it. Once I easily got it off the counter, on the cake, and smoothed it out, I brushed the entire cake with a damp paintbrush (NOT THE LITTLE WILTON ONE) and it was great. Hope that helps anyone that may be as intimidated by MMF as I was! 
(Please ignore the black border...it was a horrible attempt at a rope 
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if you place the cake on a piece of cardboard the same size as the cake, you can elevate it on something, such as a coffee can (full so it doesnt tip) and carefully smooth your fondant downward. the excess will hang and stretch downward, elminating most extra pleats and wrinkles. trim the excess with clean kitchen scissors...if you need to trim it again when you take the cake down and place it on the board or plate, you can run a pizza cutter around the edge for a smooth finish. just becareful that you dont pull the fondant away when cutting or you might end up with airbubbles.
When you place the fondant on the cake, press it down from the top keeping the folds going down. If you get a fold just rub that side down toward the base of the cake. It is hard for me to explain, I am better at showing how. Do not strech (sp) the fondant down too much. Just rub it down pulling the fondant down.
What I do is to roll the fondant out larger than you actually need it. I dont elevate mine, a lot of people swear by it, but it is easier for me to just have it on the table. So then put your fondant on the cake and you will have a "skirt" look. Smooth one section at a time from top to bottom. Then when you go to the next section, you will spread out the skirt at the bottom. You can stretch it a bit, but not too much, other wise it will tear.Just keep doing that all the way around, making adjustments as you go.
I use MMF all the time! I also roll it out a little bit bigger than I would need, because that way you can work all those pleats out towards the bottom of the MMF, which you can then cut off with a pizza cutter. I also elevate my turntable, so the weight from the MMF that's hanging sort of pulls out the pleats a bit also. So once it's on, most of the pleats are already gone and you just have to smooth down to get the rest out. It usually works well for me. I hope that makes sense!
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