Hello Everyone,
I started playing with cakes using fondant and I was wondering 1. How do you get the fondant to look smooth on the cake....my always seem to look lumpy 2. My fondant is cracking and 3. What is the best cake mix to use when playing with fondant.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kimmie
Welcome aboard Kimmie247!
To have smooth fondant your cake should be crumb free, your BC should be applied smoothly and evenly. The fondant should be rolled out to about 1/4 of an inch and draped and fluffed with your hand while smoothing down the fondant from top to bottom (unless it square then should be top and corners to bottom) to eliminate air pockets. If your fondant is cracking, I am betting it is too thin. (Very small cracks can be fixed with a bit of shortening rubbed on with your finger.)
As for best cake mix for fondant, any one of the store brands will do. It really is your preference as to flavor, many here use DH. I personally am a scratch baker. HTH 
For "lumpy" fondant, the right amount of buttercream on the cake will make a difference as well. You should more than a crumb coat, but not quite as much as a regularly frosted cake. The buttercream needs to be very smooth since the fondant will show EVERY flaw.
Lumpy could also be from not kneading it enough. Working with fondant will give you quite a workout. If the shortening doesn't' soften it, try kneading in some glycerin. Work in small batches to make the kneading easier and then knead it into the full batch.
I'm like tiptop57, I bake from scratch, so I don't know what mix would work best.
HTH
Michele
p.s. Here is my fondant recipe if you would like to try it. It's good, inexpensive, and easy to use. http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-3663-Michele-Fosters-Delicious-Fondant.html
I trim my cakes first to make sure they are staright; crumbcoat; chill and then cover.
if you roll on a fondant mat wiped with crisco and then flip all that onto the cake, your fondant will stay moist.
( check out he links in my siggy for more help)
great to hear, thank you!
yes I use the WASC doctoring recipe. search for it here on CC
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%