Having made the WASC cake and deciding that thats the one i'll be going with I need to know the easiest way to prepare three layers for fondant, I'll be using wet teatowels so that it bakes as even as possible but I'm sure i'll still have to do a bit of trimming and the hard bit is the sides, is there a technique for this?

Wilton says leave BC to dry before putting the fondant on, but I thought the whole point is the fondant sticks to the wet BC? What should I do?!

Could I just use jam to stick my fondant to the cake as I'd like to use as little BC as possible?

I still havn't found a BC I'm really satisfied with , Wilton does a "Class Buttercream' Anyone know if it's any good?
Can I substitute the Merangue Powder for an egg white as I can't get that here.

What ratio of gumpaste to fondant shall I use for wire accent pieces?

Any advice for a first time fondanter appriciated 'cos this has to be perfect or near perfect first time!

Here is a link to someone using fondant on a cake without using frosting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We26gwKS_tw&feature=related

Hope this helps.

Also for accents on wire I use fondant with a little cmc or tylose added, but if you have gumpaste already you could use 50/50 of gumpaste and fondant.

I always find I get the smoothest results if I let the butter cream harden before covering in fondant. It lets you check that you buttercream covering is smooth as the fondant will never be smooth if whats underneath it isn't. After the buttercream has crusted I make it sticky again by running my (very clean) hands under the hot tap and then shaking off most of the water, I then run my hands over the cake, the mixture of the water and hot hands melts a small amount of the surface buttercream and makes it tacky again and you get a chance to smooth any last bumpy bits.

For my bits on wires I use all gumpaste.

I made a cake last week and covered it in fondant too fast

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1212158

if you look at it there is a bulge round it where as the cake has settled the filling has spread a bit, if the buttercream was hard this wouldn't have happened.

I always just use an all butter buttercream with a 1:2 butter sugar ratio with a bit of milk to make it easier to use.

HTH

Sara

Thanks Minkiemoo! Wow her cake is perfect and her fondant all flexable! Plus she only uses a teeny bity of cornflour and it doesnt stick to the top at all!

But thats great I'll do exactly what she does with the jam/water solution

Sara, how long do you let your cakes settle?

I let the buttercream set first, and then I spray it with a mist of water. I bought a little water bottle at WalMart and keep it with my cake supplies. The light mist of water helps the fondant to stick.

HTH!

I like to let them settle for at least 5 hours and this is usually enough time to let the buttercream crust.

I fill my cakes with buttercream as well as coat them before covering with fondant - it's the way I like them!

i trim my cakes sides to get them staright and smooth , then crumbcoat, chill and then cover.

if I use a lot fo BC I do not get smooth results. ''Check out my siggy links for more help or PM me.