Hi, can somebody please help me. I've been using rolled fondant (pettinice) to cover my cakes but can never get the surface smooth. It's either to soft where the sides stretch and tear when I placed the fondant on the cake OR it's too hard and cracks start to show on the surface later.

How do I get the perfect smooth surface? Is there a secret technique? And approximately, how many cups of icing sugar do you add to a packet of pettinice fondant?

Many thanks!
Marrissa

I found that rolling thicker fondant made it easier to get a smooth surface... I also have trouble with this, but then again, I should invest in a fondant smoother!

I am wondering if regardless of the texture of your fondant if you are just pulling down on the sides too hard? When covering the sides, let the skirt touch the table so gravity does not pull on the sides, lift the skirt up as you gently press the fondant to the sides of the cake. Make sure you are not pulling on the fondant..just press to side and then smooth with fondant smoother.

Hi, I don't think I'm pulling down the sides of the fondant. But I realised, I can't pick the sheet up without stretching it.. am I using too little icing sugar? I remembered last I did, I used 2 cups of icing sugar to a packet of pettinice. Everything appeared smooth till 2 days later when cracks start showing up.

I roll my fondant up on my rolling pin and just "roll it out" over my cake... It doesn't stretch so much that way... Just be sure to coat the rolling pin with PS so it won't stick!

unoeme, why are you adding icing sugar to premade fondant? I've had great success rolling out my fondant between two sheets of clear plastic. The kind that is found on the large rolls at W-mart. I roll it out, take off the top sheet of plastic, flip it over and center over the cake then peel away the other sheet of plastic. This helps to keep it from stretching while getting it over to and onto the cake.

Hope this is of some help!!

Hi ladij153, when I take out the fondant from the packaging, it's still soft and it sticks to my rolling pin, that's why I added sugar icing. Also I realised, after I covered my cake with fondant and aired it overnight, it's still a bit soft..

Thanks for the tips. Will try your method soon.

By the way, what brand of rolled fondant do you guys normally use?

Marrissa

I use Pettinice and I would never add any more powdered sugar to it! You just need to sprinkle your work surface with a dusting of powdered sugar and then the top of the fondant with the same before rolling it out. You are creating the problem by adding too much dry matter to the fondant - fondant is meant to be soft and whilst it will harden slightly when on the cake, it's not meant to dry hard either. Hope that helps!

Hi bonjovibabe,

Thanks for the tips, will keep on practising till I get it perfect! By the way, I found this excellent video on youtube, step by step on how to cover cake with fondant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We26gwKS_tw&eurl=http://www.theaccidentalpastrychef.com/my_weblog/2007/12/how-do-you-cove.html

My favorite is Satin Ice. It seems to be very forgiving. I like the vanilla smell too!!