I am working on getting a better coverage for my fondant cakes, and am having trouble. I baked yesterday, torted and filled with only enough icing to hold it together, weighed it down and let it rest overnight. This AM I did a crumb coat and then covered with fondant. After a few hours I have bulging and the ugly elephant skin at the edges. I am using Satin Ice fondant and kneaded extra shortening into it to try to not have the elephant skin. I also don't know what could have caused the bulgin as I did not have any filling to bulge out and the cake was perfectly level and straight after the crumb coat??? HELP!!!
Hi!
You might have had to much cornstarch or pdr. sugar on the outside of the fondant.... but I can tell you, I NEVER get elephant skin with my chocolate fondant.....
That's one of the things I love about it. Even with hardly any sugar on the surface, I used to get those annoying little tiny cracks...
Jen 
Thanks for the replies, now that you mention it I don't get the skin look with chocolate Satin Ice either, only the white...wonder why that is???
I think the oils in the chocolate keep it more moist... ???
Jen
Jen
So do you use the white chocolate (chocopan) as your white fondant brand? I have never used this as I have heard it is hard to work with, that it melt easily.
loriemoms- I hadn't thought of the fondant being too heavy, does that mean I should roll it out thinner? I notice you are in Apex, we are neighbors!
It could be you are rolling it too thick, or your cake isn't dense enough to handle the weight of fondant! SO either one!
PS Actually, we were just annix into Cary a couple of months ago...my mailing address is still Apex, but now have the joy of paying Cary water and Cary Taxes...hahaha. I am over by the West Lake Schools. Where are you?
try using jen dontz fondant! i've had that same problem with satin ice. i find satin ice just harder in general to work with. once is started using jen's fondant its made a world of difference! its so easy to use and you use a lot less of it than reg fondant, so your $$ goes farther! here's her website where you can get her DVD and it tells you how to make and use her fondant:
www.jenniferdontz.com
try it, you'll be amazed!
try using jen dontz fondant! i've had that same problem with satin ice. i find satin ice just harder in general to work with. once is started using jen's fondant its made a world of difference! its so easy to use and you use a lot less of it than reg fondant, so your $$ goes farther! here's her website where you can get her DVD and it tells you how to make and use her fondant:
www.jenniferdontz.com
try it, you'll be amazed!
I didnt see any fondant anywhere,but I do see she uses Pettinice. I agree, it is better then Satin Ice, but I don't care for its flavor. I like either Masse or Fondx. I agree, Satin Ice changed their formula and its very soft and stretchy. I have seen it even stretch once you have it on your cake!!
The bulging might be your fondant is too heavy for your cake, if you dont think its the filling.
I agree, sounds like too much cornstarch or sugar or not enough kneading!
I agree with loriemoms, if your using a box cake recipe that is not dense enough your fondant will be too heavy. Are you using a dam before you add your filling, that prevent bulges. Try using a thinker buttercream than the filling and use it as a dam, then add your filling and crumb coat, let that rest over night then carve away the bulg if any. I highly recommend SugarShack's Flawless Fondant DVD
Be careful using cornstarch to roll out your fondant, especially if you are not particularly fast at it. It can dry it out more quickly than using powdered sugar alone. Also, if you take too long to roll out the fondant, then the surface begins to dry out and that can cause the "elephant skin" look when you are ready to place it on the cake.
The bulging: Could your buttercream have started sliding? I have made my buttercream too thick before under fondant and it caused bulges that didn't always appear right away.
I never had any elephant skin problems with satin ice. I am wondering if you put the cake in the refrigerator to cool down.(that helps with the weight of the fondant over the cake), what kind of icing you used underneath? Is it a crusting icing? How much you used? Was the icing to soft?There are so many things that can go wrong.
Pettinice is not to far from Satin Ice. Is good but if you know how to work with one, you can work with the other.
I tell you this..I know Jennifer do have a fondant DVD. And the quality of her work is really good. Maybe that can help.
Edna 
try using jen dontz fondant! i've had that same problem with satin ice. i find satin ice just harder in general to work with. once is started using jen's fondant its made a world of difference! its so easy to use and you use a lot less of it than reg fondant, so your $$ goes farther! here's her website where you can get her DVD and it tells you how to make and use her fondant:
www.jenniferdontz.com
try it, you'll be amazed!
I didnt see any fondant anywhere,but I do see she uses Pettinice. I agree, it is better then Satin Ice, but I don't care for its flavor. I like either Masse or Fondx. I agree, Satin Ice changed their formula and its very soft and stretchy. I have seen it even stretch once you have it on your cake!!
no she doesn't sell it, she makes it! she uses white chocolate, and some pettinice and other ingredients to make your own fondant. it works really well. the cost to make it is less than buying 20 lbs of satin ice (which costs me about $60) and you use less of it.
I wish there was a wonder premade fondant that tasted & smells yummy, perfect batches everytime without little hard rock piece in it, easy to color, easy to work with and CHEAP, a plus if you can buy it at the local Michaels, or cake supply shop.
I wish there was a wonder premade fondant that tasted & smells yummy, perfect batches everytime without little hard rock piece in it, easy to color, easy to work with and CHEAP, a plus if you can buy it at the local Michaels, or cake supply shop.
Ah, I agree!! Wouldn't it be nice!!!
Make sure your cake is a very firm one that can hold up to the fondant. Don't roll the fondant out more than 1/4 inch thick, preferably a tad thinner. I fill my cakes, let them settle, then trim the sides to get them straight; crumbcoat with a firm icing and chill just till the icing is hard. then cover. Leave in cool room. You should not have any sagging this way.
as far as the cracks, I roll my fondant out on the ateco blue mat, flip the whole thing onto the cake and peel off the mat. That side of the fondant that was touching the mat is now the top, and stays very moist as you smooth it with no cracking!
I have to agree with Sharon on this one, I do it her way and get no cracks or anything. And once watching her dvd I went from fondant flunkie to pretty darn good if I do say so myself.
www.sugaredproductions.com is her site, and theres a little preview of the dvds on each page now.
Thanks so much for all of the suggestions. I used the WASC recipe but added 2 additional yolks to try to make it sturdier. I do feel the bulging was the cake and not the icing as the size of the bulge was much larger than the amount of filling I used. I will try to roll it thinner, I hope my cake recipe will withstand the fondant rolled thinner. I do use the ATECO blue mat to roll my fondant but did not flip it this time but picked it up, so maybe it dried out in the time I rolled it out and adhered it to the cake. ( I do have your DVD, Sharon, it is wonderful!!). Again, Thanks all for the advise, will be making another practice cake soon and hopefully it will turn out better. Anybody have any suggestions about what to do with practice cakes once I have played and taken pics? My neighbors and my husbands employees are getting tired of cake!!!
As the wife of a firefighter, I can tell you they would LOVE your cakes to eat, as would local womens shelters, ect...
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