What Steps Are Needed Before Covering A Cake With Fondant??
Decorating By serenelui Updated 28 Jul 2008 , 4:06pm by serenelui
Hi all.. i'm a total noob at cake making and have never attended any cake making/ decorating courses but am hoping to try my hand at making a cake covered in fondant for a good friends daughter's birthday. However, i'm uncertain about what i need to do after i bake my cake. From what i've read, after baking and filling/ torting the cake, i will have to crumb coat the cake.
However, i have several questions for this.. firstly does the crumb coat need to be a crusting or non crusting buttercream recipe?
After crumb coating the cake, what is the next step? Some say the crumb coat needs to be set before laying on the fondant, others say the fondant should be laid onto the crumb coat directly while its still tacky and yet others say that an additional layer of buttercream frosting about 1/4" thick should be placed on the top of the cake before laying on the fondant? Which is right? I'm so confused!! 
Could someone please advise me on what is the correct procedure?
I've also heard that for laying on fondant on cakes, the cakes only need a crumb coat as too thick a layer of frosting will cause bubbles/ sagging/ wrinkles to appear on the cake? Others say that an additional 1/4" of frosting should be added to the cake before the fondant is placed over the cake.. so which is right and easier for a newbie like me?
In addition, when crumb coating a cake.. does the cake need to sit on a cake board the exact size of the cake so that the cake can later be transferred to a nice clean cake board for presentation purposes?
Lastly if i am ambitious and want to try making a 2 layer stacked cake, e.g. a 9" and 6" cake, what is the process in doing this and does it need any dowel supports? I've read some of the articles about stacking cakes.. but to tell the truth.. i'm not really sure how it works.. can anyone help?
I'm sorry for asking all these dumb questions but i really need some help to clarify all the above questions i have 
hey there!
u can use a crusting or non crusting; both work.
some people use a crumb coat of BC, some use a full layer under the fondant. you have to find what works best for you.
I get the best results when:
1) i use a dense firm cake
2) very stiff dam for filling
3) let filled cakes settle
4) trim cake sides to make straight
5) crumbcoat
6) flash freeze for 6 minutes
7) cover with fondant a little under 1/4 inch thick
as far as stacking, yes the upper cake needs to be on a cake board, and you need to dowel under it . I use bubble tea straws for this as they are very sturdy and easy to cut. the dowels hold the weight of the above cake, not the lower cake itself.
i hope that helped a bit. you will more great advise here I am sure.
Oh wow!! thanks so much sugarshack! That cleared up quite a number of my queries.. however.. i have one additional question... and that is after laying on the fondant on the cake do i need to place the cake back in the fridge?
I'm actually staying in a hot and humid country so i'm worried that if i flash freeze the cake after frosting with buttercream and before laying the fondant, the buttercream will actually soften and melt under the fondant... would this actually become a problem?
1) crust or non-crust doesn't matter. I do a full coating of non-crusting (SMBC) then chill thoroughly. This makes the butter hard and the cake easy to work with. If I am using a crusting, I would do the same thing. I have never spritzed my crusting with water to make it tacky again, but I guess you could if you were worried about it.
Yes, ice the cake on a same-size board then move to a larger decorative one when completely iced and fondanted.
For a tiered cake, each one goes on it own (same size) cardboard like if they were separate cakes. For me, I would place 5 drinking straws (all cut to the same height as each other, matching the tallest spot in the cake if its not perfectly level) in the bottom tier, blob or royal or buttercream, then the next cake. Some will hammer a center dowel (me: bamboo skewer) down the center once its together). Imagine doweling as if dowels and cardboards were all you could see, they would form a complete structure and would theoretically be able to stand on their own.
Oh wow!! thanks so much sugarshack! That cleared up quite a number of my queries.. however.. i have one additional question... and that is after laying on the fondant on the cake do i need to place the cake back in the fridge?
i do not BUT if you use any perishable fillings, you will need to fridge. I use nothing perishable in my cakes.
I'm actually staying in a hot and humid country so i'm worried that if i flash freeze the cake after frosting with buttercream and before laying the fondant, the buttercream will actually soften and melt under the fondant... would this actually become a problem?
i do not have that problem but I work in a cool room, about 70 degrees. the cake and icing is not freezing in that 6 minutes. you are only flash freezing the icing enough to get it firm to stand up to the smoothing process. It will sweat just a little bit if you are in an a/c room; not enough to cause problems.
I don't hav eeasy access to cake boards- so here's my method for keeping the cake board clean:
I place the cake on the board and then work strips of baking paper underneaththe cake and on the board. I usually use about 5 around the cake. Then when I've finished icing I just carefully pull the strips from underneath- walla! clean board!
that really helped a lot! 
Right, you put the cake in the freezer for 6 minutes. I don't do mine that way. I just let mine sit for about 20 minutes on the table until the icing crusts.
right, I do freezer for 6 minutes. firms it up fast and seems to sweat less ( for me) than using the fridge and faster.
evryyone finds the way that works for them, so you have to experiment!
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