I just finished up a new cake tonight and was having the biggest problems with large pieces of fondant. I made a labor-intensive diaper bag cake, but I must say that the part I dreaded the most (and did the most poorly at!) was rolling big pieces of fondant- say around 2 feet by 2 feet square pieces.

It took so much strength to roll out a huge piece of fondant. Once I got it all rolled, inevitably a small piece would stick to my surface and I wouldn't be able to get it up without ripping. I used marshmallow fondant and tried both Crisco and cornstarch to prevent sticking, to no avail.

The pieces were too big to roll up onto my rolling pin, and when I tried to do it anyways, stuck together on the rolling pin and ripped once I tried to spread it out.

Help please! I don't know how the bakers on all the shows effortlessly roll out such huge pieces of fondant to cover cakes! Thanks for any tips!

Oh I'm so sorry I can't help you, but I'm dying to know the answer to this. I haven't covered anything larger than a 10" round for just this reason. Good luck to you!

Use a ton of powdered sugar and lift up sections of the fondant and push more powdered sugar under as you are doing so. Roll half up onto your pin and then move quick (and pray!) and lay the other half over the cake, then unroll. HTH

I had similar problems when I made a slab cake, which was 2 1/2 feet long!

After several failed attempts I ended up dumping HEAPS of powdered sugar on the counter - almost completely covering it! Then I rolled, turning and checking for sticky spots as I went. (Sorry, muscle work is unavoidable here lol. To make it a little easier on yourself, shape the fondant into a large flat disc before you roll.)

Then I dusted the piece liberally on top with more ps to prevent it sticking to itself. (The huge amount of ps didn't matter too much in my case because the fondant was white anyway.)

My rolling pin wasn't wide enough to lift it either so I ended up using a long roll of giftwrap - worked like a charm

HTH

Roll out on a piece of vinyl and then flip the whole thing, vinyl and all, over the cake. Peel the vinyl off carefully.

Voilà!

(NOT walla........ )

Great idea the vinyl one. Thanks

I've been using that technique for about 100 years! It sure beats all the powdered sugar (or shortening) mess on the countertop, not to mention pwd sugar all over the fondant (especially dark colors!).

chutzpah, is this just regular vinyl table cloth? and the fondant doesn't stick to it? TIA

Chutzpah is right. I do this. But I find that the bottom of my piece isn't as smooth as the top that I was rolling, so I flip mine onto a second piece of vinyl first. Make sure that it is a smooth vinyl, not like a table cloth texture, but like a rolling mat smooth, or you could end up with a texture on your fondant. HTH

also swears by the vinyl method -- I've done up to almost 3 feet across with only my klutzyness being the problem

Yes, vinyl helped me cover a 4ft long surfboard in a massive piece of fondant.

I think it's the fondant itself that gives some people problems. I use my semi-homemade chocolate fondant and literally pick it up off the table with my arms and place on HUGE cakes. I do 18" layers with no problems. I feel the chocolate adds not only a wonderful taste, but strength to the fondant. You might blame how you handle it, it could be "it"

Jen

How do you clean the vinyl after using it? I have a large piece I have purchased to fit onto my island...right height for me to roll fondant and cookies without bending so far over. I have not used it yet cause I am not sure how to clean it...just wipe down with soapy water and then dry with a kitchen towel? I know, sometimes I can't see the forest thru the trees

.......How do you clean the vinyl after using it?...........

Actually you don't need to It seldom needs more than a wiping w/a paper towel.
*Never!* fold up your vinyl. Always roll it up and store in a big tube (wrapping paper tube, empty).
It does sound like the OP's problem might be the fondant itself as JenniferMI suggested. I seldom have had any sticking problems using the yinyl. A combination of helps?

I've been using the shiny side of freezer paper. Just rub with a small amount of crisco, and go. Got the tip from someone here on CC.

Thank you so much for your responses! I will definitely try the vinyl. Probably a stupid question- but vinyl is food safe to use w/ the fondant? As for the fondant, I use mmf. I will probably add more powdered sugar next time and less crisco/water so it rips less.

Sorry for the late response- I've been having problems w/ getting onto CC and not getting emails about replies to my posts.