Hi Everyone! I am new to fondant...as in I've never worked with it at all. Not to mention I am not a pro with BC but I think I've made some pretty cool cake thus far, not perfect by any means. I am planning on making my first fondant covered cake for this Saturday. I'm doing a purse cake for my daughter's 2nd birthday, since that's what she loves. I have a few questions I have not been able to find answers to. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place. I have watched several videos also.

1) Is is possible to make/decorate the cake the day before? I'm hoping so since this will allow me time to scratch the whole plan if I'm really messing this up!

2) From what I've read, you cannot refrigerate fondant once it's been decorated as it might cause some blemishes. Is this correct? I'm much prefer the taste of cream cheese frosting over BC and am afraid that I will not be able to use it since I cannot refigerate.

3) The purse I want to attempt is a trapezoid shape- matching invitation. I've seen many videos where they put the entire piece of fondant over the cake and video where they were making a purse cake other where they cut the pieces to size and then stuck them on to the cake in sections. Which is better for a newbie?

Your help is very much appreciated!!!

Yes you can make the decorations the day before, they will dry out some. Not sure what kind of purse but if you are putting a handle on it (one that stands up) I would do that asap you would want it to dry. Some people dont have very good luck with putting fondant in fridge. I have put cakes in fridge and don't have problems. But I am in a dry area, not sure if that makes a difference. You can also use the cream cheese frosting if you are going to put in fridge, the only problem with cream cheese is it can be hard to smooth and you want the frosting to be smooth under the fondant so that you wont have any ripples. Not sure if I helped much. But I have only done 1 purse and I did it in bc frosting.

I too have put fondant cake in the fridge overnight with no problems. I would also use the cream cheese icing with out problems. it will smooth enough. The weight of the fondant will smooth out alot of the imperfections in the icing anyway. As for covering in one piece. That is the way I would go & use cutouts for decoration. I guess it all comes down to what the purse looks like.
Good luck!

If you refrigerate your fondant covered cake, just make sure you bring it out well in advance of your party so it has time to come back down to room temp. They sometimes sweat after chilling so you would want the fondant to dry. There is a great cream cheese buttercream that uses less cream cheese than a straight up cream cheese frosting... it can stay out without refrigeration and is far less sweet than traditional buttercream. Google Earlene's Cream Cheese Buttercream if you are interested. Depending on the size of the purse, you could cover it in one sheet of fondant. Panels are usually harder to work with --especially if you have never worked in fondant at all. The handle would be best made of gumpaste if you are wanting it to stand upright, and any fondant decorations can be made ahead of time and either allowed to dry or, if you want them to stay soft, placed under plastic wrap and sealed so the air won't get to them. You need to make sure you don't put too much frosting underneath the fondant as this kind of shape will want to slip if the layer underneath is too thick. Those are just a few things I've learned... HTH!

What kind of fondant are you using?

Every single one of my cakes goes into the fridge fully decorated. I have never had a problem.

Only twice did I have trouble with the condensation not drying but one was because it had been raining hard all night and the morning I took the cake out, and once because I had it in the freezer and it didn't thaw in the fridge long enough, so the amount of condensation was more extreme.

However, a quick once over with a hair-dryer dried the cakes instantly. (You have to be sure the cakes have been out a couple of hours before trying a hair dryer or the condensation may return).

Cutting to size and sticking them on the cake is harder than it looks: Fondant stretches and tears if you aren't careful - you could end up re-trying the same piece several times.

If you are using MMF, make sure you add glycerine or corn syrup to it to help with pliability. I have been able to get fondant over several shapes easily. The hardest shape to cover is a tapered cake, narrower on the bottom, like a topsy-turvy.

If you are using Satin Ice, knead the heck out of it to help avoid tearing.

If you are using Wilton, make sure no one eats it! It's horrible