Yesterday I finished up my second fondant covered cake and I have some questions. (It's the Mom's Garden cake in my gallery if you want to see it.)

1. How thick should the fondant be when rolled out to cover the cake? When I did mine I did the top tier first and it was around 1/8" thick (I'm guessing). It looked terrible but I know that part of this was the cake itself. It has sliced strawberries and meringue disks and I probably should have spackled the edges instead of just a base coat. The fondant on the bottom tier was about 1/4" thick and looked much better. Is this about how thick it should be? I used Michelle Foster's fondant recipe if this makes any difference.

2. I've read that you should refrigerate your cake prior to covering with fondant but I've also read that you should allow the cake to settle before covering. Do you let it settle in or out of the refrigerator? Mine was placed in the fridge for several hours before covering. I covered them then let them sit out on the countertop overnight before decorating. When I came out I noticed the smaller tier had settled more and had a big air bubble. Could this have been because I didn't let them settle at room temp before refrigerating? How long do you give it to settle?

It was a cake for my mom's birthday so I decided to take the opportunity to do a fondant covered since I didn't have to stress about it being a paid cake. I did learn that I do a better job when I'm relaxed! (My DH fixed me a drink and I covered the bottom tier while just a bit tipsy! ) I had already planned to put flowers all over it so I knew I could hide most of the fondant issues. She loved it (isn't it required by law that your mom love anything you make?) but I'd like to learn from this so if I do one in the future it doesn't look like I did it in the dark!

Thanks in advance for the help!

Hi Fran,

What a pretty cake you did!

Personally, I roll out fondant between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick...I guess if I measured it, it would be about 3/8" thick. I also apply a normal application of buttercream so that those who don't like eating fondant can peel it off and have a regular piece of cake.

It is important to have your buttercream very smooth, as flaws in the BC often telegraph through the fondant. I put my cakes in the freezer for about 10 minutes and then apply the fondant. This allows the buttercream to chill hard so I can work the fondant as much as I need to without having BC squish around underneath it. I never put fondant or BC on frozen or cold cakes because air bubbles form under the fondant. I do everything at room temperature, except for the brief 10 minutes in the freezer to allow the BC to harden.

You made a lovely cake!

I roll my fondant out pretty thin, but you do have to be sure to get the icing smooth underneath it if you do it that thin. It just sounds like the fillings in the cake were showing through, so you're right about maybe spackling it as well.

It sounds like it tasted good!