Hello everyone,

I have been having trouble with tiered cakes. Especially wedding ones. I can not get the edges to be perfectly edged! My edges come out kinda rounded. What am I doing wrong? I have a smoother and I try so hard to sharpen the edges, but they just wont budge. When i bake my cake, I let it cool on a cake rack and then I apply a generous portion of buttercream. I then let that sit for a couple of hours and then apply my fondant. I have even tried applying the fondant immediately after. Should I be cutting the cake crust off? Do I need to freeze the cakes first? Please help! I'm at the point where I just want to give up!

Sincerely,

Daniela Acerra

I wish I can help you, but I have been having the same issues.
However, I believe that if you're going to apply Buttercream and then fondant over the cake, you should be crumb coating it...not applying a generous amount of Buttercream.

Try not putting so much Buttercream underneath the fondant and see how that works out- because remember, when you're smoothing out the fondant and if there's a thick layer of buttercream underneath- the buttercream will also "move" if you know what I mean.

I hope this makes sense...
Have a great day!

Typically the point of using fondant is to have rounded edges.

I mean we make ourselves crazy trying to make buttercream look like fondant and trying to make fondant look like sharp edged buttercream.

Sure it can be done but why not use the correct medium for the job.

But all that to say, I would only try to get a sharp edge on my fondant on a room temperature cake. Cake Girls use dried fondant sheets to apply to a cake sculpture to make a box for example with very definite edges. Mike McCarry puts fondant over already fondanted areas in order to get a nice crisp edge like on his car dvd. Jennifer Dontz does it with fondant smoothers on her dvd.

Start with a nice base with sharp edges. I suggest you try using ganache under fondant.

I was passing by and saw this thread. I'm having the same issues with square cakes. The ganache sounds good. Could you elaborate on the temp of the ganache, how you put it on and how long it takes to dry? Does that mean you eliminate the buttercream crumbcoat? I'm still a newbie with lots of questions. thanks.

I just had a thought... What if we fake it???

Pipe a rail of RI around the top edge kind of the buttercream and let it harden for a few minutes and try that...???

You can leave it out on the kitchen counter overnight to set/dry enough to then apply your fondant. I find I have fewer issues with fondant bubbling this way also.

I'm with Rylan, use ganache and also, in my experience, thin fondant...like 1/8", to achieve really sharp corners.

that sounds really good. I guess you want to use a good chocolate - bittersweet?

I cant use chocolate with all customers, so I need to stay with buttercream. Refrigerating tha cake helps, and dont do fondant too thick.
Edna