i have seen so many beautiful cakes andi fell in love with them. i have tried to make a few with fondant but it cracks, wont keep its shape, wont stay conected to other pieces of fondant or it will simply melt and become gooey.... i have made my own fondant AND used wiltons rolled fondant as well both turned out alike.... can any1 tell me what im doing wrong and how can i make these cakes look good? also i saw on tv after the baker finished his cakes he always went over them with a steam machine. does that serve a purpose?

Do you knead your fondant before rolling it out? How do you roll yours out? Cracking is a common problem, I personally had the same problem with my first time.

As for the steaming, it is usually done to give the cake a shiny finish.

yep make sure you knead you fondant well as this will allow it to become smoother and have more elasticity

With cracking, to help prevent making my MMF too dry/firm, when i am adding my icing sugar i stop kneading the icing sugar in as soon as i am at the stage where my fondant is just slightly softer than i like it (but not soft enough that it falls apart when streched) because when i am rolling it out on my icing sugar covered bench that icing sugar firms it up as well as the fact the time it takes to finish rolling it would also firm up a bit too.....but that's just what i do.

With it not staying connected to other pieces of fondant have you tried making a glue from fondant and water?

If it's gooey all i can think of is there isn't enough icing sugar

Anyway HTH a tiny bit

I use Satin Ice brand fondant. Easy to use and tastes good, too (unlike Wilton's). You do have to knead the fondant. Also, I have found that where possible, it is better to mold the figure from one solid piece of fondant, rather than sticking little bits together. When you do need to "glue" bits together, make an edible "glue" by mixing meringue powder with a little water.

How are you storing the finished cake? Melting and becoming gooey is usually caused by storing it in an airtight container. The fondant will take on the moisture from the cake. You can get around that by storing the finished cake in a cardboard box, or loosely draped with plastic wrap. The fondant acts as a seal to help keep the cake fresh and moist, so it doesn't need to be in a tupperware or similiar container.

To keep the fondant from cracking while you're working with it, roll it out on crisco instead of powdered sugar. To keep it from sagging on the cake, let the cake settle before you put the fondant on, and chill the cake before applying the fondant.

You don't need to steam the cake unless you want a shiny effect...many people like the matte look that fondant normally has