I am extremely frustrated because I am working on a wedding cake and the bride wants the middle tier black so I thought I'd make it easy on myself (black MMF is a nightmare to make!) and buy the black Choco-pan. For $30 I was expecting it to be a dream to work with but it is giving me major headaches! Hard, cracking and tearing like crazy. I've already covered the same cake twice and it still looks terrible. Not up to my standards but I am considering leaving it and just trying to cover most of it with the white polka dots.

Any clue on how to smooth out the Choco-pan? Or should I just start putting on dots?!

I've found that mixing choco pan with another fondant helps - otherwise, it gives me a lot of trouble as well. HTH!

I recently had the same issues with black choco pan, I ended up microwaving it for 15 seconds at a time on 50% power until it got more pliable and I had to knead it a lot. I feel your frustration though, I was there last week!

I hate to say it, but if it's for a wedding, I'd keep at it until you can get that bugger smooth. Even with dots, those cracks and lumps may show through and ruin your beautiful efforts.

I HATE chocolate fondant! But I agree with PP to try mixing your chocopan with regular fondant if you have any. If you only have regular fondant in white, maybe you can add food coloring to get it back to black. Perhaps that would allow you to roll it on thicker before covering the cake - the thicker the fondant, the more forgiving it is w/regard to looking smooth on your cake.

You might try covering the cake with choc ganache, to give it a smoother surface before you try the fondant again.

to give it a really great smooth surface use a piece of thick plastic acetate. You are going to really work it though but it'll get there.

I have used black Chocopan several times with similar issues. I have just had to get it nice and warm (not too long in the microwave or it will become a mess). The black just takes a bit of practice but I am sure it will turn out perfect!! Oh, I also have to leave it a little thicker than normal Chocopan so it wont rip or tear at the bottom. HTH

I agree its too cold. It needs to be kneaded a lot until its smooth. I microwave and then knead and then microwave and then knead like 3 or 4 times until I am happy.

I have just been purchasing black satin ice whenever I need black fondant. Its a dream to work with.

I use Chocopan exclusively, so I am pretty good at it now. The trick I have learned for black (or any of it really) is I set my bucket in the window sill for about 20 min. before I open it. I never have any problems now. The first couple of times I used black or brown I had the same problems you are describing, & had to microwave it. The bucket in the sun trick is amazing. I just set it there & start getting all my fondant supplies out, clean up my workstation, maybe smooth the buttercream a bit, by the time I'm ready it is too!

HI ,I AM SORRY THAT YOU HAVE MANY PROBLEMS WITH CHOCO-PAN.I HAVE A CAKE DECORATING SUPPLIES SHOP AND I SELL CHOCO-PAN.I USE IT AND IT WORKS VERY WELL FOR ME BUT 2 CUSTOMERS CAME THE SAME DAY AND LATER THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD MANY PROBLEMS WITH IT.I UPLOADED SOME OF MY CAKES, THE"GRADUATION CAKE"WAS BIG AND I COVERED WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS.I KNOW THIS FONDANT IS DIFFERENT BUT YOU HAVE TO BE PATIENT & WORK WITH IT.LOVE ITS TASTE AND WHEN IS POSSIBLE I SHOW THE PEOPLE THAT NOT ALL FONDANTS TASTE BAD.

I didn't know they had black choco-pan The last time I used choco-pan (1 yr ago), I was soooo frustrated, I ended up throwing my mat and the fondant that was sticking to it directly into the trash can! It was so humid in my house that day, I didn't have enough experience to know how the temp affects the fondant. I hope you have better luck...you'll get it!