Hopefully someone out there can help me a.s.a.p. I'm having trouble with my fondant and I'm not sure why. It seems okay when I firt put it on my cake but as I smooth it out or try to do anything else with it, it cracks or tears, especially on the edges of the cake. I've tried rolling it out thicker and even thinner, I'm stumped and I have to finish this cake. argh!! Help!!

You can try kneading in some shortening to make it a little more elastic. It happens to me sometimes right around the edges like that and some shortening can work wonders.

Rule of thumb is that if it's cracking then it's too dry, add crisco...if it's sticking then it needs more powdered sugar. You want a soft dough consistancy.
Cat

I have the same problem.
I was trying to do a purse cake with a crocodile skin imprint, and the fondant kept tearing where the print was. It was Satin Ice pre-coloured black fondant.

Yes, I've found that if you just add shortening, it helps a ton.

I had the same problem... dry, cracking, bumpy, puckering fondant, downright UGLY!

So, about a year ago, I decided to buy a DVD. I'm one of those people that IF I can see something demonstrated, I can usually do it much better than if I just read instructions.

I have been covering cakes with fondant for about 3 years, and up until the time that I bought a DVD that teaches the art of covering a cake with fondant .... it was always a crap shoot when I covered a cake in fondant, I never knew if the cake would turn out really well, or really bad... but I ALWAYS planned lots of decorations so that I could hide all of the flaws, especially at the base of the cake where my fondant AWAYS puckered!!

the DVD is by Jennifer Dontz and it's called "the easy & tasty way to perfect fondant". the DVD cost @ 29 dollars. Since I bought that DVD, I feel like I can cover a cake in fondant without having a panic attack or losing sleep... my last cake even had one tier with any decorations! It's the best thing that I've ever bought that helped me improve my skills as a cake decorator!

I'm sure there are other DVD's on the market that demonstrate the same technique, I think Sharon Zambito may have one on the market... but IF you can get your hands on some sort of demonstrational DVD, I highly recommend it!
Here is a link for the DVD that I bought:
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?productId=636081

I had that same problem with my last cake. I used Duff's fondant for one tier and Wilton for the other. The Wilton just cracked and cracked. I added shortening but it still cracked. I used the tips that I got from my Flawless Fondant dvd to fix it though.

Thank you everyone for the tips and for taking the time to answer my questions. I think you may have a point with the shortning, I usually use lots, and lately I havn't, that must be the problem, I'll give it a shot. Thanks again!