Hi, I am trying to figure out what I am doing wrong here- my fondant cakes are always lumpy, no matter how smooth the buttercream is. Generally, I frost the cake, then refrigerate it, then let it come back to room temperature, then cover it in fondant. Am I doing something wrong here? Should it be covered when the cake is still cold so the buttercream is firmer? Can you guys please post your covering steps to see what I am doing wrong here?

I'm sure you'll get several different opinions but what's always worked for me is I frost my cakes in buttercream, let them sit for a few minutes and do the viva paper towl method to get them super smooth. In the fridge they go for about 20-30 minutes. Right before I take them out, I roll out my fondant and then cover them straight out of the fridge. Once covered in fondant, I then put them back in the fridge until I'm ready to stack and/or decorate.

Thanks,thats exactly what I was looking for...any other methods/steps?

I was hoping more people would chime in here...does the cake sag as the buttercream warms up to room temperature?

yup, straight out of the fridge so the buttercream doesnt slide around and get lumpy.

I like to cover mine cold. I pretty much do the same thing as the 1st comment. Good luck.

Definitely cold.

I don't moisten. Most of the time I forget to do that. If you moisten it, just work fast before the BC gets warm again.

I crumb, ice, smooth, then refrigerate my cakes before putting on fondant. I sprinke ps all over the top of the cake and using a platic mat, place the fondant on the cake. With the cake cold and ps being on top, I can even move the fondant around a bit if I need to. Then I sprinke the top of cake with more ps, use my smoother to the top. After the cake is fondanted, I pop back in the frig and work on the next layer. I have no lumps or bumps. I completely ice my cake because here, most people do not like fondant. When they peel off the fondant, they will still have some butter cream on their piece of cake.

I cover my cakes cold as well, however it's been my experience that larger cakes tend to sag once the cake begins to warm up. I really want to start using ganache under my cakes to keep them crisp and non-bumpy looking. However, it seems a lot of good ganache recipes for doing this measure by weight and I don't have a food scale yet.

I just want to add that I live in central Arkansas so the heat and humidity might have something to do with that.

Debi---I use no additional moisture. As I am massaging the sides and top, I guess the warmth of my hands makes it stick to the butter cream. I even put PS on my hands as I'm massaging. Never had any problems with it not sticking, nor sagging.