I just finished a cowboy hat cake. This was the first cake I had ever had to carve, which was my biggest concern, but that went very well. The problem came when I tried to cover the hat with fondant. It started cracking and tearing in several places. It wasn't too thin. It was dry, so I was going to try to cover the fondant with another layer of fondant to cover the flaws. I rub shortening on my hands while I worked with it this time, and it did the same thing when I tried to cover the hat. What am I doing wrong and how can I fix this problem? ALL ADVICE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

funny you would post this today! I was just about to ask the same thing!

What fondant recipe are you using? I do not have any issues with Michele Foster's cracking when I cover a cake with it, but I do have issues with it holding the shape of a cutout....the Marshmallow fondant, though, is cracking EVERYTIME I use it to cover. I will be making both kinds from now on, but I would really like to know what I'm doing wrong with the MMF. I see some AMAZINGLY smooth MMF cakes and know it can be done.....If you look at my most recent cake (Pretty and Funky Birthday with the big flowers) you can see the cracks on the pink tier.......Ohhh, and the MMF also pleats at the bottom more than MFF does. (those acronyms are too similar...lol)....I'd love to hear any advice as well.

Definitely sounds like your fondant is too dry. I would start kneading it with shortening until it's nice and pliable.

When I first started using MMF (it's the only kind I use) mine would crack and tear all the time. One thing I do now that seems to help quite a bit is I put about 1/4 cup of shortening in while my kitchen aid is mixing in the powdered sugar. I drop little spoonfulls in at a time. Then I take my fondant out and knead it on the counted with the rest of the powdered sugar.
I also let my fondant sit about 24 hrs in a ziplock bag after I make it. I don't know why, but that seems to help a lot as well. Best of luck to you. =)

the recipe for MMF that I use calls for 1/2 C of shortening. and I keep the surface covered in criso and my hands as well when I'm kneading it.....buuutttt, this time, I only let it rest for like an hour.

I read a post a few months ago where a gal stated that she lets her MMF rest overnight. After I started doing that I had much better results. I now make my fondant sometimes a week or two in advance and that's been a lifesaver. ♥

TO get nice cut outs w/ MMF I add a little gum paste to the fondant. Then I let it sit out for 10 min or so and my cut outs stay nice and stiff.

I have also had the same issues with my fondant! I found letting it rest overnight helped me as well. That is definitely what I would recommend, also, maybe don't roll it out quite as thin. I grew up baking with my mother and grandmother and am new to doing it as a business, but how fun it has turned out to be. To make children smile the biggest smile when they see their custom cake is so worth the frustration of trying to get that fondant just right or the shape just so. I ordered this book that helped me so much...I recommend you check it out too!
http://10936ojfwpl8zhb7c5n6b0l00i.hop.clickbank.net/

I use the rolled fondant that you buy already made. I use confectioner sugar while I'm working to keep it from sticking. Should I use shortening instead? I was trying to get a brown color, so I had to use a lot of gel to try to color it, which may have contributed to drying out my fondant.

Satin Ice gets dried out sometimes...if you were using that. Also, too much color will change the consistency of the fondant and make it crack....

I used the same batch as before on another (the sub in my photos)...so it had sat for about a day....I kneaded in some extra crisco and added some glycerin as well. It helped a lot, but still no where near as smooth as Michele Foster's. But as I said before, I think from now on, I'll be covering in MFF and doing details with MMF. Thanks everyone for the input! And judds, I hope you figure out your specific issues as well! Good luck!

You do have to work quickly when working with fondant. Was your cake ready to cover? Did you have to leave your fondant sitting there, after rolling out for a period of time, like 5 or more mins?

You said you had to add a lot of color, that will sometimes effect fondant and change the performance of it.

I think the all of the color I had to add might have had a lot to do with it. For this next hat I'm doing, which is dark gray, I think I'm going to by pre colored black fondant and mix in some white fondant to see if that helps.

I am having the same trouble with my fondant cake. I am glad this topic came up.. I used satin ice black fondant for my cake. When rolled it out and layed it on my cake it started tearing and cracking on me ..Next time I shall knead it with crisco instead of powdered sugar...Can you please advise What can we do once it has happen, that is after placing it on cake and we cannot remove it and knead it again..
thank you for sharing

you can remove fondant from cakes, just take it off and scrap off the excess icing that got on the fondant, knead it up and roll it back out. The small amount of icing that might remain on the fondant will not hurt being kneaded into the fondant.

sweetwise has a cool video on youtube about doing this.