I used wilton fondant to cover couple of cakes and it was crumbly and as soon as I drape it over the cake it tore on the edges and there was not elasticity to it. I tried 3 times to cover the cake with no luck I kneaded the fondant properly and added some crisco but it still was terrible. I don't know if it was a bad batch of fondant or is this normal with wilton fondant. what causes the crumbling?

I have never, ever had this problem with Wilton.

2 thoughts come to mind:
How old was the fondant? Did you purchase it recently? Could it have been exposed to extreme heat or cold before you used it?

How much crisco did you add? You would normally only wipe a smear on your hands and knead that in.

rae

Rae, I bought it last week and the date was 2012 on the package. it wasn't exposed to heat or cold. I used not much of crisco....does crisco make fondant crumbly? the fondant didn't have a good stretch and just tore. it was a wierd texture....

Well, it was fresh and everything else seems OK. Yes, a lot of crisco can make fondant crumbly, but that doesn't sound like the problem here.

I'd call Wilton--check the box, wilton.com, or google. They'll want info from the box--the stamped numbers on it, etc. Let them know that you got a bad batch and maybe they can make it right for you. I've found them to be very responsive. They're very grateful to hear about issues and get the remaining problem products out of circulation.

Who knows what happened? Could have been an error at the factory, an error during shipping (hot or cold), even an error at the retail store.

As I said, I love the workability of their fondant. I use it for all of my competition dummies. For fondant that will be eaten, I like to mix 1/3 Wilton + 2/3 Satin Ice, FondX, Duff's, etc. so that I can get better taste AND great workability.

Good luck!
Rae

Sometimes that stuff just dries out in the package. If you add some glycerine to it it can soften it up.

I'm having a similar problem with my fondant -- this time Fondarrific. I'm rolling it out and getting elephant skin even on the rolling pin. Smeared everything up with a thin layer of Crisco and still trouble. Attaching an image. Any suggestions?

Try kneading some glycerine into ti, just a little at a time. Sometimes that's all it takes to make it slightly more flexible if hte crisco isn't working..

Thanks, I will try that. The fondant is sticking to everything right now too which seems unusual since it has the properties of drying out. Do you think the glycerine will exacerbate the stickyness?

I agree with Blakes Cakes, call Wilton and then talk to someone (at the point of purchase) about getting a refund.
You never know what things are exposed to during shipping.
I had some animal crackers once that tasted like insecticide.
Returned it to the store for refund (as well as having someone inspect the other boxes on the shelf, yep all were suspiciously fragrant).

Jonesy.. was the tub still sealed all the way around?
Fonderific is a premium product with a price tag to match and I am sure the manufacturer will want to know about the quality of the product you bought.

It was sealed very well. Unfortunately, I'm making a cake for tonight and have no time to make my homemade recipe and let it set. I'm about to go buy Wilton in desperation. Or maybe mix 1/3 wilton with 2/3 fondarrific and hope for the best. Totally disappointed. I will report this to them. Just feels grainy and is tearing and has so little elasticity.

I've had this happen with Wilton before in a Michael's class and at the Michael's store. I would call Wilton with the lot number etc. They usually have no problem refunding it. Don't know where you bought it, but I've actually never had a problem with the store exchanging or refunding for another package. Sometimes something is wrong in their packaging etc. How was it coming out of the package? Dry? Hard? Personally, I would just get another package and not even fudge around with it. Just my two cents. Hope that helps.