So I see many cakes on Pinterest and such that are fondant covered and have perfect edges. Every time I cover a cake in fondant the top edges are slightly rounded. I really want to make them flat on top and then have like a 90 degree angle going down the sides. Any ideas on how to make this happen?

It is possible to do if cakes this way if one, you do not have very much buttercream underneath the fondant, and two, your cake is chilled enough to harden what buttercream there is there so that when you are smoothing you do not round the edges, three, your fondant is rolled fairly thin, and four, you are careful in smoothing and use two smoothers to make sure to keep the edges.

I have had success with the above steps enabling me in getting good edges when that was an important factor for my customer. Most of the time though, my customers are more concerned with their being enough buttercream on the cake in case the guest eating it does not like fondant. Therefore, most of the time I maintain the gentle rounded edge and keep the 1/4" thick buttercream. HTH

^^^Yep.

You can also get a more crisp edge covering your cake in ganache first and refrigerating.

Also, please consider that some of what you see may be cake dummies, which have very crisp edges.

I made some cakes that have that sharp edge before...in buttercream and ganache. I found a tutorial on youtube and I also took a craftsy class...here's a picture...I'll try to find that tutorial for you :)

Use two fondant smoothers, one on the side and one on the top. Work the side smoother up and top smoother toward the side smoother, bring them together, working all around the top edges. Is that clear?

Here's the tutorial:

Oh my gosh these answers are so amazing! I am self taught and really appreciate the help of people who are very clearly experts

Also make sure your pans are straight. I read somewhere to Not use wilton's pans and to use "magic" pans.  It suppose to make a huge difference.

There's a FREE (hour & a half) class taught by Linda Harden where she ganaches and decorates a round cake...

The design/decorating is basic, but everything she does leading up to it, is a must-see.

She creates a sharp edge and it's awesome...she uses 2 smoothers as mentioned above, but teaches the correct placement of your hands, etc.

Register (for free) to gain access:  http://tv.cakemasters.com/pages/course/portal.aspx?courseid=12

Thanks for this link, but I can't get it to go... all I get is the :55 second intro...  the links to the various segments are not active to click on... I registered...

AMimi, Missing you on flickr.

Radhika

AFlour pots- I hate to hijack this post but I heard you have a tutorial on making a football helmet cake. I have one coming up next week that I'm starting on and I can't find the post with your tutorial anywhere.

Do you mind sharing it with me? I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

AFlour pots!!! Thank you. I might be able to get it if I act fast. Question- does Lauren make the face mask? I actually bought one that is a youth size that looks good. And after all the carving is done on the 12 inche cakes how big is the cake? This is for a small party but I didn't want to fiddle trying to make a small mask out of gum paste and get the dimensions wrong.

Thanks again FlourPots! Man, I wish i had time to order the DVD, I'll give it a go without. I have messaged Lauren on FB to see if the DVD can be shipped overnight. We'll see.

Thanks again

Erin

You're welcome...

I hope you can get it!

Either way...good luck with your upcoming helmet!

AIt's on it's way!!! Overnight!!!!!! Yay!

Ok- question- I have 16 inch boards to go underneath but if I'm carving away from 12 inch rounds I'm thinking I might need an 18 inch board. I'm covering it in green like a football field and want enough of the field to show. What do you think?

Alright!!!! So glad you could get it in time!!

I think you'll love it...

I have many DVD's, I've taken many Craftsy classes, I belong to Paul Bradford's on-line school, Pretty Witty's on-line school, learncakedecoratingonline(dot)com, mycakeschool...

I absolutely LOVE watching decorators make cakes...and I really adore every instructor, they do a great job, but of all of them, Lauren is hands-down the most natural on camera...the lady was born to teach and her skills are insane!

(Margie Carter from learncakedecorating... is also really wonderful)

Anyway...

Lauren uses an 18" base...it's actually 5 (18") round cakeboards glued together and wrapped in Wilton White Board Paper (which I had never heard of).

Her base is really thick, an inch or more.

She has room to spare on the sides of her completed helmet, but not much from front to back (because of the mask), so 16" is too small.

18" would show your field perfectly.

AThank you do much!! Heading out tomorrow to get 12 inch pans (thought I had them) and 18 inch drums. I plan on gluing two half inch boards together or doing as the video and getting 5 boards and putting them together. I bought 7/8 inch Chicago Bears Ribbon to go around the board.

Thank you again for your help.

I'm just a hobby baker and doing the cake for 2 dear friends - I hope they like it!

Anytime

To get back to the OP's original question, I watched a video (done by Jessica Harris?) where she flips the cake upside down and works the fondant down into a nice clean edge. I've started doing this and it has made a huge difference on my fondant cakes. I still like to use a good amount of BC as well but I use this method when the cake is really chilled and it works great! Hopefully someone knows of the video that I'm talking about and can post a link!