I have been decorating with fondant for the last five years. I have been doing the same thing nothing new, this is why I am perplexed at my latest fondant/baking issues. First off air bubbles under fondant, and not the small ones, I mean the big giant bubbles, the last three cakes I made I have encountered this issues. Please somebody tell me why, I have a couple of cakes to make this week and I really need to avoid this issue. I usually bake, cool, wrap, and freeze for a day or two. Take out the freezer, partially thaw, fill, crumb coat, and then in the fridge for 20 minutes, immediate final coat and back in the fridge for another 20-30 minutes, no longer than an hour, cover in fondant. I usually cover in fondant as soon as I take it out of the fridge, but I recently started to experience heavy sweating that did not stop (another recent problem). The last two times I did not put the fondant on right out of the fridge, I let it sit for about 15 minutes first, if I let the cake sit right out the fridge or not I still got the bubbling issue, I dont know what I am doing wrong, Please help! I have researched this and have read about not putting fondant on a cold cake, but I have always done this with no issues until recent, I also read about American buttercream being the issue, I have always used AB with no problem, I have never used anything else, I wanted to try ganache but it does not go with all cake flavors. My second issue is the last two cakes I made I have experienced, a very heavy cake with gummy streaks in the cake, again I did nothing different, I use box cake, I add and extra egg and I use butter instead of oil, and a pack of pudding, I do this to make it dense but still moist, and I NEVER had an issue, people always think the cake is scratch, I had to throw the cakes out twice and redo, and the redo came out the same, the third time was good, what up with that, why did this happen?

Thanks in Advance

I always use fondant on cold cakes without a problem.

You should look at the temperature of your fridge. Even if the refrigerator says x degrees, test it with another thermometer.

I'm not sure where you are located but I hate making cakes in June. It's always sticky and humid and it affects my cakes/fondant. I have to use the air conditioning in the house.

Do you have bubble when you put your fondant or do they appear after?

OK the last cake I did just that, cranked the house AC up to 60 and set the cake in the coolest room, still bubbled. I too was dreading June and July cakes, in VA the temp has been low nineties heat index of 101. The last cake I airbrushed on my porch, I do this to avoid back spray all over the house, this could have done it to this particular cake bringing it from the cold, to the hot, to the cold house again, right? But I did not do this to the first two cakes and they still bubbled. Now you maybe on to something with air bubbles before I apply fondant, silly me I was not aware that buttercream had air bubbles until I researched, how do I avoid air bubbles in buttercream? So you do put fondant on cake straight out the fridge, have you had sweating problems? What do you do if so?

Thanks MKC

Well I had air bubbles from buttercream only once. I now use buttercream as a filing and ganache on the exterior. Since then, I have never had issues with bubbles. I leave my cakes with buttercream and covered in ganache in the fridge overnight before covering in fondant...not just a few hours in the fridge. They have time to settle and maybe it helps with bubbles.

I also use the RBI method (of lifting the cake from the countertop) to put fondant...I don't have ANY bubbles when applying fondant: 

Yes, I do cover in fondant straight from the fridge. I had sweating issues only once but it was very humid and I had removed the cake from the freezer (not the fridge).

With time, the sweating disappeared and the cake dried on its own. 

OK, enough said i'm using ganache, I was already contemplating going in that direction,you just convinced me.

Thanks

Let me know if you have any questions about fondant!

Let me know if you have any questions about ganache!

OK, I have made ganache, never white chocolate though, is there anything different about making the white versus dark, I always get intimidated by the "ratio's" how many ounces chocolate to cream, I know it's a 3:1 ratio, can you break that down in ounces? I appreciate this.

Thanks in advance

The sweating will go away just don't airbrush or anything like that until it does or you'll get streaks also could be the humidity not just temp

For white chocolate it's correct 3:1....sometimes a little bit more chocolate is required. In some occasions, I will go 3.5 to 1.

 1 once is about 30 grams. So for example, 300 gram chocolate to 100 gr of cream or 10 oz of chocolate to 3.3 oz of cream. 

If you're getting sweating on the fondant worse than usual all of a sudden it's because of the humidity and heat. Air bubbles happen when there's air inside the cake that expands and tried to escape somehow. If the cake is covered in fondant that acts as a barrier and it just creates a cake tumor as the air pushes its way out.

I'm in Virginia too, and I try to do everything at room temp to avoid the shift in heating and cooling that can make the air move around. If you fill the cakes then give them a good press on the top to kind of force any air out that can help. You can also weight the tiers once they're filled and crumb coated...Leahs does this with a couple of books, I think? I don't know how to tag people on here anymore to lure them onto a thread. But if you put a cookie sheet or something on top of the tier, then put a heavy-ish book on it, that will compress the layers and force air bubbles out before you cover the tier in fondant.

 You can also poke little "escape holes" in the fondant if you're going to be decorating the tier with something that can cover the holes. I've done that before if I get a bubble that won't stop even after I've compressed it. Then leave it at room temp overnight or as long as you can to let any air make its way out. 

OK I am going to follow every last tip on this thread, and though I have never posted a pic I am after this cause you guys helped me make it! One more question I have the best chocolate on hand as far dark chocolate ganache, but that brand does not carry white chocolate, what is the best brand white chocolate for ganache, Lindt, or ghirardelli. Or can I use white chocolate chips?

OK I am going to follow every last tip on this thread, and though I have never posted a pic I am after this cause you guys helped me make it! One more question I have the best chocolate on hand as far dark chocolate ganache, but that brand does not carry white chocolate, what is the best brand white chocolate for ganache, Lindt, or ghirardelli. Or can I use white chocolate chips?

I use chipits for white and semi sweet ganache. I used the high end chocolate before and realized that people preferred the chipits....and its cheaper.

MKC, what are chipits?  You mean chocolate chips or is that a brand?

Yes its a brand name: https://www.hersheycanada.com/en/brands/hersheys-chipits/

I have never seen chipits in my markets, I've used chocolate chips before so I guess it should work for white chocolate....

Thanks

Ok, so I posted the cake as I said I would. I still had an airbubble, but I was able to poke it and cover it with a leopard print. But I have never had the bubbling issue when I let the cake set in the fridge overnight with its butter cream coat. The last three cakes I made is when I encountered the bubbling issue, I was pressed for time, and I had sweating issues so they only set for about an hour or two the most, I am going back to my old method of keeping it in the fridge overnight.

I said I was going to use ganache, but she did not want it, but I still made a batch yesterday morning, I would like to use it for a cake on Saturday, it is slightly thicker than peanut butter, how do I thin it out? and how do I store it until Friday night if I made it yesterday morning can it sit on my counter until tomorrow night?

Thanks in Advance

It can stay at room temperature (not to hot!) for 2 days.

For you ganache you can:

 1. Put it in the microwave at 10 second intervals until the desired consistency.

2. Add cream.  Be careful when you thin it not to add too much cream or the ganache will not set when placed in the fridge.

Thanks a bunch MKC.

I use smbc, but I always put fondant on them straight from the fridge.  Like, I literally keep them in the fridge until the fondant is rolled.  With ganache, I do not refrigerate before fondant.

I usually let my cakes settle after the crumb coat, preferably overnight but sometimes you can't.  Either way, I take a lolly stick or a skewer and stick it in the top middle of the cake and go all the way down leaving a hole.  Any air in the cake will escape out the hole instead of the side.  

Once, when I didn't do that, I started getting big huge bubbles on the side of my fondant.  The more I pricked it with a pin, the more bubbles I got.  I grabbed a lolly stick and put the hole through the top and kept decorating. No more bubbles because the air had an easier route.  

You can plug the hole later with decoration.

Yes, thank you I'm gonna do the hole, why don't you refrigerate and then cover ganache cakes?

Thanks in advance

 I learned from our lovely Aussie friends to let the ganached cake sit on the counter overnight and the ganache will set up well, nice and firm.  They suggest that if you do refrigerate ganached cakes to let them come to room temp before covering in fondant. I do still poke a hole in the top though for the air.  I brush the ganached cakes with hot water just before I roll out my fondant and by the time I'm ready to cover the cake it's just the right amount of sticky for the fondant to adhere.  I then throw em in the fridge just like the buttercream cakes.

I don't use a crusting buttercream so I'm not sure if you need to refrigerate them before fondant or what works best with that.  But, with smbc, it would be impossible to cover with fondant at room temperature as it would be too soft and squishy.

OK,thanks a lot for the tip Jinkies because I would have put it in the fridge

I put mine in the fridge overnight before putting fondant. I like that the ganache (and cake) is hard and strong when I am ready for fondant. When I am ready to serve the cake (later on at room temperature) the ganache is back to being soft and has a nice texture.

I guess there are different good ways of doing this.

Many thank to Costumeczar.  I followed both levels of advice.  I pushed down on each of my layers before crumb coating.  That really leveled them too.  I used buttercream that I let sit overnight so the air settled out.  Finally, I put a couple holes in the top of each layer to create a chimney for the air.  For the first time I had NO bubbles in the side of my cakes.  Just in time for the biggest cake I've done... A 16, 12, 8 and 6" four tires bonanza for my son's wedding reception.  All was amazing except I created a sugar veil lace "veil" for the top and that pretty much melted in the heat!  Haha.  All was good.  I will try to post a pic.