I'm a beginner at the ripe old age of 53. Completely self taught. I found an idea for a fondant wine bottle that is dried over an actual bottle and then detailed. I watched a couple Youtube videos, in which they say you need to let it dry for a couple days.

Since this is my first try with fondant, I have a few questions, and I apologize if these have already been asked or if the info is somewhere on. I looked but could find it. I'm going to do a practice run before I make my mom's 75th birthday cake. So here are my questions:

1. How thin do I roll the fondant?

2. Can I use my wooden rolling pin?

3. If the practice run turns out well, how long is dried fondant good? The party is in 12 days, can I somehow keep it fresh?

4. Should I buy the pre-made Wilton fondant or make my own?

Thank you in advance for sharing your wisdom! It is greatly appreciated!

I have only done a few cakes but from what I have learned along the way...

Add some tylose powder to your fondant to help it dry faster or just use gumpaste instead of fondant.

I have made a few fondant figures and have made them far in advance to make sure that they completely dry out/harden.  I actually have a figure from one cake I made almost a year ago that still looks like the day I put it on the cake.  Of course you wouldn't want to eat it, but once dry, those figures will last into the foreseeable future.

I wouldn't roll it any thinner then a 1/4".  I feel like the thinner you roll it the more chance it will have to break when you finally remove it from the bottle.  But of course the thicker you roll it the longer it will take to dry.

A wooden rolling pin is fine.

I would just use the pre-made fondant.  One less step you have to add to your to do list.

And just a FYI, fondant and humidity do not like each other.  So make sure you have your AC going and store any finished product in a cool, dry place.