AHi everyone, this is my first post on these forums. I have been on the site a lot but have now decided to join up as it has helped me a lot with some cakes I have made.

Anyway, onto business. I am just starting with cake making and it is really just a hobby I really enjoy. At the moment I am buying the ready to roll fondant that you can buy in Tesco. This is probably not the best fondant to be using but at the moment it is the only fondant that I have seen and so far it has done ok for me. However when I cover my cakes with this fondant there always seems to be some cracks on the surface and so far I have gotten away with covering these with bits of cut-out fondant shapes. I know this is not ideal as I cannot just keep covering the cracked bits. That is why I am asking here if there is a better pre-made ready to roll fondant that I can purchase. Even if it can only be purchased over the internet. I would just like people's thoughts on what type of fondant they use and where they buy it from or even how can I make my own fondant that will not crack as much as the fondant I already buy.

Thanks and hopefully I can contribute a lot more to these forums in the future.

I like Sattina white fondant by cakecraftshop.co.uk. It's fairly new, I think.

It's a lovely fondant to work with, I buy it in the 5kg box which is just under £15. Great price for the quality. In fact, cheaper than a lot of other brands I come across. I usually buy the little Renshaw packs of coloured fondant to use for modelling, but Sattina is actually cheaper. I always forget because it tastes so much nicer. Light vanilla flavour with zero weird aftertaste.

https://www.cakecraftshop.co.uk/shop/products/id/satwh.htm

AI like either covapaste or sugarpaste direct. Both are good.

AThanks for the replies. I will be trying these out to see which I prefer to work with.

A

I know this is not ideal as I cannot just keep covering the cracked bits.

If I get asked for a completely plain cake I a) swear to myself and b) add on a plain cake charge! They're hard work!

I'm not saying don't try to improve (changing from tesco will help a lot, the rest will come with practice), but don't beat yourself up if you can't achieve perfection.

Sugarpaste direct is my favourite. I get super smooth fondant and sharp edges using it :) 

AThe most important thing about getting smooth fondant is a smooth undercoat. I use ganache and I get it a smooth as possible using the upside down method then I use sugarpaste direct fondant. To smooth it I use clear acrylic smoothers so I can see what I'm doing and then use two pieces of acetate to sharpen the edges.

Just to give you an idea... This is with swiss meringue buttercream. You can see how smooth it is before fondant. [IMG ALT=""]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3265566/width/350/height/700[/IMG]

AI'm another SPD, I love it. If you don't want to buy large amounts, sattina is also good, just not *as* good imo.

SPD for me too!  Just carry on caking - those smooth surfaces will come with time, I promise :-)

Hi I use renshaws decor ice  coverpaste purchased from www.cake-stuff.com the cheapest place I have found. postage is free if you spend £70

good luck  and have fun caking