AHi everyone! I'm fairly new to making fondant cakes "professionally" and I'm having trouble with the icing underneath. I've watched a gazillion videos and read tons of articles but I'm still not too clear on a few things.

I like making either IMBC or SMBC but with the last cake I made to deliver, after the BC I'm guessing warmed up to room temperature after having been in the fridge before being covered in fondant, it seemed like the whole thing was starting to slouch and look pudgy in certain areas. I was under the impression that you need a decent amount of BC underneath to help smooth out any bumps or dents that could show through your fondant. Maybe I'm wrong...? But either way I disliked how BC doesn't stay firm.

Anywho, after that I stumbled across the ganache method that lots of people seem to swear by for smooth cakes and sharp edges. However, I'm not 100% convinced. What do you do in cases when chocolate or white chocolate ganache doesn't pair well with the flavor of the cake? What is the best option then??

I appreciate any info! I'm wanting to make a cream cheese icing to go with my red velvet cake order for this Saturday but I'm scared of ending up with a fiasco on my hands with soft, pudgy icing mess under my fondant! I'm considering the ganache route but I'd really love to stick to the classic cream cheese flavor.

TIA!

AHi there. I love smbc, but use abc too. How thick was the layer of BC underneath the fondant? And how thick was the fondant? Normally bulging and all that stuff happens if you put too much BC between the layers and/ or you don't press down on the cake (which is filled only) to sort of squish the excess out. Some people put tiles on their cakes for several hours before crumb coating it and swear on that. I just sort of press down gently. Another problem can be air bubbles in the BC which cause the fondant to slip and tear. When you cover a cake in BC and then fondant you can get still sharp edges. Just make sure you put the iced cake in the fridge before you put the fondant on. As an advise: Don't try *new* stuff with customers until you are sure it's gonna be fine. Just adding unnecessary stress...at least to me!

Try reducing the amount of butter you put in your SMBC/IMBC. I did that and it's really made my buttercream much firmer than before. My ratio is 450g butter to 6 eggs.

AJulia1812 I think the layer underneath was too thick and I might not have pushed down enough in between layers.

That sounds like a great suggestion petitecat and actually makes a lot of sense ha! Thank you both!

AYou can use a ratio for egg whites:sugar:butter of 1:2:2 (by weight) which is more stable at room temperature and a bit sweeter or 1:2:3 which is more stable in cooled condition and less sweet.

I use 50g sugar per egg white, so 6 eggs = 300g. 

AI would use the cream cheese frosting as a filling between the layers only. I would use a firm all butter buttercream under the fondant and only as thick as necessary.

AWould a crusting cream cheese icing work? I found this recipe today and was thinking to use it to make a rosette cake? http://www.cakecentral.com/b/recipe/crusting-cream-cheese-icing