I have such trouble covering cakes with fondant. Inevitably, when I drape the fondant over the cake and start to smooth t he sides, wrinkles form at the bottom of the cake and get worse as I'm smoothing. How do you get the fondant to smooth all over the sides and not wrinkle at the bottom as your smoothing? thank you so much for any advice you can give.
bump - I'd like to know also - plus what is the best thickness to use for covering cakes.
Hi !
When i cover my cakes, i try not to roll out the fondant much bigger than the cake , i smooth the top & sides with my hands - smoothing out wrinkles & bumps then i use a cake smoother over the cake & trim the excess fondant off the bottom with a sharp knife - does this help you ? 
if you have lines/dents/wrinkles still, just keep smoothing with hands until they disappear..
julie
Heres a site that helped me. hope it can help you too.
http://www.pastrywhiz.com/wedding/wedding19.htm
The trick with fondant is to not have it too thick or too thin...because if it's too heavy it will weigh your cake down and give unsightly bulges. If it's too thin it may tear or dry out quickly.
Using a cake board the exact same size as your cake, place it on a Crisco can or coffee can so that when you drape the fondant over the cake it will hang below the bottom of your cake.
When you smooth fondant, pull the fondant away from the cake as you smooth downward. Avoid any sideways smoothing. It will cause creasing.
If you cake is frosted well and has set, it helps, too. It gets easier. Fondant has it's moments. Some days it just doesn't want to play right with me. 
Good luck.
Angie
i had the same problem always til i had to make 57 minis... practiced and i was ready to cry but finally i got the trick
1. try to cut your fondant to the size you need not toomuch extra and make sure it will not be too small. also dont roll it too thin or leave it too thick
2. i have found that when i place fondant on the cake ( light blue circle) i have to always leave space between bottom of the cake and fondant ( orange arrows) when you lay the fondant on and cann't leave the space at the same time pull the fondant away to leave the space before smoothing the sides down
and then smooth from the top towards to the bottom straight down not diagonally. (that is the dark nr2 arrow)
hope it makes sense and helps a little.
I'm glad this question was posted...I had to make my cake for class last night and it was to be covered in fondant...I had the same problem with the ends tearing. I see what I was doing wrong now, I made mine to long and maybe to thick. I think it was just to heavy. The above diagram helps alot!! Thanks for posting that!
I like to roll my fondant out quite a bit larger than the cake. But I do not like to elevate mine, so that could be reason maybe it works for me. I always smooth in a downward motion and then kind of straighten the "skirt" at the bottom. Like I am smoothing out the pleats. (think about if you were wearing a skirt and spreading it out? Does that make sense? yeah right!) Just do a little at a time then move onto the next section when you are done. You might even have to adjust a finished section once you move to the next section. Just leave it a little loose at the bottom so you can adjust. Once it is all smooth, then I more firmly smooth the fondant over the cake. I NEVER commit to anything with the fondant until it is smooth. Never smooth over a pleat. NEVER commit to a pleat! When I have it smooth I do cut off most of the excess then I do elevate it to trim it to the cake board.
The other night at my wilton class the teacher also suggested elevating and also told us to at the bottom of the cake pull the fondant to a 90 degree angle as you smooth the side down with your hand, for some reason that really smoothed out the fondant.
Kristin
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%