I made a fondant covered cake last night. It's frosted in a crisco based frosting crumb coat. I had in the the fridge so the icing was not tacky enough to adhere the fondant to. I brushed the cake w/ a simple syrup glaze and then put on the fondant covering. I used three wilton cake boards under the cake for support. It's only a flat sheet cake w/ a round cake on top (11x15 sheet / 8 inch round). It looked great last night - but now I've got a few small cracks! The customer is picking up the cake this am. Is there any way to spot fix this!

I am no expert, but it may have been too thin in places where it dried. I would suggest something I would try, but I don't want to mess it up worse, because I honestly don't know, but you may try brushing a tiny bit of water over the cracks and trying to smooth them together.

Hiya there,
welcome to C.C. jackie.
I have one question for you hun, did you put the fondant on the cake while it was still cold?
I have found out (the hard way) that cakes really do expand as they warm up. And that the fondant once it hardens a bit is not very elastic. So that could be the prob.
Whatever you do don't use water unless you are going to mist the whole thing. It makes the fondant have shiny spots. Try using crisco and rubbing that over the cracks. The sugar will absorb it and it won't leave shiny spots on your cake.

The water might disolve the fondant, since it's sugar. I've read somewhere that you can rub a bit of crisco on the fondnt and work it in gently for repairs.

Crisco is the way to go! You know your stuff
chaptips.

i've always used royal icing to smooth out cracks - just pipe it on then use your finger to smooth it over. the cracks completely disappear.

Thanks so much for all your responses. That morning I ran a search on the forum and found a suggestion to use buttercream to fill in the cracks. That worked pretty good. I'll try to make sure the cake is warm next time and try the crisco trick as well if I get cracking again. I did roll out my fondant w/ powered sugar so next time I'll use corn starch. Maybe I dried the fondant out too much by working with the extra powdered sugar. Hard to say. The cake turned out great though. If I ever figure out how to download the picture I'll post it.

After rolling the fondant on the vinyl, Do you flip the fondant and vinyl over so the fondant touching the vinyl is facing up? Is the fondant lightly stuck to the vinyl, and if so, doesn't that leave blemishes on the cake? Or does the fondant practically fall off the vinyl as you flip it? I plan on trying this myself, but want to save any possible agravation.

oops wrong post.....see I am a newbie

whoa, jackie! If the powdered sugar was the culprit, DON'T switch to cornstarch! Powdered sugar contains a good amount of cornstarch, and that causes the fondant to dry out. Much better to use a thin layer of crisco to roll fondant out if your struggle is with dried out fondant.

hth
Bekah

I have to wonder about the cold cake vs. warm cake thing. Every thing I've ever read from people who do carved cakes always says to chill the cake before putting the fondant on. Maybe a frozen cake could be a problem, but I'm not sure about the chilled cake thing. I always chill mine and don't seem to have the cracking issue. I used to always get cracks until 1) I started making my own fondant and 2) I learned to"polish" the fondant after rolling it out and before putting it on the cake by rubbing a little crisco on my hands and giving the fondant a good rub to give it a little bit of an allover sheen.

Jenn-oh,

I use a light layer of crisco on my mat so the fondant lightly sticks to it. Thenyou flip it over and place it where you want it on the cake and gently peel it away. the side touching the vinyl is facing up. It doesn't leave blemishes.
You can use a dusting puff to get rid of the shine if you want.

Why use cornstarch instead of powdered sugar?

It would seem to me that cornstarch would create more cracks than the powdered sugar. I'm going to post this question on the main board.

Here are some tips;

The cake to be covered with rolled fondant must be cooled completely, preferably 24 hours, covered. This will tighten the crumbs and make the cake more solid.

If tiny cracks appear in the surface of the fondant, knead it a little - the warmth from the kneading or pressure
from the rolling pin will make it smooth and satiny. Do not use water to smooth out cracks - water dissolves fondant as it is mostly sugar. Instead, use a bit of shortening
on your fingertips to repair small tears.

Cracking can also be caused if your fondant is rolled too thick. Fondant is heavy and if not rolled thin enough (1/4-inch thick is usually best) the excess can pull the fondant from the top of the cake causing it to crack.

To cover a crack, try rubbing a little of the same Fondant over the crack in a circular motion, then using a smother or your hands to rub it in.