The three tier stained glass cake in my photos looked a lot like the Michelin tire logo guy before decorating it, and still does underneath it all. I know the new-Crisco BC slumped somewhat under the fondant (although not everywhere) and the fondant may not have been adhering all that well, but are there other things going on here? Of all the issues I thought I might deal with, sloping sides wasn't one of them! I used DH butter yellow and dark fudge, marbled; ganache filling inside BC piped dam; standard BC topped with 3/16" fondant. I tried many times to "push and mold" with my hands and the fondant smoother before moving on to decorating, but to no avail. Any thoughts on why this happened?

no clue but here's a bump

anyone?

trying again

I used to have that problem when I would use box cakes... mine would always bulge and settle. I started making my cake from scratch, and because they are slightly more dense I have not had that problem since. That would be my recommendation.

In the back of my mind I was wondering if that was the problem and hoping it wasn't. Anybody know if the "doctored" mixes work better?

How long did you wait before covering with fondant? I like to let them settle a few hours, even overnight, so they get all that gravity-stuff out of their system, before I do the final coat of icing or fondant. I don't find that it makes a difference whether it's scratch or box.

They were baked and frozen earlier in the week, and then had defrosted and sat most of the day before icing and fondant. I did a regular-thickness icing using the large icing tip, not a crumb coat.