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Cracking Fondant again!! Any clue?

post #1 of 13
2/2/10 at 4:50pm
Thread Starter 
Well, i think this is something we keep coming back to all the time, but sometimes it really gets to my nerves.
You are ready, you have your sugarpaste (fondant), you rolled out, everything seems fine, you might get some air bubbles but you get rid of them,ok then.
Know everything is on place, you lift up your fondat to cover your ,cake, and suddenly you realised that as you place your sugarpaste over the cake and start the smoothing part, all around the top border and side of the cake fondant is cracking, is not smooth any more, is ugly and a pain to work with, and nasty to try to fix, but take it off desnçt seem like a good idea...what´s wrong?
To put you all in place, i live in Ireland so i know fondant maybe different here, at the moment im using one called Covapaste. We dont have that famous Crisco and i dont have anything similar as far as i know .I used icing sugar to roll out my sugarpaste. The last cakes i made was a couple of weeks ago, very cold weather so heat was on, but not too strong....
At the begining i tough maybe it was a bad batch of fondant, it normally didn´t happend that often, but it has done it the last coule of times, 2 different batches.
Any ideas or suggestions?
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post #2 of 13
2/2/10 at 7:57pm
Can you find Trex in Dublin? It's the UK version of Crisco. It really does help to knead a very small amount into your sugar paste before rolling it out.

Too much icing sugar can degrade the sugar paste and dry it out. Perhaps you need to cut back on the icing sugar.

If you can roll out--or under-- on a silicone mat, or a piece of clear vinyl (like you cover furniture with--sold in upholstery or fabric shops), you can slow the drying out process.

HTH
Rae
I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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post #3 of 13
2/2/10 at 8:10pm
If you can't find the Trex you can use lard. I had a customer that had could not eat shortening so I had to use lard. Worked out fine and tasted ok.
Diane
https://eleganzacakes.sharepoint.com
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Diane
https://eleganzacakes.sharepoint.com
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post #4 of 13
2/2/10 at 8:13pm
My bet is your not kneading your fondant enough. I know there are some ppl that say 'don't overknead'... and I used to do that... and ALWAYS had the same cracking around the top that you're talking about. Now I knead it quite thorougly til it's well and truly pliable on just a little bit of cornflour... not icing sugar as that dries it out quicker (so I've been told). Also, if you're adding fat to premade fondant, only add the tiniest amount, your fondant will be practically unusable if you use too much. Here's a link for how to apply fondant to a cake that's helped me in droves... The 'sealing the top' first is also the trick to no cracks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We26gwKS_tw
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post #5 of 13
2/2/10 at 8:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsilvest

If you can't find the Trex you can use lard. I had a customer that had could not eat shortening so I had to use lard. Worked out fine and tasted ok.



I understand a "one time" need to use .........lard............because of a dietary issue, but please, please, don't use it unless it IS because of a dietary issue.
It is a meat product. It goes rancid when exposed to air faster than vegetable shortening, and certain brands can impart some flavor to other things.

JMHO
Rae
I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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post #6 of 13
2/3/10 at 2:38am
Thread Starter 
I haven´t been able to find Trex in Dublin yet. I think i may need to order it from the UK at some stage.

I once used lard, not really happy with that since it´s animal fat and may added flavour.

I´ll try to cut back on the icing sugar, altough i try not use to much. I always though that conrflour make the fondat dried out faster tahn icing sugar, i´ll give it a try.

Thanks for the help!!!!
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post #7 of 13
2/4/10 at 10:29am
Your fondant must be drying out. Either you are adding too much corn starch or powdered sugar to it or you are taking too long rolling it out. Of course I don't know the fondant that you are referring to.
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post #8 of 13
2/4/10 at 1:52pm
....and the longer you knead it, the more time you have to roll it out. But dont' 'stretch' it when you knead it, just do it 'compactly'. The more you stretch it, then you're more likely to get those nasty air bubbles! Knead, knead, kead!
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post #9 of 13
2/5/10 at 4:06am
Thread Starter 
Thanks!

I got you all. Try yesterday again with another cake. I think i found the mayor problem. I change my table top, the other one i have before, kind of "sweat" too much wich make me used extra cing sugar which dried out the fondant an mak it craked.
The one i cove yesterday seems much better that the last 2.
Thanks all fo your suggestions. Even tought i´ll try to get that famous Trex, just in case.
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post #10 of 13
2/9/10 at 9:55pm
I solved my dry fondant issue.....ordered a food-safe silicone mat from www.globalsugarart.com

Sharon Zambito uses one in her cake videos and I finally broke down and spent the $$$ to get one! What a difference!! You lightly (and I really mean "lightly") grease the silicone mat and roll the fondant out directly on it. The shortening keeps the fondant from sticking to the mat and bypasses the need to use cornstarch or powdered sugar to prevent the sticking issue.

Hope this helps!
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post #11 of 13
2/13/10 at 9:25pm
Check your thickness. You may be rolling it too thin.
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post #12 of 13
2/14/10 at 7:14pm
I found that corn starch dries out my fondant and makes it crack too. I do have one flexible cutting board that I bought at the dollar tree that I can roll out wilton fondant on without sugar or starch dusting but not MMF, I think I should invest in one the special fonant mats.
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post #13 of 13
2/14/10 at 7:19pm
I found that corn starch dries out my fondant and makes it crack too. I do have one flexible cutting board that I bought at the dollar tree that I can roll out wilton fondant on without sugar or starch dusting but not MMF, I think I should invest in one the special fonant mats.
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