I followed everything Sharon Zambito said in the flawless fondant dvd. My fondant covered cake was actually flawless. I was so proud. Did a photoshoot and everything.

(See Image 1)

Then about an hour later.....

This happened: (See image 2)

It started while it was in the car. I repaired it a little. Looked ok. Client loved it. Even later when it obviously looked wrong. Nobody seemed to notice or ever mentioned anything.(I know someone had to see it). I even got two orders from it.

Flash forward to today. Covered a two-tiered cake. Again, the fondant is fine. No air bubbles. No elephant skin. No Tears. Nothing. Then about an hour later. The freakin puffing starts up. I did leave the cake out so that the fondant could "sweat it out and harden". Didn't really do what it was supposed to do. (Although another cake I had went perfectly well with this method. Its sitting on counter with nothing wrong with it). Currently the two tiered cake is sitting in the fridge. The fondant hardened up a little and the puffing is a little stable. I don't think it will be fine during its 3 hr trip to its destination tomorrow. Very worried.

Has anybody else had this happen to them? What should I do differently?

(Used Satin Ice)

So disappointing cause the first pic really was flawless! It's your cake settling, not a fondant problem. Maybe let it settle longer before covering? Is your support system strong enough that the upper cakes aren't putting pressure on the lower cake?

How long did you let the cake settle before applying the fondant? Was the cake cold when the fondant was applied? How warm was it in the car?

I am by no means an expert, but in the photos you posted it looks less like a problem with the fondant and more like a problem with the weight of the "books" on top of the round cake. Are they made of cake also? What is the gavel (sp?) made out of? Did you dowel underneath them? Perhaps they are squashing the cake which accounts for the bulge. What size/shape was the other cake that this happened too?

definitely not the fondant's fault.

The one in the pictures and the one i'm doing today sat in the fridge over night. The books an gavel were made of rice krispies and white choc under the fondant. Everything was supported by the wilton wide plastic dowels. So is my cake today (6" & 8"). The cakes are cold while applying the fondant.

It was really hot in the car that day. We had the air conditioning on blast. Hasn't been that hot today. Just rainy. Never had a problem with this until it started getting warmer outside.

I've had problems with the plastic dowels supporting rkt... they tend to push into the heavy rkt on top, unless they are supported by a board. Maybe when you pulled them out of the cold fridge, they started to warm up and get soft and sink into the dowel center?

It isn't a fondant problem. It's either a settling problem or gases escaping from a cold cake under the fondant causing bubbles and then paired with a hot car the BC is probably melting under the fondant. Cake should be room temp when fondant is applied....I don't remember Sharon's DVD saying anything about refrigerating the cake. I do remember letting it settle overnight in a plastic bag at room temp..

Cold does matter when covering with fondant because you get air bubbles under it as the cake warms up (gas escaping).

So sad about what happened to your lovely cake. I am making my first sponge cake for a wedding this friday and fear this might happen to me, in my country we make mostly fruit cakes which are very firm. How long do we leave the cakes to stand before applying the fondant, does frosting mean putting in the fridge or freezer

So next time I should just fill the cakes and let them sit in the fridge overnight. No crumb coat or anything? Just cake and center filling with the dam piped around the middle?

How can you tell if your cake has finished settling? If I were to have a buttercream cake would this still happen ? Or is it the weight of the fondant and the trapped gases doing this? (I'm used to crumb coating and then icing a cake fully before it sits overnight. We do this at the bakery I work at, as we do not have time to let a crumbcoated cake settle before icing.)

Also, how do you cover a room temp cake in fondant without crushing it? I have had very bad luck with covering room temp cakes as my cakes are on the softer side. Not as dense.

are you fridging b/c you have perishable ingredients?

In the dvd i show how i fill and bag it, let it settl overnight at room temp. next day crumbcoat, flash freeze for 5-8 minutes then cover in fondant and leave at cool room temp.

I never fridge because I use no perishable fillings.

if you covered your cake while it was very cold and then went to a very warm environment, that could have caused it.

also, what cake recipe, is it a firm cake?

I am also curious. What cake recipe did you use?

I also chill my cake before covering with fondant like Sharon does and I also don't refrigerate my cakes. I never use perishable fillings so there isn't a need to.

What would you do if you use perishable fillings? I will be using fresh strawberries and a vanilla mousse on Friday and it has to be kept cold overnight. I was planning on filling Thursday night and decorating Friday for a wedding on Saturday. Do you think the strawberries will be ok from Thursday until Saturday or should I fill Friday morning and decorate Friday evening? TIA.

I would wait until Friday.

I've had this happen to me once. I used white choc ganache under fondant and after awhile huge air bubbles appeared around sides, just like your cake. I put it down to the ganache setting and the fondant not sticking to cake after being covered. Only because when I cut the cake the fondant wasn't stuck to the cake! Planet Cake method does suggest to apply a syrup over ganached cake which helps fondant stick to cake. Which I have done in the past when I've used dark choc ganache, but was in a hurry trying a new recipe and cake was only for us!!

I used a doctored recipe. My cake was on the softer side. Wasn't really dense.

There were 5 supports under the books. One under the gavel.

Im a bit confused. I have worked at two bakeries. Both torted, filled, crumbcoated, and fully iced their cakes the day before it went out. They sat in the fridge overnight then got decorated the day they were going out. Since then I have heard that doesn't always work. I haven't had luck at all with everything being at room temp. (Im not great at perfectly smoothing icing when the cake isn't cold). Is the cake supposed to be settling in the fridge, uncoated? Overnight? Is the method the same for buttercream cakes? Do they need to settle too? Wat about putting a fondant covered cake in the fridge? I was taught to put it in the fridge at one place and not too at the other.

I was shown so many different things by so many people, I just adopted various methods. Im still trying to find what works for me and my business.

Thinking about getting Sharon's Buttercream DVD. I feel like im missing a bit of knowledge on the whole technique.

I never refrigerate my cakes, decorated or not. I don't use perishable fillings because I don't like dealing with the issuse that refrigerating cakes can/do cause.

[/b]

I do what mamarobin does - no fillings that require refrigeration here.

what icing did you use under your fondant? if it had crusted then I would've coated the cake with a light syrup so that the fondant can stick to the cake. Because these definately look like air bubbles to me. From my experience if the fondant isn't sealed to the cake, air is trapped and it seems to get worse......only my theory but if fondant isn't sticking to something when you are using your smoothers you are pushing air around under the fondant....

Very interesting!! So, what recipe for a syrup do you ladies use to brush over the crusted buttercream or ganache? I would like to get that recipe! Also, I guess nobody used SMBC under their fondant? That is what I have been using (mostly) and therefore have to refrigerate, which is a pain!

I have had a similar problem, though less bubbling, when I used a crusting buttercream and Satin Ice fondant. I forgot to spray it with a mist of water (which was another suggestion) and thought that perhaps this was the problem. I have never had this problem with SMBC a the fondant adheres to it as it warms a bit.

Mamawrobin and sugarshack, PLEASE PLEASE direct me to a few non-perishable fillings you like? I LOVE Warren Brown's (Cakelove) IMBC, it contains the cooked egg whites so I assume not non-perishable. Have not been able to find a tried-and-true, please help!

Silly question...are you supposed to "wet" the crusted buttercream in order for the fondant to adhere?

I use a damp paper towel, VIVA, to lightly dampen the buttercream before applying the fondant.

I've had the same thing happen before, somewhere on here there is a post about this, but no idea where. anyway, I fill my cakes, set a cardboard round on top with light pressure (eg: hard back book or something not to heavy) for a few hours to speed up settling, I crumb coat and chill in the fridge...not because of perishable, but for easy of applying fondant, apply the fondant and then put covered cake back in the fridge for several hours. The thread said something about putting room temp fondant on a cold cake didn't allow gases to escape, but if you put cake in fridge it brings the fondant to the same temp as the cake....as I'm writing this it sounds a little odd, but I've not had any problems since I started doing this hope this helps.

I used Sharon's Flawless Fondant DVD for the first time this weekend to make my school bus cake. It was great. It was the first time my fondant came out so nicely and I had no problems with it. I only did the flash freeze for about 9 mins. Worked like a charm. I use a travel bottle/spritzer filled with vanilla and mist a little on my cake to adhere my fondant to the buttercream. I've never had any problems with that.

DREME~~ Your cake was beautiful!!! I only hope I can one day get to your skill level. Do you live in a hot and humind environment? If you do, I wouldn't recommend refrigerating your cakes over night. I learned my lesson once. I put the cake in the fridge and then did my decorating the same way I did when I lived in WA state, a colder and much dryer place than Florida. Well, about 2 hours after I had finished decorating, the cake "melted," down the sides. Everything ran together. My clowns looked like they were peeing down the side of the cake. The grease from the buttercream layers seeped into the cake causing the cake to taste gooey. It was horrible, and I learned a valuable lesson. I now keep my cakes at room temperature outside of the flash freeze before icing. I also bake my cakes in the morning. They settle while I'm at work. I then fill them when I get home and they settle overnight. I start decorating the next day.