Hi everyone!
I am a beginner cake maker, just made my fourth cake and I am so frustrated!!
No matter what I do the fondant seems to crack or does not have a smooth finish.
I stopped using confectioners sugar and just used shortening to
Stop it from sticking, I bought a silicone mat to help and still
It is a disaster!

When I lay the fondant over the cake and begin smoothing it seems to thin out and the butter cream starts seeping through.

I want my cakes to be totally smooth and this problem with the fondant is stressing me out. I don't know if my buttercream is to creamy or my fondant isn't thick enough.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance



Leanne

First, don't get frustrated...it's only your 4th try.

About how thick are you rolling your fondant and what kind do you use?

What kind of buttercream do you use?

It took me a good year to get used to using fondant. You just have to practice, practice practice! If its too thick it will crack, if you have too much buttercream under it it will seep out (I use a little thicker than a crumb coat), and if you have too much excess (for me anyways) it pulls the fondant and rips it. Also, make sure your buttercream is smooth underneath, because if its not, the fondant wont be smooth after it settles, it will show all the bumps.

It also helps to use cornstarch to keep it from sticking to your mat and counter.

As has been mentioned it sounds like you are rolling it too thin and using to much b'cream under it.
Have you tried rolling thicker? Using less b'cream?
What recipe or brand of fondant are you using?
Yes, the undercoat/b'cream needs to be as smooth as possible- and before that the cake its self needs to be smooth - before adding the fondant.

Thanks for the advice So far!
I'm using regal-ice fondant. My buttercream doesn't seem to crust could that also be the problem?
I bought fondant spacers from lindy smiths website which roll the fondant to a 1/4 of an inch.
The BC recipe I'm using is just unsalted butter with confectioners sugar added until I've got the right consistency, oh and a drop of vanilla essence.
Could anybody recommend a good BC recipe that will crust really well?
Before I posted last night I had just covered two tiers in fondant. The smaller tier I had a major problem with and that was definitely too much BC. I peeled the ruined fondant off, scraped the BC off so only a very thin coating was there. The fondant then went on better but still wasn't totally smooth. :-S

My advice to you would be to use ganache. It crusts with no problems and smooths out perfectly too. It's a dream to cover in fondant but more than anything is experience so you just have to keep at it until you find a formula that works for you.
good luck!

fondants differ from brand to brand.. not sure if i saw it mentioned above, but are you rolling your fondant in corn starch? i had problems doing that at first- i make my own mmf - recipe found here at cc- the page 1 of the directions says to use corn starch in rolling it out with but i found through others experience here to use just powdered sugar. also you can work alittle crisco in with yours as you knead it up- if anything try a half tsp at a time of corn syrup (light) helps it become nice soft and pliable, less tears, dont use the CS if your planning on using the fondant for figurines etc. just covering cake.

Thanks for the great advice! GenGen has Inboxed me a BC recipe and I will have a look for a ganache one. I will be experimenting for the next few weeks.
Love this website, it has been the biggest help to me since I started baking

Hi there,

I am also a beginner at this amazing world of cake decorating. Ive made 10 in total now ( i think) and i also had the same problem and im pretty sure i posted the same question.

I had a great piece of advice which is, once you have done your crumb coat to then place in the fridge which will harden the buttercream and then makes it easier to place you fondant on top.

I have also come across an amazing video on youtube from a women using ganache and the technique she uses to get it smooth and straight, AMAZING, TOTALLY WORKS. My last two cakes i used this technique on and what difference. Gives the cake a way better taste then butter cream. Not to intensley sweet. Also you can make your ganache how you like, you dont have to follow her way of doing it. I have tweeked the techique (cut corners).

Search "inspiredbymichelle" (all one word) on youtube and you wont look back. Takes some time to get it perfect. I most certainly havent got my technique near perfect. Its a 3 part video turial, she has numbered them 1-3. Good luck and let me know how you get on and if you tried it.

Tina.