I recently decorated, delivered and cut/served a three-tiered fondant-covered cake on which two of the layers were over-wrapped with another band of patterned fondant. One of the layers also had dozens of small fondant flowers attached with royal icing.

When I cut the cake - with a sharp serrated knife - I had trouble with the double layer of fondant tearing and separating from the cake. The flowers added to the problem. Although the cake was gorgeous, I felt that my cutting seemed unprofessional and resulted in messy looking pieces of cake.

What do others do in this situation? This must be a problem with novelty wedding cakes....Does anyone ever remove the fondant before cutting and/or before serving?

Thank you for any ideas, suggestions, or discussion!

Get rid of the serrated knife. That's the main problem right there. Sharp smooth knives, for best results.

A serrated knife is ideal when you are torting a cake.

Mariacakestoo is correct.

You need a chef's knife, hot water and a clean hand towel. I dip in hot water, wipe clean, cut and repeat. I have also skipped the hot water and sliced and wiped the knife clean with a towel.

...as a fan of fondant I'd be really annoyed if the fondant was all peeled off prior to cutting!

I second the sharp knife and jug of boiling water & be sure to dry the knife inbetween cuts. Works like a charm.

I would probably remove the embellishments to make cutting easier. But a sharp knife does the trick just fine. I have seen people massacre a fondant cake using the cake serving sets that brides have on the table. Those knifes aren't sharp enough

Thank you so much for your advice! I will definitely give the really sharp chef's knife a try next month. You guys are the best