first time fondant users

U can buy fondant from any good cake decorating supplier. Measure your cake from end to end & add roughly an extra 5-7 cms (for the overhang)

Gently work (knead) the fondant till it beomes soft & workable but dont over do it, Depending on your work surface you may want to dust a little cornstarch on the bench first to prevent sticking.

Roll your icing into a ball & flatten out slightly with your hand. Start rolling away from you, roll once & turn the fondant a quarter turn, keep repeating till you have rolled the icing to approx 1/4inch thick & to the measurment you have taken for the cake.

If you are using a ganache base, brush a little sugar syrup (water works too) over the ganche, gently lay your rolling pin on 1 end of the fondant & genlty roll until the fondant is wrapped around the rolling pin.

With 1 hand, Hold rolling pin to the bottom of 1 side of the cake (making sure there is that extra 5-7cm overhang on the board) & gently unroll icing while using your other hand to gently smooth the icing down (to eliminate air bubbles/pockets) as you cover the side, top & back down the other side.

Use smoothers to smooth & finish off the icing, any small air bubbles can be removed by using a pin to prick the them out & smooth over the icing again. cut off excess icing on the bottom within approx 2cms of the cake (icing will shrink back a little once its trimmed) & smooth in towards the cake, keep cutting a little at a time if you still have too much overhang.

Hope this is a little helpful. Its not as difficult as it seems, you could always google/u tube it. "Planet Cake" has a tutorial on icing cakes which you may find useful.

Good Luck!!

I would use Wilton if I don't have enough time to order Satin Ice online. I find the Satin Ice fondant easier to kneed plus it comes in a resealable container. 

Yeah the Satin Icing is really nice to work with but it does depend on the look your after. If your going to be doing more fondant work it may be worth investing in a tub of "Bakels" RTR icing the inital outlay is a little pricy but alot cheaper in the long run & does last a long time if stored correctly. :-)

If it is your first time using fondant I would go with Wilton's because it's cheaper and easier to get. Depending upon how long it's been on the shelf it can be rather hard then I've found out that it takes quite a bit of kneading. Once you get the hang of using fondant though, I'd use Satin Ice because it tastes much better and is slightly less gummy. When I roll it out either on waxed paper or a fondant mat I use shortening if the air is really dry but if it's humid (like most of the time where I live) I'd use powdered sugar or shortening. If I use powdered sugar or cornstarch once I am happy with the way it looks I use a large pastry brush to get that powder off before I decorate. I have never used Duncan Hine's pre-packaged frosting, but I think from what I've heard of it that it might be harder to get smooth than Wilton's Buttercream pre-packaged or their recipe.