AI do cake decorating but I'm not that good. I have trouble getting my fondant or gumpaste to look smooth when the product is finished. I see all these cakes on here and they don't have any lines in them at all. How do I make it so my fondant I smooth without looking like there is a big line in the middle?
I learned from the pros on here to let my cakes sit overnight after crumbcoating to let them "settle" before covering with fondant or a final coat of buttercream. It really does help. Some people even place a weight on top of the cake to avoid getting a bulge. I haven't found that necessary, but I also don't use elaborate fillings in my cakes.
You need to make sure that your undercoat is perfect before you apply the fondant, otherwise it is like putting a freshly ironed sheet over a bed covered in rumpled newspaper, no matter how smooth the fondant is it is going to pick up and accentuate every flaw in the basecoat. The line in the middle means that you have either overfilled your cake with filling , or you dam is not holding or haven't allowed your cake to settle , the filling may also be to runny.
Once my base is perfect , I then roll out my fondant , I usually use a smoother before I shift it onto the cake .
I then carefully place it on the cake , secure the top and about the top inch of the sides and then carefully work my way around the cake securing the icing as I go and pulling out any wrinkles or creases before I secure it. Then I use a piece of acetate , to give it a good going over and smoothing.
That's what I thought you meant ;-)
You just need to keep Kneading until those marks go away. It should be pretty soft already when you start, I nuke mine for about 12 seconds, flip it, and nuke for about 8 more seconds, then knead on a lightly greased table, with lightly greased hands. I keep a little pile of grease handy, stuck to the table, in case I need more. When you put the soft pile of fondant on the table, before you grab the rolling pin, you need to make sure you have the smoothest part of the ball facing up, with any folds and wrinkles on the underside. I roll on cornstarch, sprinkled on the table with a pastry brush.
That's what I thought you meant ;-)
You just need to keep Kneading until those marks go away. It should be pretty soft already when you start, I nuke mine for about 12 seconds, flip it, and nuke for about 8 more seconds, then knead on a lightly greased table, with lightly greased hands. I keep a little pile of grease handy, stuck to the table, in case I need more. When you put the soft pile of fondant on the table, before you grab the rolling pin, you need to make sure you have the smoothest part of the ball facing up, with any folds and wrinkles on the underside. I roll on cornstarch, sprinkled on the table with a pastry brush.
I'm so glad to hear you say that you "nuke" your gum paste! I do the same, and once I suggested this to a person with a similar problem to the OP and someone jumped on me and said "Never microwave your gum paste! It will ruin it!" It's never ruined mine and sure helps with the softening and kneading.
I have degenerative arthritis that grew up from juvenile arthritis, and a wrist that was broken and didn't heal properly. If I don't soften it up in the microwave, I will seriously hurt myself. It work very well, and I am able to get a beautiful finish.
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