I am working on a cake and I have to use black fondant so I am using Satin Ice because it's dairy free (required for this cake). The bottom is a faux tier (9" square)   I have torn off the fondant twice because of elephant skin.  The thing is,  I have not used any powder sugar or cornstarch. 

I'm getting very concerned cause I will have to start the real cake soon and no time to get new fondant.  Is there something I can do to fix this or any ideas on what I am possibly doing wrong?

Thanks so much in advance,

Jeanne

I posted this in the wrong forum - sorry but any help would be appreciated

Any idea?

Sadly, I find that to be the nature of SI black.  It's so saturated with color that it's very prone to elephant skin.  I don't know what is necessarily dairy free, but I sometimes find that adding in some white fondant makes it better without changing the color of the black.  I've also added in some Fondarific/Duff's black, black candy clay, or dark chocolate SI.  I suppose a bit of glycerin could help, too, but I've never tried it.

Thanks for the reply.  I have some Duff and was hoping to use it but it is made with dairy products and the guy I'm making this for has a major lactose allergy.  SI is dairy free.

I was reading another thread where Annabakescakes was talking about how her DH over kneads her fondant and she has to let it cool and rest - I'm doing that now but not holding out high hopes. 

Kinda hoping for a CC miracle - LOL   I really appreciate you getting back to me.

Jeanne
 

ACan you make/use some marshmallow fondant instead?

I let the fondant rest for about 5 hours assuming I overworked it and tried again. It's a little grainy but I will be using other decorations so that should help.

Thank you all for your help.

I haven't been on here very much in the past couple days, I wish I had seen this sooner to help! I would also recommend adding a bit of white fondant, since the black is so saturated. Second, handling it as little as possible and don't let it get too warm. I guess you figured that out, though :-) 

It's no doubt too late, but when I overwork the Satin Ice, I add a little glucose and it turns it back to good fondant. Corn syrup might work, but I haven't tried it.
 

UPDATE:  So I finished and delivered the cake.  I am calling it MY ASIAN HOT MESS.  I am posting it here cause I don't think I want to put it in the CC Gallery.  Taken at the restaurant.

The party loved it and the restaurant staff were impressed but I was completely embarrassed by the top tier. I never got the little corner designs on cause of all the time I spent trying to save this.   It is pretty sad when the faux tier is the best part - lol

Anna, how come you didn't come and rescue MY cake like that wedding cake you did?  only a ten hour drive for you - no biggy 

This is what I learned:

• Avoid dairy free ganache. it doesn't really set up nice and hard, making corners impossible.
• Avoid black fondant for covering cakes -  Airbrush is on my B'day list
• Utilize Paneling technique - this would've solved most of the problems
• Check out venue before hand.  The restaurant private room was next to the kitchen (NO AC)  That room must have been 87 degrees.  I was there ten minutes and I pointed out how the fondant and ganache are going to have problems. I left with a warning about keeping it cool. 
• Always and I mean always appreciate when others don't see what you do - LOL

PS  I moved the bottom orchid to this corner to hide things - :0)

That is a beautiful cake! well done! we are our worst critics.

A whole inch? What kind of cake and filling was it? I have had that happen with really tender cakes and fruit fillings. It is a bummer!

All in all the cake looks great! The design is awesome, the orchids are amazing, and you can see the talent in it, yes, the top tier is a little shiny and bumpy, but it really is hardly noticeable. You are definitely your worst critic, unless you have my husband, he points out things that I was ignoring, lol. It has made me better though, if only to shut him up ;-) 

I think it turned out really well!  We are our own worst critics.  Every time I have a cake that I think looks like crap, I take a deep breath and remind myself that most people's cake decorating skills are spreading green frosting out of a can onto a cake and sprinkling it with coloured sprinkles, and that is what they are comparing my cake to in their heads when they get my cake (I try to think they're thinking, "wow, that's so amazing compared to my green icing with sprinkles" and not "wow, that looks like crap compared to what I've seen on cake boss".  They're usually thinking the former!)

Thanks.  Maybe not as bad as I thought.  I siad I wasn't going to post to the CC gallery but it showed up in Newest cakes from here.  It has 3 favs - you just never know.........
 

I think you did a great job! I had an over-worked fondant crisis a couple weeks ago with gray fondant. Ugh, it's such a pain. My top tier was a thorn in my side too, lumpy and sad. :(  I feel your pain!!!