Hi.... I am a newbie with fondant and today I was trying to put fondant on a round dummy cake. Everytime I put it on the dummy (that has been glazed with piping gel, and has the corner soften), the corner starts cracking and tearing off within 1 or 2 minutes. Then when I try to smooth the side (to remove th pleats), the fondant torn. I tried this for at least 8 times now and start getting frustated with fondant. Btw, I am using SatinIce fondant to do this.

I saw the video at www.atecousa.com and the guy in the video makes it seems so easy.... Any suggestion is highly appreaciated. Thanks in advanced.

try icing under fondant, just crisco BC don't need flavoring HTH

When I put fondant to a dummie, I always try to make it a little bit thicker in order to prevent cracks, this helps me with the MMF, hope it helps,

happy baking!!

Were you rolling your fondant nice and thick? Roll it about 1/4" thick...that will really help prevent the ripping and tearing.

Maybe you have the fondant too thin? The styrofoam dummies don't give in the same manner a soft cake would - that is probably why it is cracking. I am nowhere near a pro at fondant, actually quite new, but whenever I roll my fondant too thin it is more prone to stretching and tearing. Also, if you have rolled it much larger than needed, the weight of the excess fondant will pull it down and cause more tearing. Hope this helps also! Don't give up - keep trying!

i have never used fondant myself but from what i always hear aren't you suppose to completely ice the cake in a buttercream? unless you were already doing that..and previously stated, fondant shouldn't be too thin right? i am thinking of trying out fondant for the first time this weekend actually, i hope i don't have the sme problem. well, good luck! i hope that helped!

Thanks all for the reply.

Yes, I think I have rolled it pretty thick... I think it's about 1/4 inch already. I almost thought that it's too thick since it's giving me hard time when I tried to smoothen the pleats. Round cake really give me much trouble than square cake.

I am using piping gel since I want to preserve the dummy... well maybe I should just use buttercream if I keep on failing.

Or maybe since I rolled it so many time... maybe there are too much corn starch & crisco absorbing to the fondant? Is it possible?

I use fondant (We call it Plastic icing or RTR) all the time
To cover dummy cakes I trim the edges just a little bit so their not so sharp. I then brush brandy over it so the icing will stick (You can use water but I find it doesnt stick as well as brandy) and once I have rolled it out and put it on I smooth it with the palms of my hands doing corners first for square holding the icing up and smoothing the icing in an upwards motion so the icing wont rip. Once you the icing have stuck it shouldnt crack or rip. Do all your corners first and then do your sides.
Fondant is an art form of its self.
Hope this is some help... Its hard to explain in writting...

You are rolling your fondant way too thick. If necessary I cover the cake twice with two thin coatings of fondant. Especially for a dummy cake , it will make it look very nice. Also , I think your fondant could have been old. It loses it's elasticity and it isn't easy to work with that way. I have on occasion run into this problem and you can pop it in the micro for a few secs, re-knead it quickly and get it on your cake. I work with fondant every day and I too have trouble when it's not fresh. Hope that helps