I love baking cakes. I love decorating cakes. And I love the wonderful things I can do with buttercream and royal icing. But, I know have a desire to expand my knowledge and my abilities in cake decorating.

I want to learn how to use fondant. Any kind of fondant. The best, the worst, it really doesn't matter. I have read a lot of post regarding fondant. The good, the bad, and the ulgy, but I just haven't worked up the courage to make some or buy some and just play. So, I have decided to ask a couple, few...okay, a bunch of questions before I get started.

1. When I add color, do I just knead it in like bread dough?

2. How fast do I need to work with fondant before it starts drying up on me?

3. Do I need a different fondant for sculpting/modeling than for rolling out and covering the cake?

4. Does the Wiltons fondant recipe taste better than the Wiltons pre-made stuff?

5. Can I sculpt with MMF just the same as the Wiltons fondant?

6. I don't understand how come the fondant doesn't bunch at the bottom of the cake. Mathmaticaly it just doesn't work. I mean, the fondant is rolled out flat, then it is laid on the cake, and it hangs over the edge with little waves because there is more fondant than there is cake surface on the sides of the cake. How does that work? How do you get it smooth without any overlaping?

I think I have made this long enough for right now. As you can see, I don't have a teacher in this po-dunk town. So, I am relying you all for help. And this doesn't even cover my questions on flower making.

Also, I wan't to say how wonderful you all are on this forum and thank you so much for all of your help.

Okay, I don't consider myself an expert by any means but i can answer a few of your questions

1. Yes
2. really depends on how dry of an environment you are working in. The moister the air the longer the dry time.
3. I use the same for most everything. I use gumpaste for anything that i want/need really hard and solid and to dry quickly.
4: YES
5. sorry i don't know never used the stuff
6.It will work out, sometimes you just cant question too much. IF you raise your cake up off the work surface abit the fondant will then bunch below your cake. And if you get a wrinkle or two, thats what flowers are made for. Just hide them.

You know...the one thing that I cannot get right is to smooth that darn fondant. I almost always get at least one area to bunch.....I think raising the cake off the surface might just work!

This is why I need to take a class...to show me all those necessary tips!

Thanks peg!

Okay, I have one more question. I was reading in the Wilton's year book and they mentioned adding a flavor to their pre-made fondant. Has anyone tried this? Does it help with the flavor?

Thanks again!

I have only worked with fondant a few times but I will share the little experience I do have. I have used Wilton's pre-made fondant before and it is great to work with but the taste is AWFUL!!! and flavoring is does no good! I did try to make fondant once and that was a disaster because it wasn't elastic enough. I use Satin Ice pre-made fondant. Tastes GREAT, is great to work with and you can get it pre-colored so you don't have to kill your hands to color a large batch. I get mine from www.thebakerskitchen.com. I have used fondant to make decorations but I prefer using gumpaste because it doesn't get as mushy as fondant while your working with it. It tends to hold it's shape better and I feel you can do more with it (Satin Ice also have a gumpaste).
As far as the fondant bunching on the bottom, you just have to work with it. As your laying it over the sides you have to stretch it a bit so that it lays flat. It will work, it just takes practice. Also, having a fondant smoother helps immensely. It gets the bubbles out and gives you a nice smooth, flat finish.
I hope this helped and wasn't confusing,
Good luck,
Heather