How Do I Put Fondant On Cake Flawlessly?
Decorating By shimmering Updated 2 May 2011 , 5:15pm by Niki11784
I have been putting fondant on my cakes for quite some time now, but they never come out smooth. I was watching this show on tv, and she put a ton of icing on her cake and still her fondant came out smooth and had sharp edges. I thought we were not supposed to put that much icing and only crumb coat the cake when using fondant??
What do you guys do to get a perfectly smooth and well contoured cake with fondant?
Do you use any different king of icing. Any special recipe. And what consistency should the icing be?
Do you freeze your cake and then put fondant? Or just refrigerate it?
Also I get lots of folds at the foot of the cake. Is it because I roll my fondant small? Should I roll it much larger than the cake size? How many inches longer should I roll it?
I would love to get some tips. I know these are lots of questions? But I really want to improve the look of my fondant covered cake. Mostly they look like huge lumps of icing with very smooth rounded edges.
I'm glad you asked this...I need help too! I know when I put ganache under fondant it comes out alot better, very smooth with nice edges.....BUT I still get those folds when using buttercream!!!! Hopefully people will reply and help us both!! 
Oh my! I have the same problem basically! I also have the problem of the filling bulging out of the sides and you can see it through the fondant, maybe someone has a reply for that as well, to help me solve that problem! I also have another problem, how come my fondant doesn't stick to the butter cream once it's on the cake?
I'm hopeful of tips and tricks with this too! I have problems with folds at the bottom as well, and it does not seem to matter if I make the fondant piece larger, or closer to the cake size, or if it is hanging past the edges when the cake is elevated. I have learned not to put my BC crumb coat all the way to the bottom edge. I stop short so it doesn't squish out the bottom edges for a time consuming clean up. Along with learning to put on a very thin BC crumb coat. Anyway, the fondant folding, bunching, and or creasing at the bottom is a huge frustrating struggle 
I put a regular layer of buttercream on all of my fondant covered cakes. The key is to refrigerate the cake until the icing gets firm. Also alot of people put ganache under the fondant. They let the ganache set until firm as well. With fondant the key is to practice practice practice. To figure out how large of a piece you need to roll out is to take the height of the cake times 2 plus add the diameter of the cake and add a little more. For example if you have an 8 in round cake that is 4 inches in height you will need 4+4+8 and about an 1in more(just a personal preference) for a total of 17 in to cover that 8 in round. You start at the top of the cake and use a fondant smoother to smooth the top and get rid of air bubbles then you start at the top of the sides and smooth the top edge and go around and around until you get the bottom.
To answer the bulge question: you have to use a firm dam of buttercream so that it won't buldge and set it in at least a 1/4 from the edge and let your cake settle. There are a couple of methods, one to let it settle overnight and 2 put a cookie sheet over the top of the cake and put something heavy on it so that it will allow the cake to settle for a few hours. The second method is the faster one of course. After the cake settles scrape away any of the excess that has came out and frost as usual.
I use a full layer of BC too. I've never understood the crumbcoat theory as there is no cushion. If your cake is not even... your fondant won't be even either and with a full layer of BC it evens everything out.
I roll out the fondant bigger than I will need as it is easier to lay on the cake that way... so if I have an 8" cake that is 4" tall I will roll out a piece of fondant that is 20+" in diameter so I have enough to play with.
I don't elevate the cake off of the counter either to apply fondant. I find it easier to do if it is just flat on the counter.
This is the way I do it
Firstly let you cake settle, I normally bake the day before, then leave it in the fridge overnight. Fill the next morning and let it settle for a few hours. Some people on here (Leah maybe?) puts some weight on the cakes to make them settle faster
make sure that your buttercream coat, be it just a crumbcoat or a full layer, is as smooth as possible. Its like wearing ill fitting underwear, it will make the best dress look bad kwim
Ive swithced to ganache under my cakes, this goes fairly hard and the fondant layer is the very smooth. Im sure if you do the buttercream in the fridge you should get the same effect.
HTH
I have a fondant question that maybe someone can help me with please. When I put the fondant on it seems to have little cracks around the edge (where it bends over from top to sides). What is causing this? What do I do to correct it? I usually use Satin Ice. Perhaps I need to use something else?
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