How To Cover A Cake With Fondant

For this post, I am going to talk about covering a cake with fondant, but I will go more into the decorations later.  Covering a cake with fondant is much easier than I expected it to be.  To prepare, bake and frost a cake (tips here and here).  I recommend the following supplies/tools:

1. Cake turntable: see my reasons in frosting tips.
2. Rolling pin with spacers: these make it easy to keep an equal thickness throughout your fondant.

3. Pizza cutter: this makes it easy to cut a nice clean line at the bottom of the cake.
4. Fondant smoother: this has been crucial in my cake experience, in getting even and smooth lines.



www.wilton.com

5. Pin: for removing air holes caught between the fondant and frosting.
6. Parchment paper: is the best for rolling fondant out on, without sticking.

There are lots of brands of fondant out there, and you can even make your own.  When I have the time, I make marshmallow fondant; I found the recipe I use here.  Sometimes, I don't have time to make fondant, so I buy it (or if I want black--black is not worth the effort).  I have tried Wilton's fondant, Satin Ice, and my latest--Fondarific. 

However silly it may sound, Fondarific is really terrific!  Of all the brands I have tried, this is the easiest to work with, and it tastes the best (no they aren't paying me for this--but maybe they should...).  When I used Fondarific, I didn't have to use sugar, cornstarch, or shortening to keep the fondant from sticking to the parchment or rolling pin.  When I use marshmallow fondant, I use crisco or cornstarch depending on the weather.

Ok!  Now that your cake is ready, flatten your fondant with your fingers and place on parchment paper.

Roll the fondant to desired size and thickness.

Try to center the fondant on your cake.  As you can see, I didn't do a great job.  You can pick the fondant up and try to fix it if it is too bad, but I thought it would work out.

This part is hard to get a picture of, but use the fondant smoother to smooth the top of the cake.  Then, use one hand to pull the fondant gently while you smooth the fondant down the cake with the smoother.  The fondant has some elasticity, so when you get a fold, gently pull it out and smooth down.

If you have any pockets of air between the fondant and the frosting, use a pin to make a tiny hole in the fondant.  Use your fingers to help expel the air from the pocket.

Use your pizza cutter to cut off all excess fondant.

When first decorating cakes, I recommend planning to use a ribbon around the base of each cake to help hide any folds/lines.

I will be linking this up at these fun parties.