How to cover a cake with fondant
It may look complicated and impossible to do, but covering a cake with fondant is quite simple. All it tasks is a lot of patience and a bit of practice. You can make your own fondant using marshmallows and icing sugar, but if you’re new to working with fondant, I recommend practicing with the store-bought variety. It’s much more forgivable and pliable.
Step 1: Bake and layer your cake with your favouite filling. Using buttercrea
m, crumb coat the entire cake to prevent any annoying crumbs from interfering with your fondant. Place in fridge to allow the icing to harden slightly.
Step 2: Lightly dust your working surface with icing sugar to prevent your fondant from sticking. Knead the fondant to warm it up and then start to roll the fondant. You want to ensure your fondant is large enough to cover the top and sides of the cake. If you roll it too thin, it will tear when you
place in on the cake, so make sure it’s relatively the same thickness everywhere. I alternate between rolling and flipping the entire rolled fondant to ensure there is an adequate coating of icing sugar at all times to prevent sticking.
Step 3: Once you’re confident you can cover the entire cake, bring the cake out of the fridge. Fold the fondant sheet in half – now this is
the tricky part. You need to support the entire sheet to prevent
it from tearing. I take the folded sheet and drape it over my arm to support it during the transition to
the cake. Once I have it where I want it, I gently put it into place.
Step 4
: Smooth the top of the fondant and cut the extra away from the edges – make sure you leave enough to reach the bottom of the cake. You can use your hands or a special fondant smoother, either way works. The trick to getting the fondant flat around the sides, is to take your time and lift the excess while smoothing it down the sides.
Lift and smooth, lift and smooth and move slightly to the right, lift and smooth, lift and smooth and move slightly to the right – you get the idea. If it doesn’t look neat and tidy when you’re done, not to worry. You can hide any imperfections with fondant shapes or other edible decorations!
