How to Cover a Cake with Fondant

Fondant provides a perfectly smooth canvas that you can decorate.

Flexible rolled fondant can make a cake look glamorous and exquisite when used properly. This material is somewhat like a dough that needs to be rolled out to a size large enough to cover the cake, and then is draped over the cake A smooth finish is what makes the cake look its best when you are dealing with rolled fondant. Once you learn how to cover a cake with fondant, you can decorate the cake further with embellishments made from fondant cutouts.

Things You'll Need

• Rolled fondant
• Fondant smoother
• Iced cake
• Large coffee can
• Sharp knife or pizza cutter
• Rolling pin
• Cornstarch or powdered sugar
• Straight pin

Instructions

1. Ice a baked cake with a thin layer of buttercream icing in the flavor of your choice.

2. Place the fondant on a clean surface sprinkled with a little bit of cornstarch or powdered sugar to keep the fondant from sticking. Use a rolling pin to roll out the fondant to a thickness of about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch.

3. Roll the fondant out so it's longer than the cake itself. Before you place the fondant over the cake, measure it with a measuring tape and add 2 more inches to ensure it's going to cover the whole cake.

4. Place the rolled-out fondant on top of the rolling pin. Drape the fondant onto the iced cake. Place the cake on top of a large coffee can.This will make it easier to smooth out the fondant.

5. Glide the fondant smoother across the top of the cake to remove any air bubbles or wrinkles. Continue smoothing down the side. Go all around the cake as if you were ironing a shirt. If air bubbles crop up, pierce them with a pin and smooth down again.

6. Trim off excess fondant hanging past the cake with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Take the cake off the coffee can, place on a cake circle or stand and decorate as desired.

Tips & Warnings

• If there are stubborn wrinkles in the fondant, consider covering them with decorations after you're done applying the fondant.

• Never leave a fondant-covered cake in the refrigerator overnight because the condensation will ruin the finished work.

References

• Wilton: Covering Cakes with Rolled Fondant