How to Cut a Fondant Cake

Fondant is a claylike icing that is rolled out and used to cover cakes. Most of the time the cake is first iced with a buttercream or similar frosting, and then covered with the fondant to give a smooth and sleek look. The fondant can be molded into figures, embossed and cut out to create and endless variety of cake decorations. Coloring can be added to the fondant to make any color of the rainbow. Fondant can make cake cutting slightly more difficult, but following these directions will help make it a smooth process.

Things You'll Need

• Fondant-covered cake
• Serrated knife
• Cake server
• Clean towels
• Serving dish

Instructions

1. Clean the work area to ensure that there are no crumbs or stray icing that could get on the cake. Have the knife, cake server, clean towel and plates all readily available for plating.

2. Cut the cake using the serrated knife. If the cake is a layer cake, disassemble it and start with the largest layer. Begin cutting in the middle of the cake and slice downward.

3. Place the cake on the plate using the cake server. Be sure to wipe off the knife before cutting the next piece of cake. This will keep all of the cut pieces of cake looking neat with no clumps of icing.

Tips & Warnings

• The trick to cutting smoothly through the fondant is using a serrated knife. A dull knife or a smooth knife will pull and rip the fondant.

• Be sure to wash hands thoroughly before handling any cake.

• The fondant should have a dry feel to it, known as crusting, and should not be hard to cut through.

• Be careful when handling knives and cutting the cake.

References

• Peggy's Baking Corner: Fondant Icing
• Wilton: Decorating With Fondant
• Pastry Chef Central: Rolled Fondant Cake Covering Procedures