Covering Cakes with Fondant- A Cake Decorating Video Tutorial
In this cake video tutorial, I'll show you the basics of covering a cake with fondant.
Fondant is an edible sugar dough that is used all over the world to create beautiful cakes with a smooth finish.
Table of Contents
What Type of Fondant is Best?
There are many different opinions on the best brands or recipes of fondant.
Satin Ice and Wilton are good options and are not too expensive.
I use Liz Marek's recipe most often which is a combination of pre-made fondant and marshmallow fondant. You can find the link HERE. (I love it because it is more elastic, tastes like marshmallows, and I never have issues with elephant skin or tearing.
In this video, I cover my settled, buttercream crumb-coated cake with fondant rolled approx. ⅛" thick. I applied my buttercream slightly thicker than a usual crumb coat. Apply your frosting just thick enough to make the cake surface nice and smooth.
Using Ganache Beneath Fondant
You do not have to use buttercream beneath the fondant. In fact, many decorators prefer to use ganache frosting which is firmer and less likely to bulge.
Hop over if you'd like to see my Spreadable Ganache recipe in the Recipes section. It creates a really nice, sturdy foundation for fondant.
Steps for Covering Cakes with Fondant
Chilling the Cake
First, I like to place the frosted cake in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes just before covering with fondant. Chill until the frosting is nice and firm. If you skip this step, the frosting with shift as you apply the fondant.
Condensation
If you leave the cake in the freezer for too long (an hour or more), you will likely have condensation after applying the fondant.
You just want the outer layer of the cake to be chilled and firm when applying the fondant. However, if this happens to you, don't touch the fondant. Place the cake in front of a fan and the moisture will evaporate over time.
Rolling out the Fondant
While the cake is chilling, you can roll out your fondant. First, lightly grease the counter with a very thin layer of vegetable shortening. (Some decorators use a dusting of cornstarch or powdered sugar instead but I prefer shortening unless my fondant is very, very soft).
Roll the fondant to about ⅛ inch thickness (or less).
Covering the Cake
Remove the cake from the freezer.
Preparing the tier for fondant: I find that fondant adheres well to the chilled buttercream or ganache. If your crusted buttercream or your ganached cake seems too dry for fondant to adhere, mist it with a tiny bit of water or rub with a very thin layer of shortening.
Roll the fondant up onto a long rolling pin. (If it sticks to itself, you can dust it with a bit of powdered sugar.)
Unroll the fondant over the cake and then smooth the top and around the top edge of the cake first. This will keep the fondant from pulling down and tearing.
Then, work you way down around the sides. When the fondant wrinkles, just fluff/gently pull the fondant slightly away from the cake and go back in again, smoothing it around the sides.
Finally, trim away the excess with a pizza cutter or xacto knife.
More Fondant Cake Tutorials
We have other fondant tutorials that you may find helpful.
- Here is our tutorial on how to create and cover a cake with Marbled Fondant
Here is a tutorial on How to create and cover a ball/spherical shaped cake with fondant
In our Sledding Snowman Cake, you will see how I cover a spiral carved cake tier with fondant.
Here, we covered our Topsy Turvy Cake in fondant
And finally, How to Cover a Square Cake with Fondant
Enjoy the video!
We hope that you enjoy this quick video on covering cakes with fondant. You will notice that this is one of our older videos ;0)
We do plan to redo some of these oldies but until then-- the information and process has not changed over the years. I hope that you find it helpful!
Hi Melissa,
I haven't been a member of "my cake school" for a very long time, but I already LOVE it! The videos are so interesting and well done, I've already learned so much!! Before seeing your videos I didn't even know what fondant was, I always thought that all the pretty little animals on cakes are made of marzipan/almond paste and that cakes are covered with marzipan. I prefer the taste of marzipan rather than the one of fondant and so I wanted to ask if it would also be a good idea to work with marzipan instead of fondant/gum paste? I haven't found any video yet where you work with marzipan and I was wondering why :-)
Thanks a lot for your answer!
Greetings from Europe,
Tatjana
Hi Tatjana, thanks you for your nice comments about the site. Here in the US fondant is the product used. I think you could use marzipan instead of fondant/gumpaste to do your modeling. I know you can cover cakes with it also, we just have not given marzipan a try yet. I have read that marzipan is heavier than fondant so your cake would need to be more dense to hold up under the weight. Melissa actually bought marzipan recently and we want to learn more about it. Thanks for your post.
Hi Melissa,
you mention in this tutorial that you have put fondant cakes in the fridge covered with cling/plastic wrap. when you take them out of the fridge, do you remove the wrap immediately?
Thank you in advance :-)
Hi Cecilia-- Yes, when I do this, I do go ahead and take the plastic wrap off when I remove from the fridge.
My fondant is always too soft. Any tips for keeping it firmer?
Ashley, what brand fondant do you use?
Satin Ice or I make MMF from scratch.
my fondant has a habit of cracking and ripping, would it mean my fondant is rolled out too thick ??? i need help as I have a friends wedding cake to do and cant mess it up for them xx
Hi Angela-- what kind of fondant are you using?
The cracking makes me think that the fondant could be a little too dry. Does is feel too dry? You want to knead it a little before rolling it out...and if it is too stiff, you can even microwave it a little bit. Also, if I'm rolling out my fondant on a countertop, I prefer to lightly grease it with vegetable shortening first (rather than dusting with cornstarch or powdered sugar), as it is less drying. Another great option is to just roll it out on a silicone or vinyl mat--(I use "The Mat" when I go this route)--no prep needed.
Some fondants I think are simply more dry and a little more difficult to work with. You can try to improve the texture by kneading in some shortening or even some modeling chocolate to improve the consistency.
We use Satin Ice most often (followed by Duff's/Fondarific) and have been happy with these.
As for the thickness--1/4 inch to 1/8" is usually the recommended range...I usually roll mine closer to 1/8". To help prevent tearing, when you lay your fondant, quickly run your fingers over the top of the cake and then immediately around the top edge around the sides of the cake. Doing this will help the fondant to stay put rather than slowly pulling and stretching downward due to the weight of the fondant (which can cause tearing at the top edge).
Let us know if you have any more questions!
I'd still like some advice on how to keep my fondant from being so soft it won't drape over a rolling pin. It just sticks to itself and cause problems. I have dusted the counters and the rolling pin with powdered sugar and it still is very soft and almost appears wet.
Regarding the "how much fondant to use charts", do you know if they assume a 1/4" or 1/8" thickness?
Also, When I am kneading fondant, I find I have to keep adding crisco to my counter to keep from sticking...is this going to result in too soft fondant?
I'm new to your school and I'm enjoying it very much! I have a few questions...I'll be doing my 1st wedding cake in May. The bride wants fondant, I want to put either a whipped vanilla frosting that starts with a cooked milk & flour base then has granulated sugar & butter added or go with the swiss merguine buttercream. Would one be better then the other under fondant. What about refrigeration? The cake will be 3 tiered and needs to feed 200. Is there a rule of thumb on the minimum difference in circumfence of each tier, as well as the height of each tier? Thanks so much for your help!! Your both awesome