Your next celebration cake can be transformed into a professional-looking cake with a clean, smooth finish, and it is very easy to create if some guidelines are followed. Here are my top recommendations (could there be any more T words?) for making a wonderful smooth cake.
Locate a fondant that works for you.
There are various brands to pick from, and each performs differently. Others brands dry up rapidly; some crack more than others, and some are quite sticky. You have to play Goldilocks and find the one that is exactly suitable for you. You can generally purchase little amounts of fondant to get a feel for it.
If you are a member of a sugar craft guild, chat with other members to acquire suggestions and guidance. Most users are eager to share their thoughts, as we all do, which is why this page exists.
Begin with a clean workspace.
When you work, if you’re anything like me, you’ll produce the sugar equivalent of a volcanic explosion. Fondant is prone to attracting dust and particles. You don’t want to discover that after your rolled-out fondant well adheres to your marzipan, there is a little lump that has to be taken away.
Place a layer of marzipan on top of the fondant.
Marzipan is sometimes disliked (as some people do), in which case fondant could be substituted. The purpose of this marzipan layer is to offer a sugar coating that will improve the final covering.
Allow at least 12 hours for the marzipan layer to solidify and offer an excellent foundation for your final fondant coating. If you skip the undercoat, you’ll wind up with something like one of the budget supermarket kids’ cakes in custom bakery boxes. These are good for youngsters who simply want to eat cake, but not for your lovely celebration cake.
Make your fondant.
Prior to coating your cake, knead your fondant. The quantity of kneading will depend on factors such as temperature; in the midst of summer, the fondant will likely be rather soft and may not need much kneading. If you don’t knead your fondant well enough, you’ll get a minor workout while rolling it. When the fondant has softened, put it in an airtight container until needed.
Sherry-brush your marzipan cake (the cake, not the inside of your mouth.)
At this stage, your marzipan cake should be on the cake board. I will ramble for a while. One of my pet peeves is when individuals labor so hard to construct a cake that they are extremely proud of, only to showcase it on an exposed silver cake board.
It takes around 15 minutes to cover a cake board with fondant, and you may prepare it ahead of time to allow it time to firm before putting the cake on. You may color coordinate it with your cake to give it a more professional appearance. Okay, my rant is finished.
Coat your cake using a no-lose black paintbrush. This way, if any of the hairs fall out, you’ll be able to see them and remove them simply. I must add that I have never had one of these brushes shed a single hair. Brush the sherry over the marzipan sparingly yet thoroughly.
If you wet the brush, it will drop down and darken the fondant on the board. In addition, the fondant will bubble up when you apply it to the base of the cake. If you don’t properly cover the cake, you’ll wind up with air bubbles between the marzipan and fondant. Rosewater or boiling water might be substituted with alcohol.
Unroll your fondant.
This should be done on a clean and dry surface. For this, I use a nonstick cutting craft mat. These may be purchased at art and craft stores as well as haberdashery stores. It is also possible to roll out directly onto a clean surface. When rolling fondant, use your rolling pin as a reference to determine what size the rolled fondant piece should be. You can use white fat for fondant sticks (note the word little.
Roll out the rolling pin and measure the edges and top of the cake with your thumb as a guide. Once you’ve laid out the entire length on the pin, you’ll know how broad and deep to roll the fondant.
You must ensure that the rolled fondant includes any areas that are longer than the rolling pin, such as the sides and the top of a cake. Phew! I hope that was clear. The thickness of your rolled fondant should be around 0.5 cm. To achieve consistent thickness, you may purchase spacers to put around your fondant. Alternatively, you might rely on your own judgment and obtain an even coating without paying any money.
Roll the fondant.
Use a rolling pin to roll out the fondant onto the cake. The rolling pin should be placed at the edge of the fondant the furthest away from you. Roll it back towards you, allowing the fondant to cover the top.
Keep in mind that if you have a particularly big piece of fondant, you will need to roll the pin back so that the fondant overlaps a lot. You’ll know whether you have enough overlapping when you pick up your fondant.
You’ll have it fall off the rolling pin in a mess if you don’t. The good news is that you may be able to retrieve it before it attaches itself. But if not, you may curse briefly before restarting.
Cover the cake with fondant.
Ensure that the cake is close to the rolled fondant before lifting it onto a cake in custom bakery boxes. This will prevent you from having to transfer the fondant too far. Lift the fondant with either end of the rolling pin and align the bottom border with the side of the cake. Allow for slightly additional fondant at the cake’s foundation. Over the top of the cake, lower the fondant going away from you.
As you drop the fondant onto the marzipan, smooth it down and release any air bubbles between the two layers with your fingertips. Smooth the fondant on the cake’s side. When the fondant on the top of the cake is smooth, use your palms to press the fondant onto the marzipan on the sides of the cake. Smooth the fondant along the edge of the cake in bakery boxes wholesale, removing air bubbles as you go.
Remove any extra fondant from the cake’s foundation.
With your tiny fingers at the base of the cake, place your hands on the edge, palms down. Run your hands firmly around the cake, pushing gently with your small fingers to ensure that the fondant is thoroughly bonded at the base of the cake. To remove extra fondant, run a palette knife along the base of the cake, flush with the side of the cake.
Don’t push down too hard on the palette knife since you don’t want a huge line around the fondant. It takes experience to be able to trim off the fondant without leaving rough edges, but don’t worry if you have a few ‘mouse holes’ around the bottom of the fondant. Ribbon or piping may be used to dress these up.