Don't Be Scared Of Fondant! It's Easy Once You Know This!

so apparently a lot of you are scared scared of  covering cakes with fondant and in this video   we're going to go over it  step by step don't be scurrd hi it's Karolyn if you want to learn how to bake  and decorate amazing cakes and i'd love for you to   join me by hitting subscribe and the bell a few  weeks ago i put a little post on youtube asking   what do you what do you struggle with with cake  decorating and a lot of people said covering cakes   in fondant and it is something that takes a little  bit of practice but i want to go over for you guys   step by step how i do it and make it smooth and  beautiful and it can be a little intimidating   when you're first starting out but i don't want  you to be scared don't be scared we're going to   figure out how to do this i'm going to talk you  through the process so let's get into the video all right so i always work with marshmallow  fondant i know store brand fondants can be a   little finicky they can get elephant skin they can  be dry they can crack so i prefer to make my own   fondant i have a video showing you how i make  a marshmallow fondant and in that video i make   white and black so i will link that below i made  this yesterday and i wrapped it up and i put it in   an airtight container overnight for it to sit and  now i'm ready to work with it so i cannot cover   a cake with this fondant right away um i have to  work with it a little bit so let's see it's 11 54   right now and i want to see how much time it takes  for this fondant to get to the correct consistency   so with marshmallow fondant i'm gonna have to  pop it in the microwave for it to be uh workable   i need to warm it up a little bit so what i'm  gonna do i have a paper plate and i'm putting some   shortening on it so the fondant doesn't stick to  it and i'm going to pop this entire thing in the   microwave for about 20 seconds 20 to 30 seconds  flip it over and then do another 20 to 30 seconds   until it gets to a workable consistency i have  corn starch here so i'm going to sprinkle it down   so the fondant doesn't stick to the countertop i  always recommend that you use cornstarch and not   powdered sugar powdered sugar is going to make  everything sticky so this is good so it is warm   and it is pliable and i can knead it together  i'm going to keep some crisco or shortening   on the countertop and in my hands so the fondant  doesn't stick and i'm going to start kneading this all right now i want to show you  the consistency of this fondant   i cannot put this on a cake right now look  at it there's it's falling apart if there's   like it's just horrible you know if you try to  work with fondant that looks like this you're   going to be very upset because look it's falling  apart it's not smooth it's very choppy looking   and it just won't look nice on a cake so i feel  like a lot of the frustration comes from people   not knowing that you have to work with the fondant  so we need to get this to a smooth consistency   how do we do that i did a whole video on it  which i will link below however i will show you   again i add some tylose or some cmc powder this  powder is going to help it's going to make the   the fondant set a little harder it's not going  to be super hard you're still going to be able   to cut into it or whatnot however it brings  it to a a good consistency and that makes it   smooth and you'll be able to cover a cake with  it and it's going to stretch and it's going to   be so nice so i'm going to this is about  i don't know two pounds of fondant and i'm   going to sprinkle on about a teaspoonful and knead  this all together so getting some crisco down on   the countertop in my hands so nothing sticks and  just start kneading the tylose into the fondant now you have to wait you can't do it right  away i'm going to set this aside it's still   really stretchy it still has these pock marks  in it it's it's just not ready to go on a cake   so right now it is 11 59 and i'm just going to set  this down on some cornstarch so it doesn't stick   to the countertop and check back in about 10 to  20 minutes and i'm just going to see how it looks   right because right now it is  not ready to go on the cake all right it's 1208 now so it's been almost  10 minutes and i want to check on this   getting a little shortening on the  countertop and just knead it together again   and just see if it is smooth enough to work with so now it doesn't have as many pock marks in  it however there are still some left in here   so i just want to leave it sit out for a  little bit longer before i start to use it   because see right now as i'm pulling it apart  you can see these marks in the fondant and we   don't want that so i'm just gonna let  it sit for another five to ten minutes all right it's been another eight minutes  and let's try it again so now look   you have to knead it together because there does  get some elephant skin that starts to form on here   we're going to get rid of it so getting some  shortening down and again kneading it together look how smooth it is right it's holding  its shape it doesn't really have too much um   pock marks in it i'm gonna give it another like   four or five minutes to set and then  i'm gonna cover the cake with it right so now it is 12 23 and it's been about 24  minutes so i'm going to knead this one more time   there were still a little bit of  pock marks that last time and i   just wanted to give it a little longer  to set oh look at this it's so smooth   all right now we're ready to cover the cake with  it if you leave it out too long and you find that   it's too difficult to knead then you can pop  it back in the microwave but i would only do   like five to ten second intervals because  you don't want it to get too soft if it   gets too soft it's going to have to sit out  and cool off a little bit before you use it all right i just got my cake out of the fridge  i have a turntable with a piece of non-skid pad   on top that way when i put the cake on top of it  it's not going to slide around it's going to stay   in its place this is a cake iced in american  buttercream i have tons of videos showing you   how i ice cakes i only ice cakes in american  buttercream i don't use whip whipped cream you   know i don't use any meringue buttercreams i don't  use ganache it's only american buttercream i have   found that i i just like the way that it holds  up and that's just what i'm used to working with   so right here i have some piping gel and a  paint brush and what i want to do is paint   some piping gel from top to bottom make  sure you get all the way to the bottom   all the way to the top the whole way around  the cake i'm not doing a super thick layer   but i'm not doing a super thin layer just find a  happy medium so you want enough that it's going   to stick to the cake but not too much that the  fondant is going to slide all around the place now i don't paint the like i'll paint the outer  edge but i don't like to paint the very top   of the cake just because sometimes the air bubbles  form and this way i can easily pop it and get rid   of any air that may form on the top it's just  the way that i do it you can absolutely cover   the top with piping gel as well if you'd like  and then what i like to do is just dip dip this   in some water and run that over the whole thing it  just helps make it a little more sticky and smooth now i'm going to take a paper towel and just wipe  the board the fondant will start to stick to the   board a little bit because there's going to be  some residual stickiness from the piping gel on   here but i just want to clean the board i'm going  to set this cake aside and roll out the fondant   when i'm rolling out fondant to cover a cake i  usually use a rolling pin that's about 10 inches   wide but i like to use one that's at least 13  if not longer so you don't get weird lines in   your fondant as you're rolling it out so  let's knead this together a couple times seriously the name of the game with  tylose powder is waiting because   look how smooth this is now you have to be patient  you just can't work with fondant right after you   make it you've got to work with it a little  bit to get it to be a nice smooth consistency   sprinkle down some cornstarch so it doesn't stick and start to roll it out now i want to try  to get it to about a quarter of an inch thick   and pick it up turn it maybe i have to sprinkle  down some more cornstarch to make sure it doesn't   stick and repeat the process so i am covering a  six inch cake with this and there will be excess i like to pick it up it really wasn't good  for the camera but pick it up i can't do   it this way because i'm right-handed sprinkle  cornstarch underneath and then put it back down   you just want to make sure that you have  enough cornstarch underneath so it's it's   not going to stick to the countertop because it's  happened plenty of times and it's super annoying i have this needle tool here  because sometimes you can see   bubbles start to form in the fondant so what i  like to do is poke underneath lift it up find   the bubble and then push up and when you poke it  from underneath it doesn't create much of a hole all right now i want to bring back my cake i'm  going to lift this up and lift it over the cake just laying it down on top beautiful so now here's  where it gets a little tricky i like to cut off   a lot of the excess that's hanging over it just  makes it easier you've got to kind of work with   it a little fast so what i'd like to do is  take my fingers around the top and seal it   right around the top of the cake because that's  where it is gonna start to pull away right so i'm   pushing down here all right i could still cut  some of this excess away so it's not too heavy   what you have to do you don't want any wrinkles  in the cake so i'm pulling this fondant out   and smoothing down with my hand i want  to make sure no air bubbles are forming   behind here so i want to slowly smooth it from  the top to the bottom and do that the whole way   around so i'm using this bottom hand to pull out  the fondant so i'm getting rid of any wrinkles   like if i just push pushed it down here it's  going to wrinkle so i got to pull this out   and smooth it down so keep turning the turntable  any wrinkles pull it out and smooth it down so you don't want the fondant to be too heavy   because if it's too heavy it's going to start  pulling and creating holes at the top here again here's a wrinkle here pull it out so it's  flat and then start to flatten it with my hand and look here it's already stuck to the cake so i  have to pull it out and start to flatten it down now it's covered in fondant however this is not  finished we have to work with it a little bit   so i'm going to just cut the excess off i'm  not going to go all the way up to the cake yet   i'm just going to cut the excess  off halfway up the cake board i see so many different ways that people try to  get sharp edges a lot of times people take two   fondant smoothers and try to push up here and have  it pushed together right i found that that's not   that doesn't really work for me so what i'm  going to do first of all i'm going to take a   fondant smoother and i'm going to push it  down the side and down to the cake board   so i'm pushing the fondant against the side of  the cake and sealing it down to the cake board i'm just turning the turntable with my bottom hand the way that i like to get  sharp edges on the fondant   it's not a traditional way i've never seen it done  before however i do what works for me and that's   the name of the game of cake decorating you do  you find something that works and you go with it   so what i like to do i like to take my fingers  and i'm pinching right but i'm not pinching   like this because you're going to put finger marks  all in the fondant and that's not going to work so   what i like to do is i'm just pulling my fingers  together and as i get to the corner just pinch   a little harder right so make sure just start  with a light touch to start and what you want   to do is drag the fingers in that way you aren't  really creating any finger marks in the fondant   some do happen from doing this technique  and we will buff them out so i'm just i'm   not really pinching that hard i'm just trying  to get a little bit of a sharper edge on here and it's starting to come together and now  i'm using uh my two fingers and my thumb   to try to do it as well so  just trying to refine that edge and again i'm not really pinching hard i'm  just pulling the fondant together and then   i'm kind of closing my fingers at the end but  not not really not like i'm pinching it with a   lot of pressure okay so i'm just pulling it in and  just pinching softly so it comes to a point and i   i hope i'm not over explaining this and  i hope i'm explaining it the right way   but i know this is a little confusing so you just  don't want to see any finger marks in the fondant   and i may have to go around here a couple  times to get this to where i want it to be   so it's better to keep going around  and around rather than trying to just   pinch it all together at once that helps  prevent any finger marks getting in your fondant   good so now any imperfections in the  cake i thought i saw a bubble somewhere   ah here it is so there's a little bubble right  here i have a needle tool and i don't want to   stick i don't want to poke it straight on that'll  create a big hole so i'm going to go to the side and pop the hole and twist it as i pull it out   and press the bubble down now i'm going to have  decorations on this this is going to be a tire   cake so there's going to be tire treads all over  so you're not even going to be able to see that   take your fondant smoother and start smoothing  everything down so again i'm going up and down   the sides like i did before round and round  and you just want to make sure that your cake   stays symmetrically round because if you start  pushing too hard in on one side it's just going   to kind of have a flat edge so as i'm moving it  around i'm trying to keep that shape of the cake and just refining it as you feel needed there is a bubble that is formed on the top  here again i'm just going to pop from the side   lift up and then push the air out of that  bubble and you can barely even see that hole   that's created now what i like to do is take  a piece of fondant i'm going to roll it up and then i have it in my hands i'm going to  dip it in some cornstarch and wipe it off   and now i'm going to use the piece of fondant  to smooth the fondant down when i get to the   edges don't press down too hard i'm just trying  to buff out any marks that might have been made   as i was doing that pinch technique and then  the same thing coming down the very top just   buffing out any marks and still  trying to keep the shape of the cake   and then i can go up and down smoothing it all out and now i just want to cut off this excess i want  to come it's like at a 45 degree angle and i'm   going to turn the turntable with my bottom  hand and just hold the pizza cutter steady   while i'm cutting the border off the cake  and i got to do it this way i'm right-handed   so i'm going to come around  the other side so you can see see it's on a 45 degree angle good once i cut the excess off i like  to do one more time for good measure   take the fondant smoother and  just smooth it around the sides and again taking a piece of fondant dipping it  in the cornstarch and do one more final smooth   on the top and finally i'm going to wet  this paper towel and clean the cake board   and as you're doing that you  don't want to get the paper towel   on the cake so i'm going to get it as close  as i can but i don't want to touch the cake   with the wet paper towel because that's  going to create a watermark on the fondant and here it is beautiful and smooth  your cake covered in marshmallow fondant so there you go was it that bad i  mean i know you're gonna be like   yeah it's not that bad for you to  do because you do it all the time   i guess so but there are a couple things that i  want you guys to take away with this from from   this video number one just remember that this is  marshmallow fondant i do have a video on how i   make marshmallow fondant and i will link that in  the description below i just find that i get the   best result from that fondant number two you want  to add tylose powder have to add tylose powder   that way the tylose you saw how just working  with it and letting it sit makes the fondant   so smooth it makes it so much easier to work  with it doesn't have all those like pock marks   and breaks and tears in the fondant and you just  have to be patient with it and give it some time   number three i cover all of my cakes  with american buttercream i put them   in the refrigerator overnight to solidify  and then i cover it in fondant that way   the fondant is not going to mess up the  buttercream at all now you can also cover your   cake and ganache and i never worked with meringue  buttercream however i did text my friend tracy   who lives near here and she makes cakes and she  works with meringue buttercream all the time   she said she does cover her cakes in fondant  however she does it just out of the refrigerator   and then keeps the cake in the refrigerator  so she says since meringue buttercream her   meringue buttercream is all butter based once  the butter starts to melt it can start to melt   underneath the fondant and get too soft so  i'm not too sure what to recommend for that   if you like to use meringue buttercreams  you may want to check out another video on   a different channel on how to on different  tips and with covering cakes with fondant   number four uh one of the main tips is to seal  the very top edge right so once i laid the   fondant on top i kind of took my hand and pressed  it around that top part so then it wouldn't start   tearing right and i should have trimmed the  excess before i put it on there i had way too much   fondant for that little cake but it's fine anyway  and number five i refrigerate all of my cakes so   even if they're covered in fondant if they have  edible images if it only has buttercream if it   has fondant decorations if it's if it's just iced  or it's fully decorated everything goes in the   refrigerator i do have a video showing you and  talking about how i refrigerate cakes and how to   care for them when they are in and out  of the fridge i will link that below   and finally just like anything practice  makes perfect you have to do it in order   to get your flow every time you do it you're  going to learn something else you're going to   um you'll mess up and then you'll know what  not to do for next time and i have to say   i'm not perfect i just a couple weeks ago i  think i posted it and i'll post a picture here   i covered a cake with brown fondant and it's  stinking started tearing at the top so i didn't   seal it enough around that top edge and i had a  little hole and i couldn't i uh a tear basically   and i couldn't repair it so i just covered it with  a little sign you know and that's the name of the   game with cake decorating we just cover up our  mistakes and make everything look perfect right so i think that is it if you guys have  any questions or comments leave them below   and you can follow me on my socials and  i have my website everything is listed in   the description below as well and if you want to  stick around you can watch these two videos next   and hit subscribe and the bell if you haven't  already please like this video if you liked it   thank you so much for watching remember it's cake  don't be scared i'll see you on the next one bye

Channel: Karolyns Kakes

Views: 58,287

Keywords: how to work with fondant, marshmallow fondant, fondant tips, fondant tutorial, smooth fondant, flawless fondant, covering cakes in fondant, fondant, cover cake in fondant, cover cake with fondant, perfect fondant, fondant cakes, how to work with fondant for cakes, step by step fondant cake, working with fondant, working with black fondant, working with fondant for the first time, fondant 101, how to, cake decorating, cover a cake, cover cake, smooth cake, karolyns kakes

Id: EYaNXTDOkj4

Length: 23min 4sec (1384 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 27 2022