Placing fondant on cake?

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Placing fondant on cake?

Hi Lorelie, PLEASE HELP

I'm in Australia and teaching myself the art of fondant? In the USA it seems buttercream icing is placed on cake before placing fondant on.

In Australia, some put sherry, others use 1 part apricot jam: 2 parts water. I'M CONFUSED.
What do I use to adhere fondant to a) fruit cake b) chocolate and carrot cake.

Is fondant too heavy for a sponge cake ?
Your my savior - Thank You so much for you site.
Catherine in Australia

ANSWER: Hi Catherine, Yes we do generally use buttercream on the cake prior to en robing the cake in fondant. Part of the reason for that is so the cake does not show through the fondant and also to make the cake as smooth as possible as fondant shows every bump, nook and cranny.

I have seen, in my Australian cake decorating books the jam and the sherry etc. and along with that a marzipan covering prior to the fondant. The marzipan would work well to make a nice smooth finish before adding the fondant.

I think the easiest way is to use buttercream as it smooths the cake and acts as a glue for the fondant all in one step. Give it a try. You can use it for a fruit cake, carrot cake and chocolate cakes.

Hope this helps with your placing fondant on cake question.

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Placing fondant on cake?

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Oct 16, 2011
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In NZ
by: Kimmy NZ

I found that all old UK (used to live there) and NZ books used jam and marzipan. This is how my auntie was taught about 20yrs ago. I also think this would still be done for a bride that really wanted to keep to tradition. However, believe it or not. I found out that it was tradition to make a grooms cake in fruit which was the cake the guests enjoyed and a yellow wedding cake was made to shower the bride with - I thought the grooms cake was a US new idea. History proved me wrong.

I am new at this to and putting frosting on a cake is so much easier for a newbe. If you make and freeze the cake first the frosting goes hard and you can really work on the cake to make it flat and smooth. However, in the US they have crisco and in NZ we have Kremelta veg shortening. This is made in AU and maybe all that you can get - IT IS RUBBISH!!!! It is coconut oil, not even veg oil. Now we have the problem of making good frosting with rubbish ingredients. Have a look at the shops and if you have the same problem let me know and I will tell you how to handle the silly stuff.

Oct 17, 2011
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Thanks Kimmy
by: Lorelie

Hey Kimmy,
Thank you for your input. VERY helpful indeed. And I learned from it as well. Thanks a bunch! I love it when everyone chips in and helps out like this.

May 19, 2012
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Freezing iced cake?
by: Teresa

This site might well be my saving grace in attempting to make my first tiered wedding cake for my niece (oddly enough the croquembouche I did for my nephew's wedding last year is starting to look easy in comparison!). Then again, I didn't have to transport that cake interstate!

(My current plan is to bake and ice the cakes here and stack and decorate them at that end, unless someone has a better suggestion)

I'm now feeling a little more comfortable because I know I can freeze my cakes (THANK you!). Just wondering if it's useful/helpful to freeze when I've put the buttercream on but before putting the fondant layer on. I've experimented before and know that buttercream will freeze quite successfully on it's own, but does this still count when you've got it on the cake?

Teresa trying not to panic in Australia

May 19, 2012
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Hope to help - Part 1
by: kimmy NZ

Hi Teresa,

I am in NZ, so I am just over the pond! Anyway, getting back to cakes. Both cakes are on here if you want to see. topsy turvy cake and Penguin wedding cake

Both cakes were stacked at home and I traveled with them. The topsy turvy had a wooden rod running down it and the penguin cake was stacked with straws as you would any wedding cake. Then I put a blob of royal icing on the top of each straw before dropping the next layer.

This is how I would work on a cake. I bake the cakes two weeks before. I make sure they are flat, so I cut the tops etc. I usually make them over three days starting with the biggest.

A few days before I make the fondant decoration that I want to go hard then put that in a shoe box. The day before I make the soft fondant - this I did for all the hearts on the topsy turvy cake. I lay them flat in zip lock bags. I finish the cakes on the day if it is a night time delivery or the day before as I did for the wedding cake. I was a guest and needed me time to get ready.

First I almost empty the fridge and leave items in a chilly bin. I leave room for the three cakes to be placed on a shelf. I start with the biggest and frost. Pop this one in the fridge for the frosting to set. Put each cake on something so that you can get it back out. A towel is good. By the time you finish the last cake the first one is nice and hard. They are all ready to fondant and I don't put them back in the fridge once fully covered.

May 21, 2012
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Part two - Hope To Help
by: Kimmy

You should have made holes in the base of the second and third cake base if you use a long rod. MUCH easier to stack this way and the next layer drops on easy. NOT like my royal icing trick. I found it really hard to center the next layer.

Now you can relax and have decorating fun. It's nice to be so prepared and have everything ready to go. Then, all I do is leave off the top decoration. This is so I can cover the whole cake gently with cling wrap to keep it clean. Then the very last thing you have to do to finish it, is pop the top bit on. If you have a good quality, moist cake inside, it is now sealed to keep it fresh and I have not had any problems. The taste, freshness and quality are great.

Almost forgot! Before I start my cake I give my hubby the base that the cake will be standing on. He places this in the car and builds buffers around it, so that it won't move. I have two huge wooden chopping boards which we use to drop it between. He uses old towels on the very edge of the boot so nothing moves anywhere. When I am ready to go, it is easy to drop it into the space that he made. Oh, and it makes him feel important and helpful!!!

If you are wondering, one cake traveled for 1 hour the other 1 1/2 hours and we had one VERY steep hill to get up and some lovely bendy roads. You also need your thermal underwear on, with the air conditioning at full blast, it gets a bit chilli.

From Kimmy NZ

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