A clean, smooth finish could turn your next cake into a professional looking celebration cake and it is easy to achieve if you follow a few guidelines. Here are my top ten tips (could I get any more T words in there) for creating a lovely smooth cake.
1. Find fondant that works for you.
There are several brands to choose from and they all handle 롤대리 differently. I have found that some brands dry out quickly, some crack more than others and some are really sticky. You have to do a bit of a Goldilocks thing and find the one that is just right for you. You can usually buy small quantities of fondant just to get a feel for it. If you belong to a sugar craft guild talk to other members to get their tips and advice. Most members are itching to give their opinion – as we all like to, hence this article.
2. Start with a clean working area.
If you are anything like me you will create the sugar version of a volcano eruption when working. Fondant attracts dust and bits very easily. You don’t want to find that when your rolled out fondant is nicely stuck to your marzipan there is a little lump which you will need to cut out.
3. Apply your fondant onto a layer of marzipan.
If you or your recipient hates marzipan (some people do you know) substitute the marzipan with fondant. The reason for this marzipan layer is to provide a sugar undercoat which will enhance your final covering. Ideally leave your marzipan layer for at least 12 hours for it to harden and provide a good base for your final fondant covering. If you leave out this under coat you will end up with something like one of the economy supermarket kids cakes. These are fine for kids who just want to get stuck into cake but not for your beautiful celebration cake.
4. Prepare your fondant.
You should knead your fondant prior to covering your cake. The amount of kneading will depend on things like temperature – in the middle of summer the fondant will probably be fairly soft and may not need to be kneaded much. If you do not knead your fondant sufficiently you will get a mini work out when you are rolling it. Once your fondant is soft store it in an air tight bag until required.
5. Brush your marzipaned cake with sherry (the cake, not the inside of your mouth.)
Your marzipaned cake should be on the cake board at this point. Please bear with me while I digress a little. One bug bear I have is when people work very hard to create a cake they are really proud of and then display it on an uncovered silver cake board. It takes 15 minutes to cover a cake board with fondant and can be done well in advance to give it time to harden in readiness for the cake to go on. You can colour co ordinate it with your cake and it will add to the overall professional look. OK rant over.
Use a no loss dark paint brush for coating your cake. This way if any of the hairs do happen to come out you will see them easily on your cake and can remove them. I must say I have never had one of these brushes lose any hairs. When brushing the sherry onto the marzipan do it sparingly but thoroughly. If you drench the brush it will drip down onto the fondant on the board and stain it. It will also pool at the base of the cake and bubble out when the fondant goes on. If you do not coat the cake thoroughly you will end up with air bubbles between your marzipan and fondant. For an alternative to booze you could use rose water or boiled water.