How to Cover a Cake with Fondant or Sugarpaste Icing

Fascinator cake

Covering a sponge cake with fondant need not be a stressful job, with a little bit of practice, you’ll be amazed at how good you get with it! All you need to cover a cake with fondant is to apply a thin layer of buttercream or jam that acts as a glue and also smooths out the cake.

A fruit cake is usually coated with apricot jam before being covered by marzipan, then a layer of fondant. As I don’t like marzipan, I usually just cover it with a layer of fondant over the jam.

Using rolled fondant/sugarpaste – see the fondant page for homemade recipe and more do’s and don’ts.

Always knead it, adding a little white vegetable fat, for a couple of minutes before each use to warm it and make it pliable. This will get rid of any “tightness” and ensure that your icing doesn’t crack as you lift it and cover the cake. The adding of the fat is, in my opinion, essential if you want to prevent cracks.

If you’re not sure on thickness, use spacers, 4 or 5 mm (about 1 eighth of an inch) is perfect. I know we all like less fondant on our cakes but a too thin fondant has a greater tendency to stretch as you lift and drape, resulting in tearing. Use a smoother and your hands to smooth out the paste but make sure that your hands are clean and dry to prevent marks on the paste. To fit the fondant, lift and place over the cake, not stretch which will result in tearing.

How much fondant do I need to cover a cake?

Round (about 3 in/7.5 cm high)

6″ – 4oo g (14 oz)

8″ – 500 g (18 oz)

10″ – 700 g (24 oz)

12″ – 1 kg (36 oz)

Square (about 3 in/7.5 cm high)

6″ – 600 g (22 oz)

8″ – 850 g (30 oz)

10″ – 1 kg (36 oz)

12″ – 1.4 kg (50 oz)

1 portion of buttercream is enough for 2 coats on an 8″ cake and some left over for piping top and bottom of cake. This is approximate as a lot depends on the consistency of the buttercream.

When you’ve covered your cake, you’ll be ready to decorate it or stack it, if you are doing a multi-tiered cake. Check out the Cake Decorating Page for how to stack and dowel cakes. And for some decorating ideas:

And my 2 latest Semolina Cakes:

Covering a cake with fondant

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Step by step tutorial on how to cover a cake with fondant or sugarpaste icing.

Author: Azlin Bloor

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Ingredients

Tools
• a large, smooth plastic rolling pin
• a smoother
• offset spatula
• small sharp knife

For the Decorating
• buttercream icing (see above for how much you'll need)
• fondant/sugarpaste icing (see above for amount for your size of cake)
• a little white vegetable fat (solid)
• your cake
• cakeboard

Instructions

1. Dilute the buttercream with about half-one tsp of milk/water and mix well. A lighter buttercream spreads better.
2. Using your spatula, cover the cake completely with the buttercream. As this is the undercoat, we don't have to worry about making it pretty.
3. Sprinkle your work surface with icing sugar and knead and roll out the fondant, to about 4mm thick.
4. Make sure your cake is very close by. Using your rolling pin,( i.e., roll about a quarter of the fondant onto the pin) lift the fondant and drape it gently onto your cake.
5. Using your hands, fit the fondant on the cake, lifting and draping, not pulling. Using the the side of your hands, tuck the fondant at the base of the cake.
6. Smooth the top with a smoother and press down around the base of the cake to mark a cutting line.
7. Using a small knife, cut the excess fondant off. That's it. Decorate as you fancy. Look below for the links to some of my cake creations.

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