Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I am fairly new to cake decorating, but loving it!

Can anyone give me some advice on covering a sponge cake (no marzipan)?

I have been advised to put 2 layers of fondant on after buttercream layer to get nice smooth finish, but find when cutting that this give a very thick layer of fondant.

I know Paul uses ganache, as gives smoother finish with 1 layer of fondant, but would appreciate any tips on getting a smooth finish with buttercream and fondant…?

I’ve been caking about 18 months or so now. What I do is cut my cakes into 2 (1 layer for buttercream the other for jam, this way they don’t slide). I then crumb coat the caKe with buttercream and leave it overnight (there are fab tutorials on youtube). I Leave the cakes to rest overnight then before covering I brush over them just lightly with some water. Make sure all the cake is covered as dry spots make airbubbles. You don’t want the cake soaked. Then roll the icing about 3/4mm thick and cover. I use 2 smoothers to polish off. Hope this helps

Thanks again for your help.

Happy weekend :0)

I do as  jmilne but don’t leave overnight.  I use 1 layer of fondant straight away.  2 layers would be very sickly  (and cost more!)

Jx

Hi, May Clee-Cadman of Maisie Fantaisie,  http://www.maisiefantaisie.co.uk  always uses a double coat fondant, leaving the first coat to dry overnight before applying the second.  I have tried this and yes it does give a lovely smooth finish.  Just ensure though that your coats are not too thick.  I sometimes ganache and I have also mixed melted chocolate with my buttercream to crumbcoat and find that this gives a better finish than buttercream alone.  It also stops any bulging in the middle of the cake.  Hope this helps.

Paul has butter cream icing tutorial on the free section. He shows how to achieve the best results when icing with bc and covering with fondant. Please have a look at it, I found it very helpful and perhaps you might too.