Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi

I am just wondering how people cover their cake boards.

I have made one 2 tier stacked cake and I covered the whole board first. This worked fine (both tiers were sponge so not that heavy)

Im making my first 3 tier stacked wedding cake and the bottom tier is 12″ round fruit cake (heavy). I heard someone somewhere say that it would sink slightly into the icing and could result in uneven cake.

I was going to cover the whole board but now am not sure what to do.

Would love advice from you experienced cakers.

This site is a godsend and am so pleased I came across it. Thanks to everyone

I like to cover the entire cake board a day or two before and let it dry. I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of sugarpaste because it’s much quicker, easier and is another thing I can have done in advance!

Hi – I only ever cover the parts of the board that can be seen………….it is pretty easy and it saves money by using less fondant / sugarpaste. You will see the technique on some of Paul’s videos, but i will try and explain it here. If you have a square cake and a square cakeboard, simply roll out fondant to desired thickness and cover the whole length of the front of the board in one go – I always gently put the fondant next to the cake first and allow the excess to drape over the edges of the board.Smooth the fondant out gently using your smoother tool.  Put cake on a turntable and cut off the excess fondant. –  Then cover each side before doing the back of the cake. Make sure that the fondant at the joins are dampened with water to help it stick together.  If the join is showing, you can cover it up with writing or use flowers etc. If you are covering a round cake board, use the same technique. It can be a wee bit tricky when cutting the fondant near the cake, but practice makes perfect – just make sure you have a very sharp knife. I can send you a couple of pics of cakes i have made………I have done one or two with “draped” fondant so that it looks like a piece of material – that is very easy!

I do it paul’s way

but you could do the bandage method

roll out a stipe as long as you need to go around the board

2mm wide

using a knife cut a straight edge all the way down one side of the paste strip

roll up the sugarpaste like a bandage make sure to lightly dust strip with icingsugar

guide straight-edged side towards the side of the cake & onto the cake board that has been dampened with a little cooled boiled water

hope you can understand this?

I often royal ice the board but only if I am making some anyway.  Wouldn’t make it especially.  Otherwise I do as lesleya but will attempt Paul’s method next time to avoid join.

Jx

I cover the whole board just make the icing thinner than i would on a sponge base.

Works fine for me

or put a cake board ontop of covered board and cut around it.

hope this helps,

crumbs

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will have a go and see which i get on best with.

Someone mentiond covering the cake and board together (with one piece of fondant) has anyone done this.

doauwouldbedoneby i would love to see the pics. Is there a way i can send you my email or do i need to put it on here

jb

Hi, i use enough fondant to cover the bottom tier and board in one, i learned this technique on one of the sugarcrft courses i took,it works for both fruit and sponge cakes,i roll out fondant to about 2mm,place the desired cake on drum ,secured with a little royal icing, and once i have made sure i have the fondant to the correct diameter,lift it gently with the rolling and drape over the cake, smoothing the fondant till all pleats are gone, place cake board with cake onto turntable trimming the excess, i then use i small brush dipping in a little clear alcohol and gently lifting the icing off the board use brush to dampen the cake drum,do this all the way around the board,using a cake smoother ,smooth the fondant to adhere it to the board, you will have a little more excess, trim again to a neat finish, to make the edge even neater,using the cake smoother hold at an angle and push against the edge of the cake drum and rotate the turntable a few times,, you can then add borders o ribbon to the bottom edge of the cake and you have a blank border you can adorn , hope this helps…

I agree with Doodlecake, I always cover the whole board and leave it for at least 24 hours to dry. It’s much easier and quicker

Think I will cover the whole board first and let it dry for a couple of days. One thing out of the way then as its my first wedding cake and am nervous enough.

Just one more question is thaere any chance of a 3 tier stacked cake (bottom layer 12″ fruit (heavy) ) of sinking into the the icing on the board and making the cake uneven?