Depending on the amount of fondant you’re working with, you might only need a small area to work in. Generally, you’ll need at least enough space to accommodate a rolling pin.
To prevent your fondant from prematurely sticking to your work area, you may want to leave the bottom covered by plastic wrap. Depending on your climate, the time it takes for your fondant to reach room temperature can vary. In most cases, 15 minutes to a half hour should be sufficient. You may want to remove your fondant from the refrigerator before you begin preparing your work area. This way, you can prep while waiting for the fondant to reach room temperature.
In most cases, you should only need enough sugar to create a thin coating on your tools and work area. Fondant is very sticky. Especially in warm or moist climates, you may find you need to use a considerable amount of sugar on your work area and fondant working tools. [3] X Expert Source Jessica BanhPastry Chef Expert Interview. 6 April 2022. If you don’t have confectioners sugar available to you, you can use corn starch as a substitute. [4] X Research source
If you are working with white colored fondant and need to add food coloring to it, you should do so during the kneading process. You may want to use plastic gloves to prevent your hands from being stained. If using several different colors, portion out your fondant in the quantity you believe necessary and knead the coloring into each portion separately. The motion for kneading fondant is very similar to that of kneading dough. However, the fondant will in most cases be heavier and thicker. Generally, you can expect to knead your fondant for about five to eight minutes before it reaches the correct consistency. [6] X Research source
When you are finished rolling your fondant, if you’re still waiting for your cake to finish, you can prevent your fondant from drying out by covering it in a thin layer of shortening. If you’re trying to roll your fondant into a large circular shape to cover a large cake, try turning the circle every few rolls. Rotate about 90 degrees each time, the roll the fondant outwards, away from yourself. [8] X Research source
Fondant that is ½" (1¼ cm) thick can be useful for molding characters, flowers, and three dimensional designs. When layering the outside of a cake with fondant, a thick coating of fondant can be overpoweringly sweet. In this case, you may want to roll your fondant until it is the thickness of cardboard or thick card stock. Rolling your fondant too thin can to make it tear easily. This will make it difficult to transfer to your cake. It may take some trial and error before you find the perfect thickness for your fondant design. [9] X Research source
You may notice that your fondant is slightly irregular in places. This is fairly common. Even a steady, well-practiced hand at fondant isn’t perfect. You can use a palette knife or butter knife to smooth your fondant, if needed. Alternatively, you can pick up the rolled fondant gently with your hands and drape it on top of your cake. You may want to coat your hands first in confectioners sugar/corn start to prevent sticking, or wear plastic gloves. [10] X Research source
White icing works well as a crumb coat for most kinds of fondant. Dark colored icing can sometimes show through lighter colored fondant. [11] X Research source
If there are cracks on both sides, gently rub solid vegetable shortening in a circular motion over the afflicted area. This should fuse the fondant back together. Avoid using water to revitalize or repair fondant. Water will cause the sugar to break down.
Attempting to shape or smooth dry fondant can result in it breaking. When smoothing, you may want to use a special tool called a fondant smoother. This will help smooth the fondant with less risk of it tearing.
