What shoul I use underneath Rolled Fondant?

[Norma]

I will be baking a three-tiered cake for Saturday, and I really wanted it to be delicious and pretty.
Is it safe to frost the cakes with Swiss Merengue Buttercream or Chocolate Ganache before applying the Fondant?

Thanks,
Norma

[AndreaKulbaba]

Well you're going to have to frost the cake with something, so I would just go with a thin layer of the buttercream. You don't need much, just enough to make the fondant stick to the cake, too much and the fondant will just slide around and might fall off the cake.

If you were to use the ganache, I would be afraid that I might smudge the fondant with it (but I'm just clumsy like that, and I haven't done a fondant cake in a while)

Good luck with the cake!
(I wish someone would make me a cake like that!)

Andrea

[kitchengoddess1]

I would use a layer of apricot jam x

[Norma]

Andrea, are you talking about Wilton's or SMB?
What do you think if I use Toba Garrett's technique?
That would be making a thick paste with cake crumbs and Buttercream (again, which one?), or as Kitchengodess1 said, making the same thing with apricot jam...
Thanks,
Norma

[qahtan]

That is what I have always used, even to stick marzipan to the cake.....

It goes on good and does a very good job and can't be seen.... qahtan

[AndreaKulbaba]

It's really about what you have on hand.
If you used buttercream to fill the cake, use that. If not, you can use apricot jelly. If it's a 'fake cake' (ie styrofoam) you can even use water.
(Sorry, but I really don't like Wilton's 'buttercream', we called that 'fake buttercream' in college, and the other stuff was 'real buttercream')(we liked to joke about stuff like that a lot)

I've never heard of making a paste with cake crumbs, does Toba Garrett give a reason for doing it like that?

All you would need to do with the apricot jelly is melt it with water (either on the stove or in the microwave. You need to heat it, stirring occasionally, until it's very fluid, and then just brush it on with a pastry brush)(it's hard to say how much water, but I wouldn't use much for this application) (sorry if you already know all this, I'm just trying to cover it in case you don't)

Andrea

[Norma]

Toba calls it "Spackling the Cake".
It's her own technique, and she says that it gives the cake more stability, structure, and a professional look, specially when the cake has been covered in rolled fondant. She says that it is actually cake crumbs, icing, and filling combined in a thick paste, and that it should be applied on the cake before icing.

[AndreaKulbaba]

I would give her technique a try. I like the idea of mixing a bit of the filling into frosting. I'm not too sure about cake crumbs though, but I guess that would allow you to have a slightly thicker layer of the paste? (Sounds kind of like a giant rum-ball!)

Just make sure you come back and let everyone know how this technique worked out for you!

Good luck with it!
Andrea

[bonbini]

I used the spackling technique for my wedding cake project. I made spackle paste by using cake crumbs, citrus curd or preserves and French buttercream. The delicious paste improves the taste of the the rolled fondant, and the cake exhibits the perfect smoothness.
Spread the spackle paste on the cake as if you were crumb-coating. Loosely cover the spackled cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. When ready to ice in rolled fondant, spread a thin layer of buttercream icing over the spackled cake to act as a glue for the rolled icing.