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How to cover a cake with icing fondant or marzipan. (1 Viewer)

I've put together a step by step guide showing you an easy way of rolling out your icing fondant or marzipan and then applying it to your cake.

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  • Please note that for sponge cakes, buttercream, jam and frosting form an adhesive that allows your icing/fondant to stick to your cake.
  • However, if you have a fruit cake that needs to be covered, use apricot jam as the adhesive and ensure you marzipan and icing/fondant it also. This is because the fruit from the cake can bleed through onto a single layer of icing.
Before we get started, I need to mention that if you are going to use this method to roll out Marzipan, note that...

Marzipan (Medium).jpg

  • Jam will be your best adhesive to stick the marzipan to the cake.
  • Never use cornflour or cornstarch with marzipan as it reacts with it, ferments and causes a sticky mess.

How much icing/fondant/marzipan do I need to cover a cake?

Check out how much icing you will need to cover a cake using the ribbon method.


For a 6-inch cake, I usually roll out around 500 grams of icing/fondant/marzipan and then bag up the excess.


Marzipan covered cake.

Covered Cake.jpg

This can be used as a first covering for your cake, and then add a layer of icing fondant to give you a smooth finish, or if you don't like Marzipan, you can always put two layers of icing fondant on instead.

When I started decorating, I did Marzipan and Icing/Fondant on cakes to get a smooth finish. Now I only use it when covering Christmas/Fruitcakes or when requested.

How do I cover a cake?

To cover a cake, you will need the following.
  • Cake Board
  • Cake Smoother
  • Pre-Baked Cake
  • Icing Fondant or Marzipan
  • Large Rolling Pin
  • Icing/Confectioners Sugar for Dusting
  • Jam/Buttercream or Frosting of your Choice
  • Turntable
  • Food Gloves
  • Sharp Knife
  • Pizza Cutter
  • Palette Knife
I am using marzipan to 'ice' the cake and strawberry jam to fill and cover it to form the adhesive for this illustration.

Method:

1. First things first, clean the board.

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2. Take your cake board and remove it from the cellophane wrapper. I turned the board over and inserted a knife carefully through the cellophane so as not to damage the board.

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3. Clean the board with either slightly cooled boiled water or vodka.

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4. Put a small amount on the kitchen towel and wipe over the board; this will remove any dust or dirt that may be on there.

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5. Once the board is clean, take a small blob of whatever frosting you are going to use, either buttercream, jam etc. and smear a little on the middle of the board or wherever the centre of your cake is going to be positioned. I do this to stick the base of the cake to the board; that way, when you ice it, it won't move.

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6. Now, carefully place the base of your cake to the jam on the board.

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7. Apply your filling to the centre, not too much, though; otherwise, it will slide when covering.

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8. Spread it around the cake using a palette knife.

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9. Then, place the remainder of the cake on the top and then put the cake and board on the turntable.

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10. You can now start to cover the remainder of the cake in jam. Because it's on the turntable, you can rotate the turntable with one hand and use the palette knife for spreading the jam in the other.

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11. Cover the cake with jam and then scrape off any excess with the palette knife, so you have a light coating covering the cake. Ensure you get jam over the bottom edge of the cake as this can sometimes be forgotten, and that's where the icing/fondant needs to stick properly. If you get any on the board, remove it with a clean wet paper towel/kitchen roll.

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12. Place the cake on one side. (I take it off the turntable). Now for the Marzipan or whatever you're using to cover it.

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13. Lightly dust your work surface with Icing/Confectioners sugar.

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14. Take the Marzipan and start to knead it on the surface with your hands. (I wear food-safe gloves for this part).

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15. Knead it so it softens up, then try and make it into the shape of a large ball.

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16. Using your rolling pin, start to roll the marzipan out.

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Roll the rolling pin back and forth, rotate the marzipan 90° and continue to roll back and forth; keep rolling back and forth and rotating the marzipan. this stops it from sticking to the work surface because you are constantly moving it around. If you find it is sticking, add some more icing sugar to the surface.

17. This should end up being flattened out to about 3-5mm or approximately a pound coin thickness.

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18. You can now measure the marzipan with your ribbon to see if it will cover your cake. For a rough guide, I gauge it by eye using the cake and board.

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19. Once you are happy, your icing/fondant/marzipan is big enough to cover your cake. Place the rolling pin in the middle of it like so.

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20. With your hands, pull the top of the icing/fondant/marzipan towards you, so it goes over the rolling pin like so.

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21. Hold the rolling pin at each end and lift it up. The icing/fondant/marzipan up will hang down on either side. (It should look like a saddle would on a horse if you turned the rolling pin towards you).

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22. Make sure the bottom of the icing fondant or marzipan is near the edge of the board or cake, then roll the rolling pin over the top of the cake, so the remainder rolls over the full cake.

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23. Now comes the quick, fun part. Lightly smooth the icing/fondant/marzipan to your cake with the inside and base of your hand (i.e. the bit from your wrist to little finger). You can put your cake on the turntable for this part if you like, but I don't, only because sometimes the weight of the icing and the height of the turntable can cause the icing/marzipan to stretch or tear, which is why I have it as near to the work surface as possible. However, this also means you have to quickly turn your board when straightening out the icing/fondant marzipan. So it's up to your personal preference which way you want to do it.

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24. To straighten the icing/marzipan or fondant, lift it with one hand and smooth it down with the other; this will ensure it doesn't gather together or form any bumps.

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25. Do the lift and smooth motion all the way around your cake until the icing/marzipan/fondant looks straight.

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26. Now get the cake smoother. This is when I put the cake back on the turntable.

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27. Use the smoother and the turntable, rotate the turntable with one hand and smooth the cake with the cake smoother. This will help it stick to the jam layer underneath and smooth out any marks in the icing/fondant/marzipan.

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28. Once you're happy with it, get the pizza cutter and roll it around the base of your cake, cutting off a large part of the excess icing/fondant/marzipan. Make sure you leave a little extra on it.
  • Note - Leave a little excess on the base, the reason being is that if you smooth over it again, the icing/fondant/marzipan may rise up, and this may reveal some of the jam underneath. If you leave a little excess amount, you can smooth over again and then cut close to the cake to get a straight finish.

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29. Remove the excess and go back over with your smoother to make sure you are happy with the covering.

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30. Then, take your knife and very carefully cut the excess off at an angle.

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31. And then my dears, you are done. Decorate as you will.

...I then went on to cover the cake in a layer of icing fondant at the request of my husband.

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Once you master the basics, you'll be surprised how much you can achieve.
 
This is a great tutorial - thank you. I have made a 9" sponge cake in preparation for making a panda cake for my grandson. I was thinking of doing the cake as you suggest above and then either covering it with fondant or, maybe to get a 'fur effect' in buttercream. do you think this would work?
 
Welcome to Help Me Bake :wink: I'm sure Angie will have some advice for you once she sees your post

A Guy
 
Hi, @AnnePilk welcome to the site. 😊

Thank you for your comments. I am glad the tutorial has helped you.

There are two ways you can make the cake depending on the finish you require. If you look at the Panda Cupcakes I made below. You could just cover a 9-inch cake in white fondant and then make the face in black on a larger scale as I did with the cupcakes to make the Panda Face.


If you are going to do a fur effect with buttercream, use a grass nozzle to give you the 'fur effect' when piping, but don't cover the cake with icing fondant or jam. Give it a crumb coat of buttercream first to stop the crumbs going everywhere, put it in the fridge until set and then pipe your fur effect over the top later.


Grass Nozzles 233 + 234.jpg

Grass Nozzles.jpg

Hope this helps. 👩‍🍳
 
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This is the effect the small grass nozzle will give you. Pink & Blue Chick (4th one along in picture 1)

Picture 1

Easter (Medium).jpg

Cookie Monster Cupcakes.

Cookie Monster - Copy.jpg

The larger 234 nozzle will give you a larger thicker fur effect than above, just to give you an idea.
 

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