Fondant Fundamentals

• Fondant is made by boiling a heavy sugar syrup, then whipping it as it cools to provide the necessary fine texture. You can make fondant from scratch, but it requires precise temperature control and it's difficult in humid climates. It's much easier to buy ready-made fondant from craft or baking supply store. You can store the fondant in the pantry until you need it. Whether homemade or store-bought, fondant stiffens in storage and must be kneaded into a pliable texture before it's used.

Out of the Oven

• When your cake comes out of the oven, it's too warm for most icings and glazes. Fat-based frostings melt and run, while sugary glazes tend to soak in rather than making an attractive finish on the cake. This is important, because cakes must be covered with a thin layer of either icing or glaze -- usually thinned apricot jam -- before the fondant goes onto the cake. If you're preparing the cake close to the time it's needed, let it come at least to room temperature before applying that coat. That can take 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how warm it is in the kitchen.

Refrigeration or Freezing

• You can speed the process by placing your cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool more quickly. If possible, freeze the cake layers overnight or longer. Freezing will improve your cake's texture and moisture, and when thawed it will be easier to cover with the undercoat of frosting or glaze. Let your cake thaw in the refrigerator overnight on a countertop for half an hour, then spread it thinly with your favorite buttercream or warm apricot glaze. Return it to the fridge until it sets.

Finishing the Cake

• Fondant resembles pie crust in its texture, and like pie crust, it softens and becomes unmanageable if it's too warm. Many cake decorators like to work with a chilled cake straight from the refrigerator, because the cold cake helps keep the fondant at its best working temperature for longer. Clean your work surface and rolling pin scrupulously before you start -- fondant discolors easily -- and roll it to a sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Wrap the sheet around your rolling pin and unroll it over your cake, smoothing it to the top and sides with your hands or a decorator's smoothing tool. Trim away any excess, then finish decorating your cake with buttercream icing or fondant decorations.