Cutting Fondant Squares

• It can easily take hundreds of fondant squares to cover a cake with the billowing effect. The squares should all be of the same size, about 2 to 4 inches depending on the size of the cake and scale of the fabric effect you wish to achieve. The fondant should be rolled to about 1/4 inch thick. A fondant cutting tool similar to a square cookie cutter makes it easy to cut several pieces quickly. You simply push the cutter down into the fondant, then pull up the surrounding fondant, leaving the cut squares behind. There's no need to purchase special cutting tools for this job, though, when you can simply run a pizza cutting wheel along a straight edge to make the squares.

Folding the Fondant Squares

• The square takes on a rounded appearance -- think the shape of wrapped saltwater taffy -- on the cake thanks to some simple folding on two opposing ends. Fold the left side of the square with three humps sort of like a cursive, lowercase letter "m." Keep your thumb underneath the center of the square while folding to keep a bubble in the middle. Fold the right side of the square exactly the same as the left side. Pinch each set of folds together, press the folds flat and shape the ends to a slight taper. Repeat this process with the remaining squares. Fondant dries out fairly quickly, so cut, fold and attach the squares to the cake in small batches. Alternatively, cover the folded fondant with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

Attaching the Fondant to the Cake

• Secure the fondant pieces vertically on the side of the cake so the tapered tabs touch. Arrange the pieces in rows with the end tabs overlapping the neighboring piece. If you want to add multiple rows to cover an entire cake, stagger the pieces over the gaps in the previous row. When finished, the sides of the cake will appear to be wrapped in billowing fabric. While you might have some success brushing the back of the tabs with a damp brush to make the fondant tacky, royal icing acts like a glue to fix the pieces to the cake. Squeeze the royal icing -- a mixture of meringue powder, powdered sugar and water -- onto the tabs. Press and hold the fondant pieces until the royal icing sets.

Hiding the Seams

• The overlapping, tapered tabs can appear messy on the cake, but you can easily add embellishments to conceal the tabs. Try small circles of rolled fondant attached with a damp brush or royal icing. If circles are too plain, form bows from strips of fondant to set in place over the tabs. A much quicker option is to pipe large dots of royal icing directly onto the tabs, which gives a similar look. To dress up the royal icing dots, press decorative objects such as pearl dragees in the center of each dot before the icing hardens.