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Hi, recently I made a cke cake when I coverd it with fondant for some reason it was soft, sticky and shiny it seemed like it was melting , can someone please tell me what may caused that!

Thank you!!

Was it particularly hot when you were working with the fondant? It very quickly gets sticky in the heat!

I have incredibly warm hands, so I get a lot of sticky shiny icing if I’m not careful. What i do is hold my hands under cold water for a few mins, dry thoroughly and go again.

If none of these is the culprit – have you by any chance got water on it?

Once it starts to get a bit sticky, wash your hands, dry thoroughly and work a bit of icing sugar into the fondant. Usually works for me 🙂

Thank you kirstybaird for replying, it was fine when I was rolling it but when it was on the cake it went like that it was a hot day but not that hot and I don’t think I got water on it!

Than you!

Did you handle it a lot once you put it in the cake – smoothing it with your hands?

Maybe just one of those things 🙂 fondant gets awfully upset in hot, humid environments so was maybe just a bit warm for it.

The weather has been very warm lately so the heat and humidity in the air will affect your fondant and make it very soft and difficult to work with. Try and work in a cool, well aired room and also as kirstbaird has suggested, keep your hands cool. Working at night when it is cooler can help, as can having a fan running while you are rolling out. Leave covered cakes in a cool room and not on kitchen work tops where they may be affected from the heat of working ovens etc. Iced cakes must not be stored in the fridge because the moisture will ‘melt’ the icing.

Thank you madeitwithlove and kirstybaird for your answers maybe I did touch with my hands too much but next time I’ll do it in a cool place and try not to fiddle with it too much, thanks again!

Once it’s on the cake, I find it much easier to use plastic cake smoothers to smoothen it out. Saves me putting my fingers through it too! (I’ve made every mistake in the book!)

Good luck xx