How to ice a cake?

[BeginningToFumeALotAtMIL]

Never done this before. Chocolate cake. I've bought pre-coloured blocks of icing that I need to roll out.

How do I stop it sticking to the counter? Do I have to roll it on baking parchment or something?

How do I make it stick to the cake? And how do I get the bits of icing to stick to each other?

What should I know before I start?

You need to use buttercream or jam to get the fondant icing to stick. If using jam, heat until bubbling in a small pan and brush over the top and sides of the cake with a pastry brush. Buttercream, or bought frosting, needs to be smoothly and evenly spread over the top and sides of the cake with a palette knife or a spatula will probably do.

Watch some YouTube videos on how to put fondant icing onto a cake as it is not as easy as it looks. Good luck.

You need cornflour or icing sugar to roll out the icing on. You will need to knead the paste into a smooth ball first. Then roll it out like pastry

Are you coating the cake in buttercream ? You need a reasonably deep layer of it round the side and try to make the filling flush so you have a smooth side. The top you can brush with jam

To make the icing stick together I use egg white mixed with rosewater - egg white will suffice for you

I'm a pastry chef/wedding cake designer so if I can help further let me know

No buttercream. Hopefully just a thin layer of icing! Jam I can do and an egg white.

Do I need to be quick once the jam has been painted on or do I have time to put it on?

Roll the icing out first then put the jam on the cake and you're ready to go.

Thanks for the advice. Two more questions have occurred to me!

How thin/thick should the icing be? (as a minimum, DH hates it!)

Can I do it the night before? And if so, how do I store it? Can I cover it in cling film? Fridge? Cool room (~15 degrees) ? Or leave it to the morning?

I wouldn't roll it too thin tbh. It'll make it even more difficult to drape over the cake and you run the risk of it tearing. He can pick it off, if he doesn't like it.

Store it at room temperature, definitely not the fridge, because when it warms up again, the icing will sweat and get sticky,

How thin is too thin? Or will I just find out when I try to pick it up!

Oh sorry, I got out of bed after I posted this and did stuff! Yes, you'll know if it's too thin. I normally do about the thickness of pastry for a pie top, if that helps!

I've just finished making this with fondant covering this morning.

Good luck!