Miscellaneous Baking, Miscellaneous Baking Questions and Answers

QUESTION:
One of the girls in a class asked for help on how to make the Iris from fondant and gum paste. If you have any instructions please pass them to me.

ANSWER:
Your friend will have to pick up a book about flower making. It is to complicated to explain in this letter. I also don’t have the time to go into the tools that are needed. I suggest Cakes by Design by Scott Clark Woolley. He also has a web site that is fantastic. He makes the cutters and the veiners for a very fair price and all of the pieces match together. You can buy the cutter one place, the veiners another place and most often the sizes don’t match so you have wasted time, money and supplies.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing I can advise you is that you DO NOT buy pieces, veiners and cutters from different vendors when you are starting gumpaste work. Once you know what you are doing, you can find ways to make things match the way you want them to. But as a beginner, you will drive yourself NUTS trying to get the lovely results you have imagined.

Also, the longer the flower sits before you color it and use it on a cake it seems they get stronger. Premaking gumpaste flowers by weeks, drying and storing is a real plus for decorators

QUESTION:
I have never used fondant before but I love the way it looks on cakes and your MM fondant recipe sound easy to make. I like to make filled cakes preferably ice cream filled cakes. Could I use fondant on that style of cake or would there be too much moisture in it? If I could make a filled cake and top it with fondant what would you suggest I use as a filling? Any advice would be great, thank you.

ANSWER:
I’m sorry but Ice cream and Fondant do not mix. Fondant should never be frozen. When the ice cream starts to melt even the slightest bit, and that is probably before you get the cake into the freezer, the sugar in the fondant will start to dissolve and turn into a sticky gooey mess. Ice cream cakes are great the way they are. This is one time that more is not better

QUESTION:
I was wondering if you have any tips for cutting a cake that's heavily decorated with gum paste flowers, etc. I've seen photographs these gorgeous masterpieces and can't imagine how it's done without ruining them.

ANSWER:
Gumpaste flowers and decorations are removed before slicing. Gumpaste is classified as inedible. It is food safe but tastes like sweetened cardboard. Most decorations are created on what looks like florist wire so they are fairly easy to remove and save for memories.

QUESTION:
I too am about to try my first wedding cake and what a treasure I have found in all the information you have presented here.

My question is this...you mention something about light pressing a cake right after removing it from the oven to even it out and make it slightly more dense to hold up to fondant, but you didn’t say how. You mentioned using tea towels, because the cake will be hot, but won’t the cake just spring right back up if all you do is press it with your hands? Do you put something a little bit heavy on top of the cake, like another pan filled with something to make it heavy enough to press the top of the cake flat?

I also have a question about filling. My friend wants strawberry filling between the layers. I have heard from various sources that if I were to just spread jam or preserves between the layers...it will soak into the cake. This is great to know but I can’t find a solution to this problem anywhere except...someone told me that Wilton makes a filling but I am afraid it won’t taste as good as a nice strawberry preserve or homemade filling would. I thought about lightly frosting the cake with buttercream and then putting in the layer of jam...but like is said...this is my first big cake like this and unfortunately, I don’t have time to do too many experiments.

Thank you for being so willing to share your knowledge and experience with all of us. -

ANSWER:
You should not have any problem with the cake pressing. When you remove the cake from the oven, it is very fragile. That is why you don’t immediately remove it from the cake pan. Most recipes call for a 10 to 15 minute wait before removing and placing on a cooling rack.

As you take the cake out of the oven, notice if your cake has domed. If it has, take a clean tea towel and place it on the cake. Gently press down with your hand. This will gently press the steam out of the inner bubbles and “collapse” the area that has domed. You cake will also get a little denser in texture. Take the towel off the cake and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.

If your cake is still badly domed, you will have to decide if you will need to slice the offending dome off with a serrated knife.

The easy way to remove the cake from the pan is to place the rack on the top of the cake pan, hold both firmly together and invert both at the same time. Place the rack on the counter and gentle remove the pan from the cake. If there was a dome left after the smashing, it is now in the down position on the rack. The weight of the layer and warmth in the cake will finish the leveling job for you.

Now about the filling:

I personally am very cautious about using jam. Yes, it can soak into the cake but the worst part is that the jam is slippery and the layer can slide off.

Your idea of the buttercream and a thin layer of jam is OK.

Would you consider a Strawberry Buttercream for the Filling? You would use Buttercream, a little Jam and a Strawberry Syrup. This way you would have great flavor but less problems.

If you want the recipe let me know.

Just remember to relax and have fun.

QUESTION:
I'm getting married in about a year and a half, and I was thinking about making my own cake. i was going to use your recipes for both the Buttercream Icing and the MM Fondant Icing.

My question is when you are making a cake with two or more tiers, do you put the fondant icing on each tier separately then assemble the cake? Or do you assemble the cake then put the fondant on? If you do the last one, do you put any icing in between the tiers?

ANSWER:
I'm a firm believer that a bride should not be making her own wedding cake. It's way to stressful a time to add cake decorating to it. That is just my personal opinion.

But, since you asked, my best suggestion is that you go to the Wilton Web site and read what they have to say about wedding and wedding cake making. There is great information for free and just about the best place to start. After that you can either visit your library or pick up a book or two from Amazon.com. I often check out the used books to pick up a great priced deal for a book that I want to keep. After I'm done with a book, I donate it to the local library so that others can benefit.

Personally, I like the following books:

Wilton or Martha Stewart Wedding books.

Wedding Cakes You Can Make: Designing, Baking, and Decorating the Perfect Wedding Cake by Dede Wilson

Sweet Celebrations by Silvia Weinstock,

The Perfect Wedding Cake by Kate Manchester

By the way, one of the colors that will be an "in" color for the next few years is Sage.

QUESTION:
I LOVE your website! It is very informative.

I'm making a cake for my daughter's birthday party (this Friday). I was planning to make the cake on Thursday. She has requested my fudgy chocolate cake. This is a very rich, dense chocolate cake normally frosted with a simple chocolate ganache. It is normally just two layers and the ganache goes between the layers as well as over the whole cake. It hardens after sitting, but the cake always stays very moist.

My problem is that she wants a light lavender cake - with two tiers. I have 6-inch and 10-inch cake pans and plan to make each tier 3 layers. But how do I make the cake lavender? I've already made flowers (royal icing), and the only way I can think of to make this cake lavender is with your delicious MM Fondant. I have made this before, so making it and coloring it is not a problem. I'm just wondering how to put this cake together. As far as I can see, I have four options.

One would be to make the cake as normal, then frost with buttercream, and then put the fondant on it, although I fear that this may be too much "topping" on the cake.
The other would be to skip the buttercream, but I'm afraid that the fondant wouldn't adhere correctly, or not have the smooth look that I love. I could also just skip the chocolate ganache, although I'm not sure if the cake would taste right - I've never tried the cake without the ganache.
I could just just the ganache for the filling, and then use the buttercream to cover and then the fondant.
And my last option would be to tell her that she's going to have to deal with a white cake with strawberries and buttercream and do the fondant as normal.

Oh, or I suppose I could just buy a cake, couldn't I? I would really appreciate your input on this! I am a real novice when it comes to these things - this is the first big birthday cake I've ever attempted, and the first time I've EVER made a birthday cake for my daughter. I really want it to turn out well.

Thank you again for the great site and advice!

ANSWER:
In my opinion, you are trying to hard to put to many elements together. A cake Chimera of sorts! You are trying to combine a two-layer cake, ganache, buttercream, fondant, flowers, chocolate, lavender, etc. You are absolutely right - "too much topping". If you make this two-layer cake, you will also have to stack the cake layers so you will need at least two sizes of cake boards and the dowels to hold them up.

Now this is my opinion - I'd not make myself crazy and make two different cakes. My daughter would either get the fudgy chocolate cake with ganache and a few flowers. On another day, she would get the lavender cake. (We call it a Happy Tuesday Present in our family.) My daughter, Rachel, would be ecstatic to have a second "birthday" party a few weeks apart.

That said, there is one other option that you might like. Make your ganache from white chocolate candy disks and color the ganache a lavender color. Add your food color to the warm cream and then add the Wwhite chocolate disks so they can melt.

This could be a little bit closer to sanity.

QUESTION:
My name is Sally. I live in the UK. I am making an retirement cake for my auntie. She wants the numbers 60! I have found the number molds, but I don't know how much ingredients to use? It is a sponge cake. How can I make it a light sponge? Please help me! I will send you a picture of my cake that I had done for a 16th Birthday Cake. I weight in ounces. Thank you.

ANSWER:
The rule of thumb for pans size tiny thru 12 inches across (30 CM) is that you fill your prepared (greased and floured) pans to just above 1/2 way with batter. This will allow your cake plenty of space to grow up the sides of the pan. When the pans sizes are larger bigger, you will probably need to use a core to make sure that the center is also cooked.

So in this case, since I don't know the size of your pan, I can't give you exact batter measurements. Place your cakes on a baking sheet if possible then bake at 325 degrees (160 C). As to the baking time you'll have to go by eye and nose. Use a toothpick to check if the cake is done.

Remember if you have a little batter left over, you can always make yourself a few cupcakes, and since no one knows you made them, you don't have to share your goodies unless you want to.

QUESTION:
I love the website and all your tips. I was wondering if you can store royal icing? fridge or room temp?

ANSWER:
You can store Royal Icing for a day or two but not much longer, and I prefer storing it in the refrigerator but leaving it on the counter, VERY WELL COVERED, overnight is certainly acceptable.

After a couple of days, the egg whites/meringue starts breaking down and change the texture of the icing. I’ve seen it turn very watery. Also, it can start to harden if not covered extremely well. The sugar can re-crystallize and there can be hard, even sharp, bits of sugar in the icing that is almost impossible to mix back in.

QUESTION:
I have been asked to make a wedding cake similar to the one I have attached a picture of. My problem is, I'm not sure how to go about making the white chocolate "quills". Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ANSWER:
You will need chocolate, either white or dark, a pallet knife, a double edge comb scraper and a metal, broad spatula. The spatula looks like a 6 " putty knife. I've used my metal bench scraper before and it worked pretty well.

Prepare your counter by thoroughly cleaning and drying. If you have access to a huge sheet of marble, even better. I used a marble coffee table more than once.

Melt and temper your chocolate.

Spread a narrow band of tempered dark chocolate onto the clean surface. Using a palette knife spread it thinly to 5 1/2" wide. Now using the comb, create long straight lines through the length of the chocolate band. Allow the chocolate to firm slightly, then apply a second layer of chocolate on top of the chocolate. (You could make the bottom layer a dark chocolate and the top layer a white chocolate). Spread thinly and evenly with a palette knife. Allow to firm slightly. Use the broad scraper at 1" increments to roll-up the chocolate into quills.

QUESTION:
The last few cakes I have made have gone soggy in the middle and I don't know why. It is the same with various different recipes (except fruit). My oven is a fan oven and although it is a new oven I have used fan ovens for many years. When cooking time is up the cake smells cooked, the cake probe comes out clean and the top is often cracked. All indicators to say it is cooked I think and yet upon cutting the cake is heavy in the middle. If you could give me any reasons for this I would appreciate it.

ANSWER:
Here are a few random thoughts first before I hopefully answer your questions.

If you can, try to bake your cakes at around 165 C.

My 6-inch round pan is 17 cm. My 8-inch round pan is 20 cm, and the 9-inch round pan is 23 cm. I often talk about using a sheet pan. The measurements are 23 cm x 33 cm.

I'll take your questions one at a time:

(1) The last few cakes I have made have gone soggy in the middle and I don't know why. It is the same with various different recipes (except fruit). My oven is a fan oven and although it is a new oven I have used fan ovens for many years.

That thing that really rang a bell is your words, “new oven”. In the US, new ovens are notoriously off on the temperatures when we receive them at our home. If you can, have the company you bought your oven from, come out and do a temperature check. You can also do it yourself with a good quality oven thermometer.

If it is correct, then you could try to bake at 165C or Gas Mark 3 or Gas Mark 4. The cake might dome a bit more but that can easily be handled.

(2) When cooking time is up the cake smells cooked, the cake probe comes out clean and the top is often cracked.

I don’t have a convection oven (one that blows air while it cooks, but it sounds like the blower might be working to hard. That could cause a crusting on top of the batter before the cake rises. When the cake does rise, it can only grow by cracking that crust. As to the probe coming out clean, the hard crust could be scraping the uncooked filling off. I also wonder about the word “probe”. Many of the newer ovens here in the US, have a metal probe that is connected to the oven via a wire. We poke the probe into the meat or cake, and the probe sends the temp, via the wire, to the oven. The info is readable next to the oven temp. readout.

I prefer using a wooden toothpick (cocktail sticks) when checking whether a cake is baked properly or not. There is something about the fibers of the wood that hold on to the batter or the cake to give the best results.

(3) All indicators to say it is cooked I think and yet upon cutting the cake is heavy in the middle.

This really sounds as if the cake hasn’t finished baking and become light and fluffy yet.

On a recipe that you are really comfortable with, try the suggestions and see if there is a positive change. I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know how it turns out.

QUESTION:
I have heard that marzipan tastes a lot better than MM Fondant. Is it true AND can you use marzipan to cover a cake like you can MM fondant?

ANSWER:
The definition of Marzipan is that it is a candy made from ground almonds, bitter almonds, sugar and sometimes glucose.

Yes, Marzipan does taste great but you have to be a dedicated fan of almonds to enjoy the intensity.

You can cover a cake in either Fondant or Marzipan. Marshmallow Fondant is much easier to work with because it is more pliable and less apt to crack and break as you are trying to put it on the cake. You can always add a few drops of Almond extract to the fondant if you wish to have the Almond flavor.

Another thing you might want to consider is the cost. To cover an 8-Inch diameter x 3-inch cake in marzipan, you will need at least 2 boxes (7 ounces each) to cover the cake. In my neighborhood, that is $16 just for the icing on the cake. A batch of MM Fondant will cost about $3.50 and I can cover two cakes.

QUESTION:
I have been reading your website, and from it I believe you must be the best person to ask my question. I want to make the Star Wars character Yoda for my son’s birthday cake. I am planning on using my Wilton stand up teddy bear pan, but instead of making it into a bear, I am going to decorate it like Yoda. My question is how to make the ears. Yoda has big pointy ears that stick out far from his head. I thought maybe I should us fondant, but from your website, I gather that is not a good idea. Do you have any other suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it. My son is nuts over Star Wars, and he would be thrilled if I can pull this off. Thanks for your time.

ANSWER:
I’m not positive about the answer to this one. I have not indulged in cake sculpting so I have a lack of knowledge here. Just using my brain though, I’d say that using the fondant for the ears is the way to go. There would, of course, need to be a stick in the ears to poke into the cake to hold them on to the head.

Roland Winbeckler is a genius in this technique. You might want to pick up his book Cake Sculpture and Sculptured Figure Piping. It costs about $13 and is a wealth of knowledge. Here is a link to a few of the cakes that he has done over the years. Remember that these cakes are life size: http://www.winbeckler.com/roland.asp

QUESTION:
I make a yellow pound cake for the holidays and sprinkled it with confectioners sugar. Is there a way to make the sugar red or green for the holidays? Or do they sell different colored confectioners sugar? Thank you. Happy Holidays!!

ANSWER:
Ok, you have a fun question here.

First off, I think if it was easy to make this type of product, you would see it made commercially. Since we don’t see it on the market, there must be something that causes problems with the making of or the products appearance.

I’ve not tried this but here are a few thoughts about making your own.

To make homemade powdered sugar, you can put regular sugar in your blender and whirl away until the sugar is pulverized so fine it looks like powdered sugar so I’m following that train of thought here.

You would need to make a colored sugar so use about 8 ounces of the sugar. Make sure it is completely dry and all of the gel food coloring has been absorbed. The color will have to be intense. I’d use a food processor for ease in the combining process.

Place it in the blender and process until you are satisfied with the results. Don’t be surprised if it takes 20 minutes. If the mixture gets warm, please stop the machine and let the sugar cool, otherwise you could get a big, hard clump of sugar and destroy your machine.

I think that the problem with this is that the color will be weak. By adding so much air and cutting the crystals, you might end up with a pale red or pale green.

QUESTION:
I have been using Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden cake mixes for 24 years. The boxes marked Sept 20 through Oct 31, 2005 I have been having problems. Cakes do not rise in the middle and are doughy. Have had mixer and ovens checked. Have talked to Duncan Hines (Pinnacle), they blame me, they even told me to call Wilton to see if my cake pans are good. I just have over 400 of them. No I did not call Wilton to see if my cake pans were good but did call to see if they had been having in problems in there test kitchen. The lady did say someone else had called in with that problem but she did not handle the call. Being as the cakes to not rise in the middle and seem to be greasy and doughy in the middle I tried to add a little baking soda or baking powder. I thought this might help being as I think there is a problem with the rising agent. This did not help... Do you have any suggestions???? I love the Butter Recipe Golden but am going to have to find something else to use. Walmart knows there is a problem because I showed the difference between a cake mix that was from July and on from the Sept /Oct lot. The reimbursed me for 48 cake mixes, butter and eggs. They also took back 4 cases from the Oct lot. HELP!

ANSWER:
OK, for a start lets check the ingredients. I have a box that expires in March 17, 2006. That is most likely a cake from before your problems. I rarely use the Butter Cake Golden mix (I’m a white cake girl myself).

Do you see anything different with the ingredients on your problem boxes? Did they change the recipe?

I would also call Duncan Hines again. You could have gotten someone that was having a very bad day and not helping you properly. My gut feeling is that Duncan Hines has made an inferior batch of this product and is trying to avoid a recall. Other than that, I don’t know. You should never have to “fix” cases of product.

QUESTION:
I made the chocolate roses and they were beautiful. I tried to make them with white chocolate chips but it turned out sticky and wouldn't hold shape. Do you have any suggestions. I wanted them for a wedding cake this weekend.

ANSWER:
Dawn since you used the white chocolate chips how about using the white candy melts?

I’ve not made white chocolate roses so I’m only guessing here. I’d try the melts since it is made for molding. You might have better luck.

QUESTION:
I have a question about refrigerating a wedding cake. I am making a friends wedding cake and I read on your website that you should not refrigerate the cake. I will be making a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting (instead of butter cream) under the fondant. I have never used fondant ... so I'm hoping all will go well with your recipe. My question is ... can I keep a cream cheese frosted cake on the counter and not refrigerate it? How far in advance should I bake / frost the cake? Thanks so much!

ANSWER:
You are right, you have a few problems here.

Cream cheese should be kept chilled - Fondant should not be chilled.

I’m giving you a big sad sigh here, but I’d not combine these options because of the safety factor of the cream cheese and I don’t think that the flavors of the cream cheese icing and the MM Fondant would go well together. Would you consider just using a plain buttercream under the fondant? If you really want the cream cheese icing, how about making a grooms cake that would also sit on the table?

Regarding your time schedule. You could bake 2 days in advance. After you bake the cake layers, use a simple sugar syrup wash on the cake layers (anywhere from ½ cup for a, 18-inch layer to 1 scant ¼ cup for a 6 inch layer). This will help to keep the moisture in cake. You can cover the cake now if the works into you time schedule. Personally, I prefer to cover with the fondant, the same day as I bake. Let the cakes sit in a sheltered place over night. Cover, if not done already and decorate the next day. That night, keep the cake in an area of the house that has the fewest drafts, and deliver the cake on the wedding day.

QUESTION:
I am starting a wedding rental business. I would like to make a fondant wedding cake soon. It will be a fake cake. I have bought three different size Styrofoam squares for the tiers. Once I cover them with fondant and decorate them, how do I preserve the cake? I've heard there is a spray you can use to preserve the cake for ever, but I don't know what it is or where I can buy it. Any suggestions you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!

ANSWER:
The product that I have heard of folks using is called Perma Ice. You can get it from SugarCraft.

Perma Ice - NOT EDIBLE Used for display cakes, wash off when dirty - you don't need nearly as much of this as you would icing... just so it covers the dummy completely with no 'bumps' showing from the styrofoam. Stir before using or if it has set for a long time. To thicken, add cornstarch. To thin it, add water.

Perma Ice gallon #35-501 $47.25 - Acrylic non edible Color 6-pc set - Used to color Perma Ice - this is NOT food coloring. You cannot color Perma ice with food coloring. Includes red, pink, blue, green, yellow and brown (from these you can combine to make more colors) #35-550 $13.50

I haven’t heard of a spray to preserve the fondant. Most of the ladies that I know either put the cakes in glass enclosures to keep the dust and fingers off, or just show their work with pictures.

QUESTION:
I saw the comment made about Perma Ice. You said to thicken it with cornstarch. Do you just add it dry or dilute with water? Also, once thickened, can you use it to make roses and what not.

ANSWER:
What you were reading is a quote from the company that makes Perma Ice. It is commonly used for making cake displays that need to go into a bakery window and remain there for years.

Since I’m a home baker, I’ve never used the product.

From rereading the quote thought, it sounds like you add additional cornstarch to the Perma Ice in the dry form. If you make a paste with water, you’d be defeating the purpose of trying to dry the product. I’d add a little bit and very gently stir so that I would not add bubbles to the Perma Ice and ten add more if necessary.

QUESTION:
I have just stumbled upon your website...wonderful! I am thinking about beginning the art of cake decorating from my home and have no experience with fondant or gum paste...in fact before reading your questions and answers online I thought gum paste was edible....is there another medium I would find easy to use for edible flowers that yield the same beautiful result? Also, would it compromise the integrity and taste of the cake if the cakes were baked a day or two ahead and then refrigerated/frozen before decorating? Looking for short cuts so that I don't have to do everything in the same day so any advice would be great. Also, I went to the given link for your homemade fondant recipe that everyone is raving about but could not find it...is it possible to send it to me? Thanks so much and I personally appreciate the time and effort you are putting into helping beginners like myself.

ANSWER:
First of all I need to say that I do not have a baking business but the best advice I can give you is that you check with your local city and county about you local laws concerning starting a business. Some cities will close you down in a heartbeat if they find out you are preparing any type of food in your home kitchen for sale. Please protect yourself and know what you are dealing with before you invest time and money.

Since you have multiple questions I’ll answer them below:

(1) I have just stumbled upon your website...wonderful! I am thinking about beginning the art of cake decorating from my home and have no experience with fondant or gum paste...in fact before reading your questions and answers online I thought gum paste was edible....is there another medium I would find easy to use for edible flowers that yield the same beautiful result?

Gumpaste creates the best results for flowers, and it’s also easy to work with. The flowers are removed simply from the cake before eating. One great thing about the gumpaste flower is that it can be created in white, months in advance, stored in a dry, room temperature, airtight box and then colored as needed.

You can also make flowers from fondant but it more difficult and fragile in my opinion. You can, of course, make buttercream flowers.

(2) Also, would it compromise the integrity and taste of the cake if the cakes were baked a day or two ahead and then refrigerated/frozen before decorating?

If you are baking only a day or 2 in advance, you would not want to freeze your cake before decorating. You would just get the layers frozen and then you would be taking them out of the freezer to defrost. Way to much unnecessary work and you would actually be losing moisture in the whole process.

(3) Looking for short cuts so that I don't have to do everything in the same day so any advice would be great.

It’s quality information, like you find in this book, that can help you make decisions in your baking life. Also, remember that if you decide to go into the business, the purchase of a reference book is a tax write off.

(4) Also, I went to the given link for your homemade fondant recipe that everyone is raving about but could not find it...is it possible to send it to me?

Here is the link for the MM Fondant at What’s Cooking America: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

QUESTION:
Can your marshmallow fondant be used to make chocolate covered cherries, or will it fail to 'melt'.

ANSWER:
Ruth you have got me on this question. I’m not a person who likes chocolate and cherries so I have complete lack of knowledge on this topic

I did a bit of research and found a recipe for you that sounds very good but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say that it is tried and true: http://www.recipelink.com/ch/2003/april/ultimatecandy1.html

QUESTION:
I've been looking at your website and I'm hoping you can help me. I'm making a gingerbread house and need a smooth outer wall covering that royal icing can't provide. How would I attach fondant to gingerbread? How long does fondant last if sitting out (this is not for eating, just for decorating) and needs to look good for several months? Would the grease in the fondant break down the royal icing?

ANSWER:
Well, I admit to you that I don’t know the answers to all of your questions. I never had the inclination to make Gingerbread houses. A neighbor lady made them for me and I would bake cookies for her. With that said, I do have teo books about making GGB houses and cities. The books are about the winners in the Grove Park Inn competitions.

I can’t see even one house that is fondant covered. I think it is because the fondant won’t “act” correctly for an extended length of time. Usually if the top level experts don’t do something, then there is a good reason for it.

Nicolas Lodge has a book out that tells about using royal icing on a cake. The sides are perfectly flat and level so it is the technique that gives you the fine finish even more than the icing itself.

I do think that the royal icing would break down from the Crisco in the fondant after an extended length of time.

Sorry that I couldn’t help you more with this. Best of luck with your project.