I am no baker so chocolate cake ideas would be great and how do I use the fondant just to cover and maybe some cut outs to add to the sides of the cake, any advice would help! I really want it to come out beautiful so any tips would be great. I forgot to say my wedding planner hasnt used it befor either!
Fondant can be extremely hard to work with. Unless you have some practice its hard to cover a cake and smooth out the ruffles in time before the fondant sets so to speak and becomes hard.
If you have your heart set on working with it call around to a local cake decorator and see if they would be willing to give you a demo. Or if you have access to a culinary school ask the pastry instructor if they or someone else can give you pointers.
I have had some experience with fondant, and know that it requires some finesse to work with the stuff. It requires a lot of patience and quick, gentle handling in order to smooth it out onto a cake.
If you work with it and find that its too frustrating, what you could do is ask a local culinary school (if you have access to one) if they have any students who would be interested in helping you with this. Sometimes there might be aspiring pastry/cake decorators who have had more experience with the stuff and might be able to help you out.
Good luck!
