I found the onlays to be extremely easy to use but did have a couple of hiccups during my first try. Here are some tips for you to help you use your onlays perfectly the first time around!

1. Roll THIN! – The instructions say to roll out your fondant to a thickness of “2” on your pasta machine or 1/16″. I found this to be too thick. I actually ended up rolling mine out to a setting of “4” and it was perfect. It took hardly any work at all to cut through the fondant and tear away the excess.

2. Account for thickness of buttercream and fondant: To get your onlays to match up perfectly, you have to have a circumference (distance around your cake) that is in increments of 1″. I find that once you add on buttercream and fondant, your 8″ round ends up being more like 8.5″ around so you have an odd gap at the back. EASY FIX! Just trim down your cake board 1/2 of an inch (maybe more or less depending on how much buttercream and fondant you like to use) so that when you add your buttercream and fondant layer, you end up with a perfectly sized tier and your onlays will match up.

Quick Info on Circumference How do you know if your tier is the right size? Take a string and wrap it around the cake to measure the circumference. Mark with your fingers the length and place onto a ruler. Compare your length to the chart below. This should tell you what length your string should read if your cake is measuring at exactly the right circumference. (hint, you can also measure the top of the cake to see if its exactly 8″ or 10″ etc but this can be slightly inaccurate) Formula to find the circumference yourself is pi (3.14) multiplied by d (diameter, the distance across the circle). Example: A cake that is 6″ in diameter would be 3.14 x 6 so the circumference is 18.8″ If your circle is bigger or smaller than the diameter you need, your onlays will not line up exactly. If you are barely off, you can probably fudge it pretty easily by slightly stretching the last onlay.

Round Cakes

• 6″ – 18.8″
• 8″ – 25.13″
• 9″ – 28.2″
• 10″ – 31.4″
• 12″ – 37.6″
• 14″ – 43.9″
• 16″ – 50.2″

You can watch this video I put together of the first time I ever used my onlays. I go over the problems I first encountered, how I worked through them and what happens if you miss a step! I will also be putting together a tutorial on how I made my gumpaste lotus flower if I get enough interest so leave a comment if you have any questions about onlays or if you would like to see the gumpaste flower tutorial. Thanks!