A few weeks ago, when I was planning my cake for a school project, I wondered what the easiest way to make my cake look clean and professional without spending too much money on decorating supplies and tools.
I knew fondant was my best option to get the clean look I wanted, but this was something completely new to me. I had never tasted or worked with fondant before. And frankly, I was extremely intimidated.
I had always thought fondant was only for the professionals. This was not something I needed to be messing with, and had no need to learn. Wow…could I have been more wrong?! (Channeling my inner Chandler for any of you Friends fans out there!)
Well, I did a little research and found there is more than one way to make fondant. I chose the easy way.
This marshmallow fondant is very simple, fun, and inexpensive to make. It makes your cake look like it came straight from the display case of a professional bakery. And the best part is it is edible! It is not too pasty or gummy (as I’ve heard) other fondants can be.
Even though it is edible, it is extremely sweet and your teeth will probably hurt if you try to consume too much.
Homemade Marshmallow Fondant
Ingredients:
- 1 – 16 oz package white mini marshmallows
- 2-5 tbsp water
- 8 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
- almond or vanilla extract (optional)
- food coloring (optional)
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (for your hands and the counter)
Yield: about 2 lbs of fondant
To Make the Fondant:
- Pour the entire bag of marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl.
- Add in (I recommend) 3 tbsp water and pop into the microwave for 1 minute.
- Remove the bowl, and stir. Add more water if necessary and continue to microwave for 30 second intervals until the marshmallows are fully melted. This will take about 2 1/2 minutes total.
- At this point I added in 1 tsp almond extract, and the necessary amount of food coloring to get the color that I needed for my cake. If you don’t want to flavor it or color it, skip this step.
- Fold in 6 cups of the powdered sugar.
- At this point you are going to want to generously grease your counter/workspace and hands. Then sprinkle 1 cup of the remaining powdered sugar over the greased area.
- Turn out the marshmallow mix onto your prepared work surface.
- Begin kneading your fondant. Grease/sugar your hands and surface to prevent the fondant from sticking to anything. Warning: this gets very messy!
- If your fondant is cracking or tearing easily, it is too dry and you need to add a small amount of water (about 1/2 tbsp at a time).
- Continue to knead until the fondant is smooth and elastic. This took me about 12 minutes, but it could take anywhere from 8-15.
Wilton suggested this for storing the fondant: “It’s best to allow Marshmallow Fondant to sit, double-wrapped, overnight. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating with a thin layer of solid vegetable shortening, wrap in plastic wrap and then place in resealable bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Marshmallow Fondant will keep well in refrigerator for several weeks.” – Wilton.com
And there you have it! A super simple and very professional fondant recipe. I hope this makes all your cake decorating dreams come true!
About bigfatbaker
I love marshmallow fondant! Tastes a lot better than traditional fondant.
How neat! I saw on Paula Deen they made marshellow fondant but I really wanted to know the recipe, thanks for sharing! Love your blog and glad to be a new follower!
Thanks for such a sweet compliment!
i tried making marshmallow fondant last year and it didn’t turn out… now sure what i did wrong! glad to see you had success… you give me confidence to try it again! can’t wait to see what you made… =)
Thanks for showing me how to do this. It makes me nervous because it seems so difficult but I might just have to give it a try.
Don’t worry, it is not difficult at all! The hardest part is cleaning up the mess
It is a lot of fun to play with though.
wonderful recipe..I love making it this way too! Thanks for sharing!
Glad this worked for you! I’ve usually done fondant old school, but was thinking of trying the marshmallow version…definitely going to go for it now, if it works that well!
OMG! This is the Best! Thank you So much!! I use to make fondent with powder sugar, water, unflavored gelatin, glucose, glycerine, and vanilla and I knew there had to be a easier AND cheaper way and I thank you for posting this! You have made my life much easier!
I LOVE this!!
I made it right the very first try, and I just finished making a batch with 5 different colors for my daughters birthday cupcakes!!!!
How do you keep it from sweating though?
If you refrigerated the fondant and/or cake it will cause the fondant to sweat. I try to avoid the fridge but if you can’t I read to let it sit with a small fan on it to prevent condensation from forming. Hope that helps!
OMG! Thank you!! I have just made my first fondant batch & turned out PERFECT! Thank you Thank you!!!!
I am so glad it worked out
Hi! Well I made a mistake and put the marshmallows and the icing together in the microwave for minute and it worked like a bomb! Also ‘kneaded’ it in the bowl with a wooden spoon, reducing the ‘sticky messy hands’ factor
My first ever fondant and not too bad for a beginner! Tomorrow I paint the cake, it is for my mother in law’s birthday!