(photo from my daughter’s 9th birthday- a tea party)
A friend of mine introduced me to “Marshmallow Fondant” over a year ago, and I will never simply “ice” a birthday cake again. It works just the same as store bought fondant, but tastes way better! (and it’s cheaper! Cheaper is good!) I’ve had several emails asking how it’s made- so I figured it would be a perfect recipe for the ‘i heart faces: dessert recipe” week!
Here we go!
To start, you’ll need a large bag of marshmallows, crisco, icing sugar and vanilla. (which I forgot to put in the picture, so just pretend it’s there! Clear vanilla is better if you have it, as it leaves the fondant a brighter white.)
Count out 50 large marshmallows.
Okay, well 49 will do….
Add 2 tablespoons of water, and microwave at 30 second intervals stirring in-between.
Not quite done yet…
It usually take about 2 minutes, but keep going until there are no lumps left.
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the mixture, and stir well.
Now comes the messy part!
Get out your crisco, and grease a good 12x12 inch spot. You’ll need it in a minute.
Now, we’re going to add 1 cup of icing sugar at a time, and stir it into the melted marshmallow.
About 3 cups in, it should start to look like this.
Once it begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and hold together in a more dough-like substance, you’re ready for the next step. Take off any rings, grab the crisco again, and cover your hands in it. Use lots. You won’t be sorry. :) Now pour the mixture out onto that greased spot that you prepared, and start kneading. Slowly add another cup of icing sugar on top and knead it in.
I used a total of 6 cups, but just keep kneading until it’s smooth, and no longer sticky.
It should be able to stretch without tearing. If it tears, it may be too dry, which can easily fixed by adding a few drops of water.
Lastly, you’ll want to roll it into a smooth ball, cover the outside of it with crisco, and have your helper hold open a plastic bag while you drop it in. (cling wrap works too!)
Twist it up air tight, and leave it in the fridge for a few hours. Or overnight, which is what I prefer to do. I always prepare the fondant the night before I make the cake.
My least favourite part: cleaning up…
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Now here are just a few tips on decorating with it.
You’ll need cornstarch and food colouring.
Pick a spot on the counter, and spread out some cornstarch. Don’t be afraid to use quite a bit. The more the better in my opinion…
When you take out the fondant, it may be a little bit hard to work with. You can pop it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. Try 10 first, and then another 10 if needed. You’ll be back to a sticky, messy, mush if you leave it in too long!
To colour it, start kneading and get it pliable and then add a few drop of food colouring on top. Keep kneading until the colour starts to mix in.
Not quite….
Getting there.
It should resemble play-doh, when you’re finished. Probably why the kids love this stuff so much!
There we go.
So once you have your colours ready, pick which one you’d like to use for the base of your cake.
I have my cake already iced, and I set it in the freezer for 20 minutes or so prior to adding the fondant.
(On top of my frozen pizza works just fine!)
This way the icing hardens a bit, you can smooth down any sharp spots with your hand, and you won’t leave finger prints when smoothing down the fondant.
While it’s in there, roll out your fondant into a large circle. You can measure, or play it dangerous and just go by eye. That’s what I do…
This is where the cornstarch is important. If you don’t use enough, you’ll go to lift it up and it will be stuck to your countertop. Lots of cornstarch is the key here. Don’t worry about it showing on the fondant, you can brush that off later.
Carefully lift your circle and drop it over the center of your cake.
Smooth it down gently with your hands, pressing out any air bubbles and smoothing out and lumps and bumps.
Here is where my lazy susan, and love of pizza come in handy.
Trim off the excess.
Now you have your base, and the real fun begins!
Here I did a simple polka dot theme. Where I rolled out several different colours, and cut out different sized dots.
Again: lots of cornstarch is key! :)
To apply them, simply brush one side with a little bit of water, and the sugar will act as a glue. Once they’re stuck, they’re stuck!
I used my pizza cutter to cut out some stripes, and here we have the finished product!
My favourite part: Cut, serve, and enjoy!
Here are a few other things cakes I’ve made using marshmallow fondant.
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