Fondant Recipe

By popular demand, I decided to make a separate post on the making of fondant itself.  Since I learned this recipe from my friends Kata and Corrie as they were making their marvelous topsy-turvey cake, I don't have a recipe, per say.  I'll try to quantify it for you, but a lot of these will be based on description.

Ingredients (covers one 9 inch three tiered cake plus all the decorations):
-1 bag mini marshmallows (get the good kind, don't use the stuff sitting around in your cabinet from your camping trip 2 years ago)
-1 tsp water
-approximately 1 lb powdered sugar
-food coloring
-some Crisco for rubbing on your hands and rolling surfaces (not to eat, don't worry)
-corn starch for keeping it from sticking

1.  Put marshmallows in a microwave safe mixing bowl.  Splash the water in it.

2.  Put it in the microwave 15 seconds at a time and stir in between sessions with a wooden spoon.  Do this until the marshmallow is all melted.  Do not over-microwave.  It will probably take about 4-6 sessions in the microwave before it is all melted.

3.  Now, add powdered sugar, but little by little.  At first, about a cup is good to start.  The marshmallow will stick to everything, but that's fine.  Just keep stirring.

4.  Add more and more powdered sugar.  At some point, it will be substantial enough and cooled enough to work by hand.  Still mushy, but it should be manageable. 


5.  Rub Crisco on your clean countertop and on your hands.  Take the mushy ball of fondant out onto the counter. 

Add more powdered sugar and knead.  The sugar will get everywhere if you put it in the dough, fold it over, and press.  Avoid this by gently working it into the fondant little by little.  Add more Crisco to any surface or hands if it starts to stick.

6.  Once the ball gets to the consistency of playdoh (but not too tough, or else it'll rip), stop kneading. 
If you are using food coloring to change the color of it, do it at this stage.

7.  Now you can dust your surface with some corn starch, and roll out the fondant to cover your cake. 

Here's a yellow one.

8.  Roll out your fondant with a fondant roller (for best results) or rolling pin. 

Roll it back onto the fondant roller to transport it to the cake, and cover the cake from one side to the other, pushing out any air bubbles along the way. 

Smooth out the bottom and cut with a fondant cutter, pizza roller, or sharp knife.  Now you have a clean slate to work with.  Hooray!

Some guidelines:
-Don't put the cake in the fridge/somewhere cold after you cover it with fondant, because when you take the cake back out into normal temperature, the cake will start to sweat, and get trapped under the fondant, creating a nasty mess. 

-Make sure to let vegetarians know the pretty flowers and such are made with marshmallows (=gelatin). 

-If the fondant is too mushy, add more sugar.  If it's too tough, add a little water. 

Enjoy your time with this fun way to decorate cakes that makes your creation look super professional!  Thanks again to Kata and Corrie for introducing me to this method!

For a printable version of this recipe, please click here.