Marshmallow Fondant Recipe & Cake Decorating Tips

You may not have heard of “fondant”, especially if you are the kind of person who tries to stay away from baking a lot of homemade cakes. However, you have most likely seen fondant if you have gone through a checkout line and glanced over the latest wedding style magazines! The smooth, modern, elegant cakes of today are usually covered with and decorated in fondant.

Although it looks expensive and difficult, using fondant can actually be a time saver as well as an easy, fun way to decorate your own cakes for birthdays or other special occasions. But don’t spend a ton of money buying the boxes of prepackaged fondant from your local craft store…not only is it pricey, but it also tastes awful! You can make a simple, inexpensive fondant at home using only three ingredients:

16 oz. mini marshmallows
2 TBSP water
2 lbs powdered sugar

First, sprinkle the water over the marshmallows and microwave them to melt, as if you were making crispy cereal bars. Now you must knead the sugar into the melted marshmallows. Its easiest if you have a heavy duty stand mixer with a dough hook, but it can be done by hand as well. Do not use all the sugar unless you have to. The proper consistency will be about like PlayDoh. If you want to color the entire batch with one color, you can add some paste/gel food color in as you knead. You can also add vanilla or almond extracts or any other flavor you choose during the kneading process. After you have it well kneaded, you will want to wrap it tightly and let it rest for 15-30 minutes.

While working with the marshmallow fondant, have a bit of Crisco or some spray oil handy to keep the work surface, rolling pin, and your hands lightly greased. This will help keep the fondant from sticking and also helps the surface of the fondant maintain a glossy shine. If you find your fondant is still too sticky, knead in a bit more sugar.