Ooey, Gooey, Fondant....

I think I will write about Audrey's party later, but I've been wanting to get the fondant recipe on here for awhile. I searched out several different sites on-line for the recipe and taken tid-bits from each of them....


For about an 8 X 13 inch cake, you will need:

• 1 bag of large fresh marshmallows (approx 16 oz.)


• 1 bag of powdered sugar (about 1 lb should be plenty)


• lg. microwavable glass bowl (or if you do it on the stove, a large pot)


• shortening or butter


• 1/2 cup water


• any food coloring you might want

1. Start off by preparing your surface. I've found that a large counter spread with either powdered sugar or crisco (butter) will do. Also grease the insides of your glass bowl.



2. Pour the whole bag of marshmallows into the bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.


3. Meanwhile, I've found that if you sift your powdered sugar, this saves a lot of lumps and unevenness in your fondant. I don't have a sifter, so I just rolled my sugar very well with my rolling pin to try and remove any lumps.
4. Test your marshmallows -hint- they won't even be close to being done. Put them in for another 30 seconds.
5. Gather your sugar in a large, round mound on your prepared countertop. You might grease or sugar your rolling pin at this point if it's not a no-stick one (like my old wooden one).
6. Remove the marshmallows (they won't be ready) and sprinkle them with approx. 2-3 Tblsp of water and return to microwave for another 30 seconds.
7. They should be getting closer now, remove them and stir them with a spoon. Return for another 30 seconds.
8. Remove, it is at this point that I add my food coloring. Stir it in very well. Your marshmallows might need another 20-30 seconds at this point to ensure every last bit of the marshmallows are melted.
9. Once fully melted, spoon the marshmallows out onto your large pile of sugar (hopefully you've made your circle of sugar large enough to hold the marshmallow w/o it spilling out over the edges).
10. Grease or sugar your hands well.
11. This is where you start to feel like you are actually making something! Start by moving the sugar around so it covers the entirety of the marshmallow - it's a lot easier to maneuver if you get it coated with sugar before you get your hands in it (believe me!!)
12. Start kneading the sugar into the marshmallow as you would bread dough.

13. Continue kneading until it is no longer sticky to the touch, is pliable, even and smooth - kind of like a loaf of bread dough before you bake it.

14. Ok, now put it in a ziplock baggie (you can grease this beforehand to make it easier to remove later) and place in the fridge for 8 hours or so (so hopefully you read this far enough in advance you don't need it the same day!).

15. When you are ready to use it, remove it from it's shackles and be prepared to roll, roll, and roll. This stuff likes to return to it's original mound - so a lot of rolling is needed. It will eventually give in and slowly start spreading though. You can heat in the microwave a little to help, but be careful!!!
16. Viola! roll onto your cake, and pat into place.

My small little hints that work for me:

• Ok, I said grease the counter... I greased it and it helped a lot, but it also kind of turned my fondant slightly pock-marky. I would suggest NOT using Pam spray, this seemed to really mar the surface. If you can help it, only grease the bowl, your hands, and the counter slightly. If you can, try just sugaring the counter and this will help keep it very smooth, though it WILL stick to the counter.


• A lot of the sites suggest adding your color to the fondant after it's refridgerated and before you use it. This is because the color can deepen or change slightly while sitting that long. I personally don't care - it's much easier to stir it in when the marshmallows are melting than when they are already hardened.


• Since the "dough" is so hard to roll out after being in the fridge overnight, I thought I would skip the refridgeration part this last time. Not such a good idea. It is not nearly as smooth when you do this. The surface of it looked like a pubescint boy's face with a very bad case of acne - only it never smoothed out with time or as much as I rubbed and brushed it. Just suck it up and refridgerate it.


• Heating it up to help make it pliable - I did this, it does help, but if you aren't careful, it doesn't heat entirely even - it "burn" little holes in it, or weaker, thinner spots. Microwave it for like 4-5 seconds at a time.


• Ice your cake with buttercream frosting or something similar before putting the fondant on. It will help it stick better and it tastes a whole lot better.


• Lastly - you are going to be a huge sticky-sweet mess no matter what you do, so have fun! Your cake will be so sweet that your teeth will start aching when you look at it -- enjoy!

side note: If this doesn't work for you - it's not my fault - must be user error... ha ha!!!! jk - but seriously, practice helps.