How to Make Marshmallow Fondant

 

Marshmallow fondant is easy to make and pretty fun to use. You can cover cakes and cookies with it to give them a smooth professional-looking finish or you can cut out shapes and designs to decorate your icing with. Its cheaper to make your own fondant than it is to buy it pre-made plus the pre-made stuff tastes a bit like cardboard unless you are willing to pay for a very high end product. 

All you need is:

1. Marshmallows - they can be big marshmallows or mini ones, either one works fine.
2. Icing sugar - You'll be mixing the icing sugar into the marshmallows to make a dough so I usually make sure that I have an entire bag on hand.. but I rarely use the whole bag.
3. Food colouring
4. Flavoring oil - This is optional. If you don't add this your fondant will be sweet and flavorless which works well if your got all the flavors your want in your cake already

This time I decided to make it with those mini fruit flavored marshmallows. I had to sort them by colour first. I figured they would add a little bit of flavor to the fondant so I wouldn't have to add much flavoring oil.

I use gel colours to dye my fondant but regular food colouring will work too. You won't be able to get really dark colours without making your fondant sticky, but for lighter colours you can just even it out with more icing sugar.

I also had lemon oil and coconut flavoring on hand.. oh la la the value brand  (which still works fine).

Step One:

Take a couple of handfuls of marshmallows and put them in a microwave safe bowl. Add a couple of drops of water and toss the marshmallows in it until they are all a bit damp. If you are going to just make one colour then put the whole bag of marshmallows in the bowl and add a couple of teaspoons of water. If you're going to put flavoring oil in, add it now and add less water

I like to make smaller batches because its easier to add the colour to the melted marshmallow than it is to work the colour into the fondant later.

Step Two:

Stick the marshmallows in the microwave for ten seconds at a time until the are puffed up and easily stir into a goo with a wooden spoon. Tip: Grease your spoon with butter, things can get a bit sticky.

Step Three:

Add food colouring  to the melted marshmallows until you get the colour you want. Remember that you're going to be adding icing sugar which will lighten the colour so make it a bit brighter than you need.

Step Four:

Start folding icing sugar into the marshmallow goo until it becomes a soft and fluffy dough. Grease your hands with a bit of butter and turn the marshmallow out onto a table sprinkled with icing sugar. Continue to knead in icing sugar until the fondant is stiff enough to roll out.

If you add too little icing sugar the fondant will be very sticky- Just add more icing sugar

If you add too much icing sugar the fondant will be very stiff and hard to roll out - knead in a little bit of butter

Fondant with the icing sugar kneaded in.

Finished fondant!

For this batch of colours I made larger batches of lighter colours and then worked some extra gel colouring into the already made fondant to make smaller batches of darker colours. The dark purple and dark green were made from the a light pink and light green.

All you need to do is knead the gel colour in.. it takes a while to get it all mixed in which is why I only do it for smaller batches.

To store your fondant wrap them in pieces of lightly greased plastic wrap and keep them either in a big ziplock bag or a tupperware container. The fondant is essentially a sugar paste (its just marshmallows and icing sugar) so it has a shelf life of three or four months. If it feels a bit stiff and hard to use after being stored for a long time you can soften it up by kneading a bit of butter in or putting in the microwave one-two seconds at a time.

Now its ready to roll out and use to decorate your cakes and cookies!

Comments

[Tea Damsels]

This is so fabulous! I've always wanted to try, but always believed it was above me. Thanks so much for posting!

[Morethanamountfull.blogspot.com]

This is brilliant!!! thanks so much for sharing this!!

[Trojnacki]

It's wonderful, so easy to work with and so impressive! Thank you for your fabulous instructions! Love your blog! <3

[Kath Castle 512]

This is new to me & I have to try it!

Do you think it would freeze well?
I freeze regular fondant all the time.

[Jewell]

I have never seen fondant made from marshmallows! This is neat!

[HiddenInDreams]

fun idea. required LOTS of food coloring tho... and resulted in probably the biggest kitchen mess i've ever made! LOL i just hope i got the proportions right!

[Keerious-george]

very cool idea, but huge mess for me, didn't turn out like i expected.
any tips? approximately how much powdered sugar do you typically end up using?

[Clockwork Lemon]

Keerious-George: To cut down on mess make sure that your spoon is well-greased. Also, keep folding icing sugar into the marshmallows while they are in the bowl until its safe (aka not horrribly sticky) to turn it onto the table. I grease a bit of the table and my hands. If you keep the sticky factor down then it shouldn't make more mess than kneading flour into a dough would

[Klatterpillar]

Can I sub marshmallow fluff for melting down marshmallows? Or does this need the gelatin that is in regular marshmallows?

[Clockwork Lemon]

Klatterpillar : other people have made it with the marshmallow fluff and said that they were successful. I've never tried it myself though.

[www.oneshetwoshe.com]

Hi! I just came across your great blog! I am the co-author of Or So She Says....we are a women's blog with lots of ideas and have guest bloggers. I was wondering if you'd mind sharing your marshmallow fondant post with us? We have need for some cool gluten free recipes:) If you are, just email Jessica at ladies@oneshetwoshe.com, you can send us the HTML for the post and if you could write a small introduction about you and your blog at the top...we would love it! I can also send you the info for guest blogging:)

Jessica
www.oneshetwoshe.com

[Kevin Welsh]

This is amazing, I dont have a microwave but got the same results by sitting a bowl over a pan of boiling water and stirring. Takes a few minutes extra but works just the same.

[Hedgecombers]

The sign of a really great tutorial is that I now desperately need to make some even though I really don't need any! Wonderful pics, thank you! xx

[brittney]

Okay, what was your ratio of marshmallow to powdered sugar?

[brittney]

Hi, how much powdered sugar do you use for how much marshmellow?

[Clockwork Lemon]

Brittney: I don't have an exact amount because the amount that you need changes depending on the humidity of where you live. Its best to have a bag on hand then mix in the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until it becomes a dough that you can knead. Then knead in powdered sugar until the fondant is firm enough to roll out. If you live somewhere humid or feel like you are adding too much sugar just let the fondant rest for a day before adding more.

[Esteban]

How come you spell color wrong but buy your stuff at Safeway? Are you a displaced Canuck? Is Safeway international? I wonder...

[Diana]

most amazing thing ever made:p thx

[Jaclyn]

Hi, I just stumbled upon your tutorial and I just wanted to say that your explanations are wonderful! Most of the other fondant tutorials I have come across don't exactly explain the process very well, but I am definitely thinking of trying this one. I live in a very humid area (Florida) would you happen to know how the humidity effects the fondant or the making of it in general? Thank you, and great blog! :)

[Clockwork Lemon]

Jaclyn: humid climates will make the fondant stickier initially. Two tips: 1. Don't add too much water to the marshmallows before you melt them. 2. Add icing sugar until the fondant is pretty much workable but still slightly sticky. Then wrap it in greased plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a few hours or overnight (even better) it should be workable after that. It will prevent you from adding too much icing sugar which can make it crack and break. If you still have problems with sticking (but don't want to add more icing sugar) just powder your rolling pin and rolling surface with corn starch.

[kate]

This looks like a great idea. How well does this fondant Freeze? I want to decorate my cake and freeze it.

[Clockwork Lemon]

Kate: I haven't personally tried it but I have read that marshmallow fondant doesnt freeze well like some regular fondants do.

Also, if you freeze your iced cake, make sure to let it thaw completely before covering it in fondant. If you cover a frozen cake the condensation during thawing will ruin the look of your fondant

[Nicole @ orwhateveryoudo.com]

I am seeing easter egg sugar cookies in my not too distant future! Thanks for sharing this!!

[slim dream]

made from marshmallow ?!?!? serious lol. That is pretty cool

[Lynds@ItMom]

GENIUS!! I linked your fabulous recipe here - http://lyndsxo-glamourmoms.blogspot.com/2011/03/spotted-diy-marshmallow-fondant.html

BTW Clockwork Lemon is probably one of the coolest names for a blog I have seen in a LONG while!! LOVE IT!!

[sydney]

I made and it tasted great, but it was so sticky it got everywhere ans stuck my hands terribly. I tried thebuttering my handa and I even put powdersugar on them the secons rimethinking this might help, but it sill was terribly difficult to woek with. Is ther some ither trick to mixing in the Sugar? Or will I ne cursed to suffer the stickyness in scilence?

[sydney]

Sorry, typing with my nook and still trying to get the hang of it o.o

[Clockwork Lemon]

Sydney: The best way to avoid sticky hands is to fold in the icing sugar with a spoon while the melted marshmallows are in a bowl. Sprinkle the melted goo with the powdered sugar anywhere that you plan on putting the spoon too! Keep folding it in until its dry enough to touch with your hands. I think that I'll work on a post with some fondant tips because pictures would make this a lot clearer

[mattangelo1985@gmail.com]

I'll try this recipe to decorate my panoramic sugar eggs this year. Thanks

[Sarah Guest Strasser]

Another trick: put white chocolate chips in before heating. They add a wonderful rich flavor!

[Sippin Syrup]

AH! now i know what it was on that farewell-cake when i was on that student exchange to america!

[Tender Loving Cuisine]

Cool! I wanna make one of these mallows.

[camille]

i adore you for this. i love working with fondant; it makes such a beautiful addition to any cake. This recipe looks so easy!! so excited to make this happen. thankyou!!!!

[Jason]

Looks Like Bubble Gum...
http://www.blairlockout.com

[Hani @ Craftionary]

Wow! Great idea.. love your blog.. :)
Following you now.. I stumbled upon you and like it!
Love
Hani
http://craftionary.blogspot.com

[Bee]

Never heard of this before, glad I 'stumbled on' it!
Thanks for a super tutorial :)

[kim]

Love this!

[Holly Day]

I didn't know that fondant would be made out of marshmallows... I think it would be very bad for the health because of too much sugar but the end work looks great and might give it a try just for the look ;)

[RDP]

Marshmallow fondant tastes so much better than regular fondants. It's pretty easy to make too. I used it for my daughter's birthday cake last year.

You gave some excellent tips as well!

[Henrietta]

Wow! That fondant actually looks good enough to eat! I have been avoiding fondant because the one time I did have it, I hated it, I need to try this fluffy one :)

[ang]

is it possible to add coco powder to the mix instead of powder sugar? i figure the marshmallows have enough sugar to make the coco sweet...what do you think

[Clockwork Lemon]

Ang: I have added coco powder to fondant in the past to get a darker colour and it has always given me mixed results. You don't replace the powdered sugar with the coco powder but you can add the cocopowder in addition to powdered sugar. The issues that I've had is that the fondant tears much more easily and doesn't have as nice of a texture as the stuff made just with powdered sugar. There are marshmallow fondant recipes out there that have melted chocolate added to them but I have not tried them yet.

[Sarah Farrukh]

wow cool and wonderful :P

[Moody Pants]

am just loving the colors!

[Nikki]

I'm so excited about this! I will be baking a very elaborate-looking Octopus-shaped cake soon. Thank you!

[Gina]

how long do you keep it wrapped before you can start rolling it out?

[Kandrinchae]

Can you use home made marshmallows? My son is allergic to HFCS which store bought ones have, but I can make them at home with honey or other syrup without problem.

[Alawishis]

Just an FYI for those vegan or trying to live kosher / Halal most marshmallows are made from gelatin made from pigskin. There is vegan marshmallows around but they are pretty expensive. An alternative might be to use some of the marshmallow creme many of these are not made with gelatin. I haven't tried this myself as yet.

[stephanie reed]

OMG i am so stoked about trying this out.But anything taste better than that store bought roll of tasteless nothing,,,,,blah AWesome iDeA .Anyone have a recipe for a Jaw Dropping Strwberry Daquiry Cake let me know

[innpearl01@gmail.com]

I think this would be way easier to work with than regular fondant. I'm planning to make sugar cookies and then stick cut out shapes of marshmallow fondant onto them with regular frosting. I think it would be especially cute to do hearts for valentines day on top of sour-cream sugar cookies.