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!

 

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients:

½ of a 400g bag of mini marshmallows

2½ cups icing sugar

1 tablespoon water

Vegetable shortening

Food colouring (optional)

Method:

1. Place the marshmallows in a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl. Next, toss the marshmallows with the tablespoon of water to make them damp. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until they are puffy and mostly melted. Measure out the icing sugar and place in a separate bowl (this makes it easier to add it in as you go).

2. Grease a spoon or spatula with some vegetable shortening and stir marshmallows until smooth. If you are making coloured fondant, then stir in some food colouring at this point. The gel or powdered food colouring works better than the liquid. If you are using liquid food colouring you may need to add a bit of extra icing sugar.

3. Stir about a ¼ cup of the icing sugar into the melted marshmallows. A lot will stick to the spoon but don't worry about it, or try to scrape it off. Keep adding icing sugar into the bowl, and using the spoon or spatula to stir and stretch the marshmallow and incorporate the sugar.

4. When half of the sugar has been added to the bowl and worked into the marshmallow, use the shortening to generously grease your hands and begin to gently knead the remaining sugar into the fondant. At first it will feel very soft and puffy, but as you work in the rest of the sugar the fondant will become more firm and dough-like. Keep kneading until all of the sugar has been incorporated.

5. Take the fondant out of the bowl and place it on a clean counter. Knead a teaspoon or two of shortening into it to get rid of the powdered sugar from the outside and to keep it from drying out. If your fondant is still very sticky at this point, put it back in the bowl and add icing sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until it’s easier to handle.

6.Cover the fondant with a piece of plastic wrap and stick in a Ziplock bag. Allow to rest for about an hour to cool to room temperature.

7. When you are ready to decorate, grease your work surface well with shortening. Knead your fondant to get it workable, and then roll out to your desired thickness (I’d recommend 2 mm to ¾ cm). If the fondant is a few days old then you can get it workable again by putting it in the microwave for 2 seconds at a time. Even stubborn fondant will give in after a little bit of heat and being kneaded on a greased surface.

8. You can use the fondant to cover iced cakes, cupcakes or cookies. Use round cookie cutters of different sizes for cute and easy polka dots or cut the fondant into even strips to layer for a striped effect. Shapes like hearts and flowers look great on icing or on top of a base layer of fondant. Leftovers can be stored for up to three months wrapped in plastic in Ziplock bags at room temperature in a cool spot away from direct sunlight.

 

 

Comments

[Kitchen Butterfly]

OMW - this is perfect for my marshmallows, going to waste........superb! Thanks

[Bridget]

looks great! i love how marshmallow fondant is so smooth and yummy. it really makes baking of all kind look sophisticated!

[livingindomesticity]

I have wanted to try this for a while now, but have been kind of intimidated. Thanks for the great tutorial. I really love your blog!

[blueditty]

Jeez Seddy, You always make me want to lick my screen!

[rp]

super tutorial! i think i can actually tackle this now :)

[thefrogbag]

Whoa, I have never even heard of this before! How crazy and cool!

[Julia]

I'm going to send this on to my mum and sister...I'm getting married soon and they're going to make our wedding cake. Looks like you can get really great results with this + you make it look and sound really easy :)

[Beth]

Ooooo, that's so neat!

[Lori]

oh dangity dang. my daughter (who is an avid baker and gluten free) would die for this recipe. bookmarking it. Thanks! :)

[My Life Under the Bus]

Totally awesome tutorial !!!
In bowl talk
A. I hope to win lotto some day to buy bowls.
B. Have you seen Martha Stewarts summer stacking bowls ( I saw them at Macy's ) They are plastic but they are pretty turquoise flowers ! ...sigh.....

[Stacey]

so pretty, and you made it look very easy indeed :)

[Alex Erynn]

I don't like the flavour of store bought fondant and I've seen lots of people making their own. Does it taste a lot better?

[Jennifer]

I love the colors! Looks super tasty!

[Stephanie]

Alex: This stuff tastes much better than store bought, it doesn't really have a flavor (unless you add some) it just tastes sweet.

[Lucy]

Ok, I have to try this out...all I need to do now is buy marshmallows, coloring, icing sugar...and a microwave!!!!! :)

[Kristen]

What a fabulous idea! Now I'll just have to think of something to make and cover with fondant : )

[Diana]

It looks like play-doh! (And I was always tempted to eat play-doh as a kid)

It's like a dream come true!

[April]

Holy cow! Now I wanna make marshmallow fondant ♥

[livingindomesticity]

I made this following your tutorial for my son's birthday cake, it turned out fantastic! Thanks again for the great tutorial.

[Morgan]

Can you do this in a double-boiler, too? My tiny tiny San Francisco kitchen doesn't have room for the microwave (since it was the least-used appliance, it went first).

[Hypatia]

Good grief! Is this the result of almost 100 years of female emancipation?

[Amanda]

what is icing sugar? is it the same as powdered sugar?

[Stephanie]

Amanda : Icing sugar is the same as powdered sugar

Morgan: You can do this on a double boiler but be careful to keep the heat fairly low, you just want them melting enough so that you can stir them into a goo :)

[Cris]

Fantastic! Thank you so for sharing - I'll be linking to this post on my blog and Twitter account later this month. Such a perfect tutorial for the DIY bride!

[janelle]

That looks SO delicious!...If only it was good for you..haha :)

[Richard]

Very cool!

[Lisa]

wow I have never heard of this but am going to make sure we try it soon!

[Jay]

What about home-made marshmallows? Seems like you could skip a few finishing steps of home-made marshmallows and merge that recipe with this one.

[molly]

it looks like chewed gum

[holly]

can't wait to try this myself, but I don't own a microwave, never believed in them, is there a way to get the marshmallows to puff with out microwaving them?

[Matt]

This fondant looks great! I have trouble working with regular fondant, it always seems to crack. Does this fondant react the same as other fondants? Thanks for the tutorial.

[Stephanie]

Holly you can try melting them in a double boiler.

Matt, I haven't had any trouble with the fondant cracking. For a softer fondant you just don't knead in as much icing sugar

[Leanne Mihalchik]

I cannot wait to try this!!!! Perfect icing for my gluten free daughter!

[Matt]

Great thanks! Looks like I've got some fondant to make.

[anna]

for my daughters birthday i just made one big blanket of fondue to cover the cake like a table cloth and put colorful big dots all over it , it looked really cool and my 12 year old liked it:)

[Fliptrx]

Worked just fine for me using a jar of marshmallow fluff (cream) . Just colored it and worked in the powdered sugar. No hassle, and you can make as much or as little you want...mom used to use it to make an edible clay for us when we were kids :)

[trisha of seoservice]

mmmmm... it looks so yummy for someone like me who loves sweets! i'll definitely try these marshmallow fondant.

[Cindy]

I know what i'm having tonight!

[cymbaline]

we have a long night of fondant ahead of us!

[Tiffiny]

Oh the kids and I are gonna have some fun in the kitchen, thanks!

[chicjane]

now, you're one of my favorites!

[Gemma]

I had no idea that making this would be so iple, for ages i've been looking for an easy way to make this kind of icing - and the colours look fab. Time for a spot of fernoon baking to this out I think!!!

[Mandy]

what if you dont have a microwave?

[Crystal]

Hi Seddy, Can you buy icing sugar and any grocery story like Safeway for instance?

[Stephanie]

Crystal: Yup, it might be called powdered sugar. Its in the section with the other sugars.. sometimes its called confectioner's sugar

Mandy: You can heat the marshmallows in a bowl over a pot of simmering water to melt them

[r's adventures]

never knew such a thing existed but boy, am i glad that it does! :)

[Marta M. Van Hoose]

Thank you so much. Now, all I need are some molds for lace icing.

[Robinkilburn]

This sounds wonderful. can it be done in chocolate and would you use cocoa powder? also just a thought what about cool aid flavors for color and flavor? or sugar free drink crystals for wonderful fruit flavors. I can hardly wait to get experimenting great tutorial Thanks

[Stephanie]

Robinkilburn : Using cocoa powder works really really well to make it chocolate flavored and it turns it a really nice dark brown colour.

I haven't tried flavor crystals but that's a really interesting idea

[Jennifersandoval8697]

This is something I'm definitely going to try this summer with my daughter.