Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe - Oh no it can't be that easy

The pink covering this cake is marshmallow fondant

 A long, long time ago I came across a recipe for marshmallow fondant which can be used to cover a cake in place of rolled fondant.

This looks too easy to be true I thought to myself, and it was relatively easy to make, but surprisingly it worked well, tasted good and ever since that first time I have been a convert.

It is made up of....... yup you guessed right........marshmallow, and sugar and it will taste pretty much like the marshmallows you make it out of. I like to use pascals and where possible the pink and white mix ones. If you use nasty tasting cheap marshmallows, your fondant will taste like those same nasty marshmallows.


These happy little bees are marshmallow fondant with chocolate modeling paste stripes and eyes

It's not suitable for all cakes and situations, but for this butterfly and blossom birdcage cake it worked well.
It is also the recipe I use to make the lollipop cookie pops.

So if your following my instructions on the birdcage cake pictured at the top of this post, I made this fondant on day 2 (night) along with the cakes so they would be ready for icing/decorating the next day.  (Part one consists of making the decorations click here to link)

 This lollipop cookie is made by twirling different coloured marshmallow fondant together

 
Marshmallow fondant recipe
Half recipe will cover the birdcage cake which was a dome shape 14.5 cm (7 1/4 inch) tall and 19 cm  (9 1/2 inch) diameter

750 g ( 1 pound 10  1/2 oz) icing sugar sifted
475 g (1 pound) marshmallows
Crisco (available online from USAfoods in Australia)
3 tsp (1 US Tbsp) water

Pop marshmallows and water in a LARGE microwave safe bowl (this is gonna get messy and sticky). Melt in 30 second increments for 2 1/2 mins total stirring at each interval.

Scary night time photo with poor lighting, but you get the idea. Melt those marshmallows!!

Add icing sugar and mix well.

Grease surface and hands VERY well with crisco, have more ready to regrease as necessary. Knead until smooth and stretchable. If fondant is tearing add 1/2 tsp water at a time and knead again.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Microwave for 10 seconds when ready to use.

To use roll out on surface lightly sprinkled with cornflour (or icing sugar).

Notes for colouring

If you use pink and white marshmallow your fondant will turn out the pink colour of the birdcage cake. I sometimes make half batches separating the pink and white so I can colour the white however I like. It is possible to buy bags of all white pascals marshmallows.

You can add colour at the mixing or kneading stage, or leave plain and colour smaller batches as required.

I use gel colours.

Recipe update - make sure to keep the fondant in a ziplock bag or wrapped with plastic wrap when not using as it will dry out and go hard. If that happens microwave again and add a little bit more crisco. Try to work very quickly.

25 comments:

  1. Such an adorable cake! I love marshmallow fondant. I have just used it to make a fish shaped cake.

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  2. Oh I had no idea that it was actual marshmallows in your fondant. I thought it was marshmallow textured! Thanks for sharing the recipe! :)

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  3. I used this to make my little girl some cookies for her birthday party. It was so easy and delish! Didn't have any Crisco but used organic cold pressed coconut oil (butter) and it worked just as well. I used all natural colors and they turned out great. It was my first attempt at icing cookies so I will be better at it next time but everyone loved them!Thank you.

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  4. OH MY GOSH I am drooling over everything on your blog! And that USAFoods warehouse isn't too far from where I live so I think I'm going to be in trouble! Thanks for sharing the recipes. :)

    www.modelmumma.blogspot.com

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  5. Hi, I love (!!!) your marshmallow ribbon candy, how many days in advance can I make it? I was thinking of doing a red and white combo for my son's pirate party. And can I use vegetable oil instead of crisco? So glad I found your blog, just love it! You are truly very talented.

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  6. Hi Linda! You're so clever, I'd really love to try this. I'm from Brisbane too. What can I use instead of Crisco? Butter?

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  7. Hi CupKate thanks, I have heard some people say they use Rice Bran oil as it is tasteless and has no color. If you are in Brisbane I have seen Crisco at Chocolate Boulevard in the Myer Center and also Plenty Deli at Eight Mile Plains (and if they have it perhaps other good delis have it). Otherwise cake decorating shops usually sell white vegetable shortening for use in frostings.

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  8. hi, can u pls tell me for making fondant, is the marshmellow when we buy it from market sweet or plain? i tried it with sweet ones, but my fondant went so hard.... :( pls reply

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    1. Hi, are you in Australian or another country. I purchased sweet type pascals brand. The fondant does go a little hard, just pop it in the microwave for 5 - 10 seconds to soften in up and knead it until pliable, you can add a little extra crisco if you need to. Hope this is helpful :)

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  9. hi linda, i also bought d sweet ones, it went too hard, dat i beame mm candy. i put in microwave but after some time, went hard again and no i'm not in Aus, i'm in pakistan. thanx

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    1. The fondant does need to go hard eventually - that is how the flowers do not collapse. So when you need to use it do the microwave thing and kneading and then use it quickly. Wrap in plastic wrap or pop in an airtight container the pieces you are not using. I am not sure if your marshmallow is different - we only have sweet here is why I asked :)

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  10. How far ahead can I make and use this fondant? I like to get my cake organised a few days ahead of time :)

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  11. Hi,
    when you say icing sugar this is the "pure" icing sugar and not the icing mixture ?
    Thankyou

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  12. Yes that is correct I always use pure icing sugar.

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  13. Hi Linda,
    I have vegetable shortening as such...not crisco but same as...but in your recipe you don't have any quantity for the crisco/shortening....I am in Aust...I have a spiderman cake to make n I think this would be more palatable for a bunch of 4 yr olds than normal fondant also I think red gel colour would go over the pink marshmallows easily.....I've never worked with mmf before....I also feel I could buttercream the cake instead of ganacheing the cake....what are your thought's on this...cheers Tracy

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  14. Hi Tracy the vegetable shortening is just to stop the fondant from sticking everywhere, different people will need different amounts, probably a couple of tablespoons. Yes I think the kids prefer the taste of the marshmallow fondant. With the red color, you will need quite a bit but a good tip is to mix it in before you add the sugar to reduce the amount of kneading in you will do (unless you need some lighter colors to also come out of the same batch). The birdcage cake in the picture is buttercream and quite a few of the cakes I make have buttercream instead of ganache. As long as the cake doesn't have to be carved I can not see why buttercream could not be used.

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  15. Thank you for this great info.. I am in Australia and an trying this today. Can i make flowers and figures ahead of time? And how would i store them? Thanks Mishy

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  16. how many grams of fondant does this make?

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  17. have you tried substituting the Crisco with our copha. Why did you choose Crisco instead of Copha. I am assuming you have tried substituting the Crisco with our copha. What was the result?

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  18. Hi Michelle. Crisco is soft and copha is hard, so you can kinda rub the crisco on like a hand cream :) You can use a white vegetable fat available from cake stores as a direct substitute. I have heard some people say they use canola spray and it works (I haven't tried it). The purpose of the oil is just to stop the marshmallow from sticking to everything - it is really super sticky.

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  19. Hi, just wanted to add I have been making MMF as well for past year and have always used Copha, I just zap it in the microwave to melt it, does the job :)

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  20. can you add tylose to this to make gumpast?

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  21. Just this morning I was thinking about finding a marshmallow fondant recipe! How perfect.

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