FONDANT
Ingredients
- 37oz 907g powdered sugar sifted (also called icing sugar, confectionary sugar)
- 16oz 454g marshmallos WinCo, Hy-Top, Aldi, and Campfire brands work best
- 20oz 567g wiltons fondant Satin Ice fondant will also work
- 2 tbs 2tbs warm water For dark colors, use 1 tbsp warm water and 1 tbs food color gel
- 4oz 112g vegetable shortening
Black Fondant
- 2lbs 907g powdered sugar sifted, you may not use all of the powdered sugar depending on your area, that's totally okay
- 1lb 454g mini marshmallows Hy-Top, Walmart brand or Haribo Brand if you can find it
- 1 tbs water use only 1/2 tbs if it is very humid in your area
- 1 tbs black food color gel Americolor is what I use but Wilton or any other brand is okay too
- 1/2 cup 103g vegetable shordening
- 1.25lbs 567g Wilton Fondant
Instructions
- Sift the powdered sugar and set aside in a large bowl.
- Place vegetable shortening in a stand mixer bowl.
- Heat marshmallows for 40 seconds in the microwave on high (or on the stovetop). Stir with a spoon.
- Place marshmallows back into the microwave and heat for another 30 seconds (or on the stove top). Stir with a spoon.
- Heat marshmallows (last time!) for 30 seconds in the microwave (or on the stove top).
- Marshmallows should be ooey-gooey at this point and ready to be added to the mixer bowl. Pour your water on top of the marshmallows to get them to release from the sides of the bowl. Pour into bowl with vegetable shortening
- Turn stand mixer on the lowest setting (setting 1 on Kitchenaid stand mixers) with dough hook attachment
- Add in half of your sifted powdered sugar, a measuring cup at a time, and let mix for 2 minutes. It will be really rough looking at first
- Don't stop mixing until it's sticking to the sides of the bowl and looks smooth. Add in another cup of powdered sugar.
- Pull fondant off the dough hook attachment by putting vegetable shortening on your fingers and pulling it off the hook.
- Take the soft mixture out of the bowl and put it into the large bowl with the rest of the powdered sugar.
- Warm the Wilton fondant in the microwave for 40 seconds and add to the large bowl with the powdered sugar and marshmallow mix.
- Knead until powdered sugar, marshmallows, and Wilton fondant is mostly incorporated. You may not use all of the powdered sugar depending on your climate and that is completely fine.
- Pull fondant like taffy until it is stretchy and smooth. If there are still rough spots or it's tearing, put everything back in the microwave for 30-40 seconds to make it really hot and pull like taffy with shortening on your hands until it pulls without breaking
- Store in a zip-lock bag at room temperature. Fondant will keep for months in a zip-lock bag. To use again, reheat and knead well until stretchy before each use. You can add color as desired but for dark colors, you should add them during the mixing process or you could get a sticky mess.
Black Fondant
- Black Fondant Recipe When making LMF marshmallow fondant, sometimes you need to make darker colors, like black, and that requires a variation to how you would go about actually making the fondant. If you were to make white fondant and then add food color, you'll end up with this thick, gooey, yucky fondant that's actually very hard to use. Okay, so let's get right into making black fondant!
- Sift powdered sugar and set aside in a large bowl.
- Place vegetable shortening in a stand mixer bowl.
- Heat marshmallows for 40 seconds in the microwave on high. Stir the marshmallows with a spoon to break them up a little bit.
- Heat marshmallows again for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir again with a spoon.
- Heat marshmallows for 30 seconds again. Stir with a spoon and marshmallows should be completely broken down and like liquid.
- Pour water into the bowl to separate marshmallows from the bowl and pour the marshmallows into the stand mixer bowl with the vegetable shortening.
- Turn stand mixer on the lowest setting (setting 1 on Kitchenaid mixers). Add in food color gel.
- Add in half of your sifted powdered sugar, a measuring cup at a time, and let mix for 2 minutes.
- Put some vegetable shortening on your fingertips and pull the fondant off the dough hook.
- Put the fondant into your bowl you have the remaining powdered sugar in.
- Warm Wilton fondant in the microwave for 40 seconds and add to the bowl with the powdered sugar and fondant mixture.
- Knead with your hands until mostly incorporated. You might not use all of the fondant at this point and that's totally okay.
- Pull fondant like taffy until it is stretchy and smooth.
- Store in a zip-lock bag at room temperature. Fondant will keep for months in a zip-lock bag. To use again, reheat and knead well until stretchy before each use. You can add color as desired but for dark colors, you should add them during the mixing process or you could get a sticky mess.
- Notes FAQ You can make this by hand if you do not have a stand mixer. All you need is your muscles! You can melt the marshmallows over a double-boiler if you don’t have a microwave. I prefer black Americolor gel for my food color. You can half this recipe if you only need a little black. Store in a ziplock bag at room temp for months. Head and re-knead well before each use. You might not use all the powdered sugar in the final kneading depending on the humidity in your area and that is okay.
Notes
A fondant recipe that doesn't rip, tear, or get elephant skin! A favorite recipe from hobby bakers and professional cake decorators alike! Soft, smooth, easy to. work with and so delicious! This fondant recipe is so good you won’t ever have to buy expensive fondant again.
WHY ARE YOU ADDING FONDANT TO FONDANT?
It is possible to make marshmallow fondant without adding the pre-made fondant BUT it won’t be as stretchy. It just won’t. I know lots of people who make marshmallow fondant without pre-made but it just doesn’t perform as well and you’re here to learn about the BEST homemade fondant out there right?
EASY FONDANT RECIPE FOR BEGINNERS
So you want to work with fondant but you’re scared! I get it! A lot of beginners are nervous to work with fondant because they have heard how difficult it can be to work with! But you know what? The secret to success really is in making it yourself. If you are getting cracking, tearing, elephant skin, pockmarks, bubbles or even dryness, you’re probably using store-bought fondant that is just plain bad.
TIPS FOR WORKING WITH FONDANT
Here are some other tips for working with homemade fondant. You can learn more about the basics of cake decorating in our basic cake decorating series.
Roll your fondant thin. 1/8″ is a good place to be so that your fondant doesn’t tear, you can get those sharp edges and you get the most out of one batch.
Chill your cakes before you cover them. Make sure your buttercream or ganache is nice and cold (but not frozen) before you cover the cake for best results.
Roll your fondant out bigger than you need. A common beginner mistake is rolling out the fondant too small and then you get tons of ruffles and tears around the base of the cake. If you roll out a bigger piece, it practically covers itself.
Condition your fondant before you use it. Unless you just made it, then always warm your fondant and knead it well until it’s nice and stretchy. Cold fondant likes to tear.
If you have multiple tiers to cover, cover the largest one first and make your way down to the smallest to get the most out of your fondant. One batch of LMF will cover a 10″-8″-6″ round with a little bit leftover if you roll it out to 1/8″ thick. HOW DO YOU COLOR FONDANT? Once you master making your delicious homemade fondant recipe, you might want to color your fondant recipe. The key here is making sure you don’t use too much food coloring. If you use too much it could cause ruin the consistency of your fondant and it will look like it it has little holes in it. If you want a light color of fondant you can simply add a little color to your white fondant but if you want a super bright color or dark colors like black fondant or red fondant then you need to add the color during the process of making it for best results. Making black fondant can seem super tricky but it’s actually quite simple. I use my own marshmallow fondant recipe with a couple of small adjustments to make the perfect black fondant that does not rip or tear or get elephant skin. TIPS FOR MAKING BLACK FONDANT
Sift your powdered sugar so that you don’t have any lumps in your finished fondant. Lumps can cause your fondant to get lots of holes and rip.
Make sure your marshmallows are fresh. Dried out and old marshmallows will make dry fondant
You can increase your water by 1/2 Tbsp if you live in a dry area or decrease the water if you live in a humid area
Don’t use more than 1 Tbsp of black food coloring. Your fondant will look dark grey at first but will darken over time. Using too much black food coloring (to make it extra black) can break your fondant and cause it to have pockmarks in the finished product. HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER BLACK FONDANT
Store your leftover fondant by wrapping it in plastic wrap and then placing into a ziplock bag. Store at room temperature. Always re-warm your fondant in the microwave for 30-40 seconds and condition with vegetable shortening before rolling out and covering a cake. TROUBLE-SHOOTING PROBLEMS WITH BLACK FONDANT
Fondant is too dry – Get your hands wet and work the moisture into the fondant to make it a little moister. You can also add 1tsp of glycerine if you have it. Fondant is too sticky – Knead in more powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it’s not sticky. A little stickiness is normal. I like to dust my table with cornstarch to prevent sticking and grease my hands with vegetable shortening. Fondant is tearing – Re-heat in the microwave until warm, pull like taffy until stretchy and smooth. You can also add a little vegetable shortening to your hands or add more pre-made fondant if it’s not coming together.
Chill your cakes before you cover them. Make sure your buttercream or ganache is nice and cold (but not frozen) before you cover the cake for best results.
Roll your fondant out bigger than you need. A common beginner mistake is rolling out the fondant too small and then you get tons of ruffles and tears around the base of the cake. If you roll out a bigger piece, it practically covers itself.
Condition your fondant before you use it. Unless you just made it, then always warm your fondant and knead it well until it’s nice and stretchy. Cold fondant likes to tear.
If you have multiple tiers to cover, cover the largest one first and make your way down to the smallest to get the most out of your fondant. One batch of LMF will cover a 10″-8″-6″ round with a little bit leftover if you roll it out to 1/8″ thick. HOW DO YOU COLOR FONDANT? Once you master making your delicious homemade fondant recipe, you might want to color your fondant recipe. The key here is making sure you don’t use too much food coloring. If you use too much it could cause ruin the consistency of your fondant and it will look like it it has little holes in it. If you want a light color of fondant you can simply add a little color to your white fondant but if you want a super bright color or dark colors like black fondant or red fondant then you need to add the color during the process of making it for best results. Making black fondant can seem super tricky but it’s actually quite simple. I use my own marshmallow fondant recipe with a couple of small adjustments to make the perfect black fondant that does not rip or tear or get elephant skin. TIPS FOR MAKING BLACK FONDANT
Sift your powdered sugar so that you don’t have any lumps in your finished fondant. Lumps can cause your fondant to get lots of holes and rip.
Make sure your marshmallows are fresh. Dried out and old marshmallows will make dry fondant
You can increase your water by 1/2 Tbsp if you live in a dry area or decrease the water if you live in a humid area
Don’t use more than 1 Tbsp of black food coloring. Your fondant will look dark grey at first but will darken over time. Using too much black food coloring (to make it extra black) can break your fondant and cause it to have pockmarks in the finished product. HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER BLACK FONDANT
Store your leftover fondant by wrapping it in plastic wrap and then placing into a ziplock bag. Store at room temperature. Always re-warm your fondant in the microwave for 30-40 seconds and condition with vegetable shortening before rolling out and covering a cake. TROUBLE-SHOOTING PROBLEMS WITH BLACK FONDANT
Fondant is too dry – Get your hands wet and work the moisture into the fondant to make it a little moister. You can also add 1tsp of glycerine if you have it. Fondant is too sticky – Knead in more powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it’s not sticky. A little stickiness is normal. I like to dust my table with cornstarch to prevent sticking and grease my hands with vegetable shortening. Fondant is tearing – Re-heat in the microwave until warm, pull like taffy until stretchy and smooth. You can also add a little vegetable shortening to your hands or add more pre-made fondant if it’s not coming together.
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