You would never think, looking at it, that this cake decoration is actually pretty easy to make. It looks so fancy, amiright? That smooth perfect cake covering. Fun crazy shapes of whatever you desire. The imagination of a rainbow of colors.
Well I never thought about making any kind of cake decoration even remotely fancy like this until I found out one day (while binge watching my most favoritest baking show, The Great British Bake Off) that you can make this amazing rollable and shapable and edible cake decoration/topping quite easily from marshmallow! That's right, marshmallow. Who would have guessed?
From the humble marshmallow comes forth this Homemade Marshmallow Fondant, easy to make, easy to roll, easy to shape, gorgeous to look at, an edible cake and cupcake decoration that you can use to make almost anything you can dream up to dress up that fancy cake or cupcakes you're making for a special occasion!
Yup, that's right, you pretty much just need to get some marshmallows. Get the smallest kind as it is easier to melt the small ones. Set up a double boiler, or bain marie, a large heatproof bowl sitting on top of a small pot with simmering water, and throw in your marshmallows. It does take a while for the marshmallow to melt so be patient and use the time to dream up your crazy decorations.
At last, it's all melted. A gooey, goopy mess. You want to know the interesting thing I found out about fondant? The 'real' proper fondant (as opposed to our homemade marshmallow fondant) is apparently quite difficult to make (sugar, water, exact temperatures points to achieve, figure 8's while kneading, etc.) and doesn't even taste as nice as the marshmallow fondant.
Folks actually prefer the taste of homemade marshmallow fondant to the professional kind! Yeah!
Then it's time to slowly add in the icing sugar, bit by bit, until the gooey mess becomes a slowly but surely becomes a dough. It's pretty stiff after awhile, you've got to really work the icing sugar in with a sturdy wooden spoon.
This is how it looks when your fondant comes together after kneading. Smooth, white, pliable, gorgeous fondant. If you find it too sticky while kneading, you can smear some butter or shortening on your hands. I personally found that I did not need to use any butter* at all, only icing sugar to coat my hands and the kneading surface and the fondant came out really nice with a lovely matte sheen. I was surprised how easily it seemed to come together in the end.
And finally for the really cool part of fondant making - the coloring and the shaping! It's pretty much like working with play dough at this point, only it keeps its shape better and you can nibble on it as you go.
Fantastic for working with children of all ages, as they can muck about and make their critters just as they would with play dough or they can help out cutting pretty shapes with cookie cutters or silicone fondant molds.
Silicone fondant molds are fun...there are so many amazingly cool shapes that you can press out...it's crazy! Roses, minions, butterflys, lacy edges, all kinds of animals, trains, anything you can think of really!! But no...must...constantly...remind myself...limited amount of space...very tiny Hong Kong apartment...stuffed with baking and cooking paraphernalia...no, yes...resist...arrgh! I need help!
I made this fondant for my little girl's seventh birthday (omg she's seven already...where does the time go? Happy Birthday sweetheart!) Her birthday cake was a pretty fancy double layered pink (inside) cake decorated by the both of us with fun and crazy fondant decorations.
We had the best fun making this cake, a real mom and daughter effort. And best of all, it's not really that hard, it just looks real hard. I think it's easier than regular fancy icing cakes with the piping and frosting and whatnot.
So if you're looking for a good, tasty, pretty easy to make (just needs a bit of time), fabulous birthday cake, check out our posts about our Making a Pinky Pink Birthday Cake and How to Decorate a Fondant Cake. Yummy, fancy and pink, it's the perfect fondant decorated birthday cake for little girls!
Marshmallow Fondant Recipe
自製棉花糖翻
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 5 mins (makes 500g of fondant, enough for a double layer 6" & 7" cake and all decorations)
Ingredients:
自製棉花糖翻
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 5 mins (makes 500g of fondant, enough for a double layer 6" & 7" cake and all decorations)
- 8 oz mini marshmallows, 240g
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cup icing sugar, 453 g
- food coloring
- 2 tbsp butter* or shortening for kneading (optional)
Directions:
Make sure you have your butter* at room temp, so it's ready to use if you need it.
Prepare bain marie or double boiler over low heat, making sure your bowl doesn't touch the water. The water should be just simmering. Add marshmallows and vanilla into bowl and stir occasionally until completely melted.
Remove from heat and stir in icing sugar, approx. 1 cup at a time, until very stiff and sticky and coming together into one mass in center of bowl. Dust surface and hands generously with icing sugar, then knead your fondant for 5 mins until smooth and pliable, dusting generously with icing sugar to prevent sticking to the working surface or your hands. (You can also use butter or shortening* to prevent fondant sticking to your hands when kneading, this will give the fondant a more glossy sheen as vs the matte sheen achieved with just the icing sugar).
Roll into a ball, wrap airtight with plastic wrap or zip lock and refrigerate overnight. Next day, allow to come to room temperature. Divide the fondant into however many colors you want to have. Add food coloring drop by drop to your fondant and knead the coloring in until completely mixed in and the color is even. Cover the fondant until needed to keep from drying out.
Roll out your now colored fondant to a 1/8" thickness on a generously icing sugar dusted surface. I wouldn't go thicker than 1/8" as this fondant is quite sweet. Now your fondant is ready to use to cover your cakes or cupcakes, or to cut or press out the shapes that you want for your decorations.
To find out more about how to use fondant to decorate your cakes or cupcakes check out our next post on making a fondant decorated cake.
Have fun with your fondant!
Tip: Rolling out on a silicone mat makes the whole process much easier, less sticking and less clean up mess. I seriously love my silicone mat.
Tip: If you have extra fondant put in zip lock and store in a cool dark place or in the fridge. Should keep for a couple of months.
See our posts on Making a Pinky Pink Birthday Cake and How to Decorate a Fondant Cake to make your own fabulous homemade double tiered pink fondant decorated cake!
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