Marshmallow Fondant

This is a very easy (and a little sticky at times) way to make a delicious fondant. It's great on cakes, cookies, or just for your little ones to play with! Leftovers will save in a tightly sealed container for a few weeks.

Yield

2 1/4 pounds

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter or shortening
1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ (powdered) sugar, divided

Directions

Place the butter or shortening in a shallow bowl; set aside.

Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.

Rub your hands thoroughly with butter or shortening, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with powdered sugar and continue kneading for 5 to 10 or until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch.

Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with powdered sugar.

Additional Information

To color fondant: Dip a toothpick into gel food coloring and transfer to center of fondant. Fold fondant over coloring and kneed until color is even distributed. Repeat until desired color is achieved. To prevent staining of the color on your hands, coat palms and fingers with shortening or wear latex gloves with palms and fingers coated with shortening.

When placing fondant decorative pieces over a fondant base, use a small artist paint brush dipped in vanilla extract to glue the pieces.

Crumb coat cakes with a thin layer of buttercream icing or apricot glaze before placing fondant over cake. Place a small circle of piping gel around the base of the cake to adhere fondant to the cake.

For more information about working with fondant see Covering the Cake with Rolled Fondant.