Name: Homemade Fondant
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 4 cups mini marshmallows, (lightly packed or half of a 16-ounce bag); 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted, (plus more for dusting and kneading); 2 Tablespoons water; 2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening, (plus more for kneading and rolling); gel food coloring, optional; flavored extracts, optional

Do you enjoy making handcrafted cakes for your friends and family? Ever wonder how your favorite bakers make their homemade fondant?

Creating this homemade fondant is not only fast and easy, but it tastes so much better compared to the typical store-bought brand. You can color it and flavor it any way you want!

The secret ingredient is the mini marshmallows. They give the fondant a wonderfully sweet vanilla flavor.

By melting down the mini marshmallows with a little bit of water, is it is combined with powdered sugar. You can quickly create flavored and custom colored fondant.

The best part, you don’t need any fancy special equipment to make your fondant at home.

You can use the homemade fondant as you would regular fondant, to cover cakes, form figures, cut out pieces for cupcake toppers, and cover cookies.

Tips for success:

Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this fondant recipe.
Food coloring gets darker over time, so it’s best to gradually add the food coloring, which is best for lighter colors.
Serve fondant covered cake at room temperature.

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Recipe:

5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl & dough hook attachment
Microwavable medium bowl
Rubber Spatula
Vegetable Shortening
Cornstarch
Fondant rolling pin
Silicone fondant mat
Tylose powder, optional
X-Acto knife, optional
Sculpting modeling tools, optional

For tips on how to gain confidence in the kitchen so you can make any cake creation, learn baking techniques and cake decorating skills, I suggest reading more about my Foolproof Cakes for Beginner Bakers eBook.

Here’s how to make homemade fondant that anyone can make!

Let’s Get Mixing!

First, dust your counter or a large silicone mat with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.
Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps.
*Note: If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or flavored extract at this point and stir until incorporated. If you’re going to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add food colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step #6 below for instructions.
Next, pour out marshmallows into a stand electric mixing bowl with the dough hook. On low speed, add the shortening and powdered sugar. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate into the marshmallows, and it becomes impossible to stir anymore. Keep mixing on low until you have used the first 3 cups (or 3/4 lbs.) of powdered sugar.
Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that haven’t been mixed in thoroughly–this is normal.

Knead It Together

Dust your hands with sifted powdered sugar to prevent sticking, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, using the palm of your hands (not your fingertips) working the remaining sugar into the marshmallow mixture.
Continue to knead the fondant until it smooths out and loses its stickiness; this should take a few minutes. Don’t be afraid to add more powdered sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth–too much-powdered sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with later.
You can also rub some shortening on your hands while kneading to prevent the fondant from drying out. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, place it into a plastic bag or wrap in plastic to rest for 10 minutes.
After the fondant ball has rested, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or keep wrapped in plastic wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool temperature room for two days and needs to be re-kneaded until smooth before use.
If you want to add color or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc on a silicone mat or cutting board. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands during this step.
Next, add the desired amount of color or flavor extract to the center of the disc. Fold the fondant over on itself so that the color or flavoring is mixed thoroughly.
Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center.
Finally, continue to knead until the streaks are gone, and the fondant is a uniform color or leave the streaks in, and it becomes a marble technique. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.

*Note: This recipe yields 1 1/2 lbs of fondant, and can easily be halved or doubled. If you’re wondering how much fondant you need to cover your cake, I use this chart to get a better estimate from Wilton.

Recommended time for fresh fondant needs to stay out of the sun and in a cool temperature room for up to two days. Be warned that it tends to get sticky in moist places, so it doesn’t hold up as well as regular fondant when placed over frosting and refrigerated for days, so try to keep it just overnight in the fridge.

Make the Fondant Your Own

Making homemade fondant is the best. I can convert non-fondant lovers into true LOVERS of homemade marshmallow fondant.

The best part is that you can even add different flavor extracts to your fondant. For example, for pink fondant, I like to add a teaspoon of strawberry extract to add more flavor to the overall cake.

Add the flavor extract that fits best with your cake flavor inside. If I was making a strawberry shortcake flavor strawberry flavored fondant is perfect. If I were making a blueberry cake, I would add a teaspoon of almond extract to make everything taste amazing together.

Now it’s your turn to make your baking masterpiece!

It’s easy to feel intimidated and less confident in the kitchen when you are just starting to bake. If you’re looking for an easy way to avoid common baking mistakes, then you should check out my FREE checklist. This guide will give you the best start to feeling more confident in the kitchen.

How to Avoid These Common Baking Mistakes

Get this FREE checklist to learn how you can avoid these 9 common baking mistakes!

Happy Baking!

Watch The How-to Video Below:

Print Recipe

Homemade Fondant

How to make homemade marshmallow fondant that tastes better than store-bought brands. This fondant recipe can be used on cakes or cookies.

Prep Time15 mins

Resting Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Baking, Cake Decorating, fondant

Servings: 24 ounces

Author: Katie

Ingredients

4 cups mini marshmallows, lightly packed or half of a 16-ounce bag
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted, plus more for dusting and kneading
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening, plus more for kneading and rolling
gel food coloring, optional
flavored extracts, optional

Instructions

Dust your counter or a large silicone mat with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.
Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. If you're going to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add the colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step 6 below for instructions.
Pour out marshmallows into a stand electric mixing bowl with the dough hook. On low speed, add the shortening and powdered sugar. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate, and it becomes impossible to stir anymore. Keep mixing on low until you have used the first 3/4 lbs or 3 cups.
Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that haven't been mixed in–this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, using the palm of your hands (not your fingertips) working the remaining sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.
Continue to knead the fondant until it smooths out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth–too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with later. You can also rub some shortening on your hands while kneading to prevent the fondant from drying out. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used.
You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool temperature room and needs to be re-kneaded until smooth or pliable before using it at a later time.
If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands during this step. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc. Fold the fondant over on itself so that the color or flavor is mixed in thoroughly.
Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center.
Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color or leave the streaks in and it becomes a fun marble technique. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.

Notes

Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this fondant recipe.
Food coloring gets darker over time, so it's best to gradually add the food coloring, which is best for lighter colors.
Serve fondant covered cake at room temperature.

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