Saturday, March 13, 2010

Marshmallow Fondant and the Wizard of OZ cake

This is the cake I want to make for Addie's 3rd birthday party. 


I was told that I should use Marshmallow Fondant instead of the store kind because it apparently tastes way better. So today I looked up the recipe!

Here is the recipe I found. Has anyone else tried to make this before? Is there a better recipe out there?


Marshmallow Fondant
Marshmallow Fondant is an easy fondant made of marshmallows, water, and powdered sugar. It’s simple to make, and many prefer the taste over regular fondant, since it tastes like very sweet marshmallows. You can use marshmallow fondant as you would regular fondant, to cover cakes, form shapes, and make candy. 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. This recipe yields 1.5 lbs of fondant, and can easily be halved or doubled. Be sure to check out the photo tutorial showing how to make marshmallow fondant.


Ingredients:

•8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)

•1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting

•2 tbsp water

•Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional

Preparation:

1. Dust your counter or a large cutting board 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.



2. 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 want 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.



3. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.



4. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.



5. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes 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. 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 room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.



6. 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, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball.



7. 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. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.

 
 
 
Also, we bought Addie a Dorothy dress complete with ruby slippers today from amazon.com--should arrive sometime next week! I can't wait to see her face when she gets it!

3 comments:

Ally said...

Wow - that's an amazing cake! I'm sure you'll do a great replica of it and Addie will love it. What fun!

Tin Marsh said...

Hey Erica, I made marshmallow fondant for the first time ever with Eve's cake. I posted a link to a recipe in a blog post about the cake. That recipe is very similar, but if you want to make some smaller batches so you can make lots of colors, you can read the link, it has a recipe for smaller batches too. Here are some tips that I found on many different websites: one website said that it was best if you wrapped it in plastic wrap and then in an air tight bag and let it sit in your fridge over night. It can last up to 2 weeks in the fridge. When you are ready to use it, let it sit out so it's not so cold and roll it out on a surface covered with cornstarch. You can use crisco shortening to rub on it to make it smooth. You will want to cover the cake in buttercream frosting and while the frosting is still wet, you set the fondant on it. The frosting works like a glue for the fondant. I've only made it the one time and only did 2 small batches to cover little heart shaped cakes that I made and to spell out Eve on the cake. Good luck! You could always make some batches ahead of time to play with to get practice. It really wasn't too hard and I'm not crafty at all :)

Oh and it DID taste pretty good, especially with the buttercream frosting underneath!

Tin Marsh said...

Oh and since I've only made it once before, you might find other tips that are better than mine. Let me know what works best for you, so I can know if I ever decide to do it again.