Fondant

Of all the baking I have done, I never have made or even used fondant. I have never taken any cake decorating classes, so, I really am a novice when it comes to cake decorating. Another reason I never cared to try to make my own or buy the premade fondant is because I think it tastes gross! I really love the way it looks and decided I at least need to cross it off my baking bucket list and make some.

To my surprise it was not that hard. Very sticky but actually really easy and fun to make. With my son's 2nd bday approaching I wanted to do a test run before and see if I could pull it off. I left most of the fondant white but made a yellow and green batch as well. I am going to let it rest over night and then hopefully make a cake tomorrow....fingers crossed...I will post pictures of it..unless it is horrible then most likely not:). Here is the original recipe I found...but tweaked it a bit using some ideas from other recipes. There are not too many pics because my hands were filled with Crisco for most of the process.

My fondant recipe

1 bag of mini marshmallows(10.5 oz)

3 TBS water

26 oz powdered sugar

In a greased microwave safe bowl add marshmallows and water. Microwave in 30 second intervals. I did 30 seconds, 30 seconds and then 20 seconds. Depending on your microwave my take more or less. Then top the marshmallow mixture with about 3/4 of the powdered sugar. Grease your work surface and then your hands generously. Now dump the mixture out on the work surface and begin kneading. Add the rest of the powdered sugar once the first amount is incorporated. Continue to grease your work surface and hands as needed. If at any point your fondant because dry and cracks you may need to add more water. I did not need to but I read that tip in case it does happen. I would knead for 5-10 minutes until you get a mixture that will stretch without tearing. (you should also not be able to see any bits of powdered sugar).

It is best to let it sit over night but you can let it sit for as little as 10 minutes and begin using. I covered my fondant in Crisco and then plastic wrap and then in a plastic baggie. One recipe said it will keep for months at room temperature and another said weeks in the fridge..so I don't know which to follow...I am going to go ahead and put it in the fridge and see how that goes.

***Notes***

***I used liquid food coloring because that is all I had. I crossed my fingers and hoped it worked. I think it came out well and didn't effect the consistency at all. I believe you can use the gel food coloring as well.

***I began to use my KitchenAid stand mixer..but it got so thick I was afraid it was going to break my mixer and I would have cried for days! So I took it out and just hand kneaded it as another recipe had suggested..much better!

***As always..Mise en Place...have all your ingredients prepared and measured and ready to go before you begin..oh and make it once the kiddos are in bed...I accidentally added the wrong amount of powdered sugar because my kiddo came in and distracted me:). Hopefully it turns out...more to come tomorrow...hopefully!