Fun with Fondant!

Are you a fan of any of those baking shows? You know the ones where they create amazing cakes using fondant? Well, believe it or not creating edible art out of fondant is easier then you think!

The first time I used fondant I purchased it pre-made in a box off the shelf, and needless to say I was less then impressed. After one bite myself, and the rest of my party guests, peeled the fondant decor off of the cupcakes I'd made before eating the rest. I vowed after that I wasn't using fondant again...that was until I was introduced to homemade marshmallow fondant. This was an eye opening moment for me! Its sweet, marshmallowy, and so easy to make you will kick yourself for not trying it sooner! My go to recipe is off of allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/marshmallow-fondant/detail.aspx) and its been my tried and true fondant recipe ever since!

Marshmallow Fondant Ingredients:
1/4 cup shortening 16 ounces of mini marshmallows 1/4 cup water	1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2lb bag of powdered sugar *reserve 1 cup of this  for kneading
Equipment: wax paper saran wrap microwave safe mixing bowl food coloring Directions: Lightly grease your mixing bowl with a bit of the shortening. This will help keep the fondant from sticking to everything!  Into your greased mixing bowl pour the marshmallows. (In my local grocery store they only seem to sell 10.5 ounce bags of mini marshmallows, so I do a bag and a half. It doesn't need to be 16 ounces exact, just as close as you can get!) You'll next microwave these for 1-2 30 second bursts checking the marshmallows to see if they are getting melty. When they start to get melty stir in the water and vanilla. (I recommend using a plastic spoon or rubber spatula also greased down with some of the shortening to help with sticking). Once mixed start adding in your powdered sugar one cup at a time until combined (*If you have a stand mixer and if you'd like to save yourself the elbow grease of doing this by hand, pop it into a a greased stand mixer bowl and pop on your dough hook attachment, also greased down, instead). Once the sugar is combined your fondant will be solid, but still fairly sticky. Take a nice long sheet or two of the wax paper and lightly dust with some of the reserved powder sugar. Next take the remaining shortening and rub it all over your hands (The original recipe calls to rub your hands with butter, but I find the shortening works a lot better at keeping the sticky off.) For 5-10 minutes you'll knead the remaining powdered sugar into the dough, until it is no longer sticky (If you are using a stand mixer and dough hook, just pop the last bit of sugar in and let it work it for 5-10 minutes) If you are planning on coloring some of the fondant I recommend doing so now while its super pliable. Just put a few drops of color onto a portion of the fondant and knead it in until combined and the color desired is achieved. If doing several colors I recommend making just a bit more then you think you'll need for your project just to ensure you'll have enough of each color. Once all your fondant is kneaded and colored roll each color into a ball and lightly dust with powder sugar. You are now going to take some saran wrap and tightly wrap it around each ball of  fondant. Let these sit in your fridge over night to set up. And you're done! Before using your fondant let it sit out for 1-2 hours (Depending on the size of the fondant ball) to come to room temperature before rolling out or shaping.
Yield: yield	Calories per serving: calories

The really great thing about this fondant is that you can make it a week or two in advance of your actual cake project. As long as you keep the fondant refrigerated and air tight it should last you for 2-3 weeks. Some of the cake projects I get commissioned for are very detailed so I will usually start the fondant work a week or 2 in advance and store it in an airtight container until I'm ready to put it on the cake. This allows me plenty of time to get the project done and also allows for mistakes (Yes, even Cake Mama has been known to screw up a cake or two and had to start over)

If this is your first time working with fondant I recommend making a batch to play with! It really is best to think of it as edible play dough. You can sculpt with it, cut it out, roll it out, dye it, paint food dye coloring onto it, the only real limits are your imagination!..  w

These are just a few pictures of some of the fondant creations I've created over the years!r

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