Last year when my son turned three, he shared his birthday party with two of his pals whose birthdays fell in the same week. I like to bake, so I volunteered to make the cake. I asked the other moms what their sons wanted as a party theme. One boy wanted a rocket ship birthday, another wanted Veggie Tales, and my son just wanted everything green. Boy was I sorry I asked! Then, to top it off, one of the other moms (a hen who shall remain nameless) said she thought fondant would look nice on the cake. GULP! I had never done, nor wanted to do, fondant. It’s beautiful, and if you watch an expert do it fondant looks as easy as pie, but in real life I doubted that. It is available for purchase in craft stores, but it’s expensive and many reviews say it tastes awful. But, always ready for a challenge, I started some research. True fondant takes several ingredients you may not have on hand: glycerine, corn syrup and unflavored gelatin come to mind. But I found a recipe that replaces those ingredients with something easy to work with and inexpensive to buy: mini marshmallows. The recipe I originally used was from a website called Fondant Making 101 by Peggy Weaver but some of my technique was borrowed from a Youtube video by a woman named Amber. I recommend both sites for more information.  By the way, the picture above is our final product, a green, Veggie Tales-piloted rocket to the moon. And it tasted great, too!

Easy(ish) Fondant

Ingredients

16 oz. bag of mini marshmallows
2-5 tablespoons water
2 lbs. confectioners sugar
½ cup shortening (you’ll be digging into this as you work, so put it in a bowl next to your work area.)

1. Melt marshmallows with 2 tablespoons water in the microwave. Microwave for 30 seconds, stop to stir, and repeat until they are melted (about 2 1/2 minutes total).  Of course, melting makes the marshmallows very hot, so be careful when handling them.
2. Heavily grease a countertop. Dump approximately one pound of the confectioners sugar onto the counter. Then heavily grease your hands- backs, palms, and between your fingers.
3. Dump the melted marshmallows onto the sugar and start to knead like bread dough. At this point, it is very sticky and you’ll be wondering if this is some cruel internet hoax I’ve played on you. I promise, it will get better! As you work the sugar in, add more and continue to knead until your fondant isn’t sticky any more. Add water 1/2 tablespoon at a time if your fondant is tearing. You’ll need to keep greasing your hands and the counter, too.  NOTE: Don’t feel you have to work in all the sugar. I only used about 1 1/2 lbs., at which point the fondant wasn’t sticky but was still quite pliable. 2 lbs. made it hard as a rock.
4. Once your fondant is elastic and pliable, it is best to store it overnight. Give it a thick coat of shortening, wrap it in plastic wrap, then put it in a re-sealable storage bag. (Press as much air out as possible.)
5. When you are ready to use your fondant, you need to knead it again to warm it up and make it smooth. If you wish, this is the time to add food coloring. Sprinkle a good amount of corn starch on your counter to prevent sticking, and roll the fondant out to the appropriate size (sides+ top of cake, + 1 inch extra). You’ll want your fondant to be about 1/8 inch thick. Your cake should be completely cooled and have a 1/4 inch layer of buttercream frosting on it. (The buttercream is necessary to smooth the fondant and help it stick to your cake.) Lift the fondant onto the cake, smooth it out and trim the edges. Use the remaining fondant to decorate (it works great with cookie cutters!).
6. Don’t store your cake in the fridge- moisture will build up on the fondant. It will keep in a bakery box on the counter for 2 or 3 days.

Give fondant a try. It isn’t as difficult as I had first imagined, but it’s certainly not something I would do on a regular basis! (The professionals are safe from me.) And, to be fair, it turned out that my husband (our family bread baker) is better than I am at making fondant.