I have never met a fondant I liked until I found this recipe for homemade marshmallow fondant (thanks Taryn!) I was so glad to find this, because regular fondant is … well, dee-scusting. You don’t want that stuff in your mouth. This recipe, however, is delicious. But I’m going to be really honest with you: it’s probably the messiest thing you’ll ever attempt in the kitchen. Or maybe that’s just me.
I made these cupcakes for my daughter-in-law’s baby shower. Yes, I’m going to be a grandmother! It still hasn’t quite sunk in, but I’m getting more excited by the day. We’re having a boy, and his name will be Gage. Oh, my heart. I sure hope Gage likes cupcakes with fondant.
The ingredients are simple enough, and you probably have them in your pantry. All you need is:
- 1/2 to 1 cup Crisco
- 1 16 oz bag of mini marshmallows
- about 2 lbs of powdered sugar.
First, pour the marshmallows in a microwave-safe bowl and add 2 TBSP water. Cook in 30 second increments until the marshmallows blend together when you stir them.
Next … and this is really important … grease your hands like you’ve never greased them in your life. Every inch. Otherwise, you’re going to get cranky. Grease a clean section of your counter too.
On top of the melted marshmallows, sprinkle about 1 cup of powdered sugar and give it a little stir. Then pour the mess out onto your greased-up counter and start kneading. You’ll have to add more powdered sugar as you go, kneading out all the lumps as best you can. Here’s how mine looked just before pouring and then after about three minutes of kneading:
As you go along, keep greasing your hands as often as needed. This stuff gets incredibly sticky, so you’ll want to keep greasing the counter and adding powdered sugar as needed. This is how it looks when you’ve reached the point of perfect elasticity (very stretchy but not so sticky):
Since my plan was to make babies w/pacifiers sticking out from under a blanket, I needed to divide my dough into five colors: green (for the sheet under the babies), blue (for the blankets), peach (for the babies themselves), white (for the flat part of the pacifier) and darker peach (for the knob on the pacifier). I should probably confess right now that the darker peach was an accident. I added way too much food paste coloring to the portion of dough I was using for the babies, but it worked out okay. I just saved that dough for the knobs and also used some for the little rumpus under the blanket (which nobody sees, but which needs to be there for shape.)
You’ll want to get some food coloring gel, which is much more intense than regular food coloring. A little goes a long way. Just dip the tip of a knife into the color you want, wipe it on your dough, and knead it in. Warning: food paste coloring will stain your hands. You can either use food grade plastic gloves or do what I did and stick your hand in the baggie you brought your veggies home in from the store, although the gloves would have been easier to use. I also found this box of edible food coloring markers and used those to make the eyes.
Once you have the dough colored the way you want it, have fun! This dough is so unbelievably pliable (not to mention delicious). Just pinch, roll, shape and attach. Use a craft brush to put a tiny brush stroke of water on one surface before attaching a second.
My babies ended up with abnormally large hands … but love looks past all those flaws, don’t you know. 🙂
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I am so excited about this! I hate rolled fondant….yup, de-scust-ing, but I want to try your recipe for the endless possibilities of design. Your babies in blankes are adorable!