I thought of a really fantastic way to open this post… And then I forgot it.
I’m going to start carrying around a Dora notepad (leftover party favor) so that I can jot things down as they drift through my brain.
Although that may not fix the problem because a lot of my ideas come to me while I’m driving… Or in the shower. And water + paper = paper mache, not help for my incredibly shrinking brain.
But for what I lack in brain power, I make up for in cake decorating prowess.
Isn’t this like 10 levels of awesome?!
I was never particularly interested in trying fondant because, well, it tastes like crap. Then I heard about marshmallow fondant. It was the answer to all my prayers.
Because while I wanted to make my daughter a Dora birthday cake, there was no way I was going to spend 3 hours piping frosting to end up with carpal tunnel and a pale, cross-eyed little Mexican to show for it.
Warning: While mashmallow fondant tastes waaaaaay better than traditional fondant, it’s not exactly something you’ll be stealing off other people’s plates. It’s still kinda like eating sweet play-doh.
So, let me tell you the right way to make marshmallow fondant.
Supplies:
1 16oz bag of mini marshmallows
1 2lb bag of powdered sugar
3 Tbsp water
1 hunk of shortening
corn starch
1 16oz bag of mini marshmallows
1 2lb bag of powdered sugar
3 Tbsp water
1 hunk of shortening
corn starch
1. Place marshmallows and water in a greased, microwave safe bowl and cook until melted, stirring every 30-60 seconds.
2. Once marshmallows are liquified, dump in all but 1/4c of the powdered sugar and stir until it becomes “dough-like.”
3. Dump mixture onto a greased counter and knead into a smooth dough.
I’m going to encourage you to check out Bake at 350 for a more detailed tutorial. Because this is not what I did, as I am horrible at following directions.
Now… My way…
Supplies:
1 16oz bag of mini marshmallows
About 1 1/3lbs of powdered sugar? Dunno because I didn’t measure.
shortening
1. Melt marshmallows in the microwave until they are a gooey, stringy mess.
2. Dump in half a bag of powdered sugar and quickly realize there is no way even the Hulk could stir this bowl of cement.
3. Remove dough to a greased counter and attempt to knead in more of the powdered sugar… Unsuccessfully.
4. Stored greased dough in a ziploc in the fridge for 1 week, contemplating my sanity for taking on such a project.
When I removed the chilled dough to cut out the letters, I found that it would be perfectly suited for breaking windows. After struggling to dye small chunks of the hardened dough, I decided to start nuking them to make them more pliable. This worked great until I burned myself with scalding hot sugar. But a mother’s love knows no bounds, so I persevered. I managed to get all the pieces of Dora’s logo cut out using an image printed on cardstock as a template and an exacto knife. I had hoped to also cut out a Dora, but decided to stop while I was ahead. Enter the Dora and Boots candle.
At some point in this process, I also realized that I didn’t add the water in the first step, so I did try to go back and add the water and more powdered sugar. It wasn’t a hugely noticable difference, but the fondant was a bit more soft and flexible. Enough so that I had the courage to undertake covering the entire cake in fondant. Which turned out amazingly well.
It was actually a lot of fun to do (even the tedious cutting of the letters) and I’m very pleased with the end result. I’m really looking forward to the next birthday so I can try again!
Other lessons learned…
— If you have multiple colors, melt the marshmallows in batches and dye them before adding the sugar. Trying to mix in the gel at the end was pretty time consuming.
— The rolled fondant isn’t going to harden entirely, so keep that in mind when you’re rolling out your pieces. I left the logo fairly thick to give it more structure (although it still sagged a little on the unsupported sides) and rolled the cake covering thinner, using a rolling pin to move it from the counter to the cake. I still had a little tear, but I just made that the back.
— Plan out your design ahead of time. I discovered that I should’ve done the “A” in yellow after dying the logo background. Green on green doesn’t show up so well. And I wish I had done the actual cake in pink and purple. This color combination was just thrown together and I feel like it’s a little circusey.
But one person really liked it…
And that’s what really matters.
2. Once marshmallows are liquified, dump in all but 1/4c of the powdered sugar and stir until it becomes “dough-like.”
3. Dump mixture onto a greased counter and knead into a smooth dough.
I’m going to encourage you to check out Bake at 350 for a more detailed tutorial. Because this is not what I did, as I am horrible at following directions.
Now… My way…
Supplies:
1 16oz bag of mini marshmallows
About 1 1/3lbs of powdered sugar? Dunno because I didn’t measure.
shortening
1. Melt marshmallows in the microwave until they are a gooey, stringy mess.
2. Dump in half a bag of powdered sugar and quickly realize there is no way even the Hulk could stir this bowl of cement.
3. Remove dough to a greased counter and attempt to knead in more of the powdered sugar… Unsuccessfully.
4. Stored greased dough in a ziploc in the fridge for 1 week, contemplating my sanity for taking on such a project.
When I removed the chilled dough to cut out the letters, I found that it would be perfectly suited for breaking windows. After struggling to dye small chunks of the hardened dough, I decided to start nuking them to make them more pliable. This worked great until I burned myself with scalding hot sugar. But a mother’s love knows no bounds, so I persevered. I managed to get all the pieces of Dora’s logo cut out using an image printed on cardstock as a template and an exacto knife. I had hoped to also cut out a Dora, but decided to stop while I was ahead. Enter the Dora and Boots candle.
At some point in this process, I also realized that I didn’t add the water in the first step, so I did try to go back and add the water and more powdered sugar. It wasn’t a hugely noticable difference, but the fondant was a bit more soft and flexible. Enough so that I had the courage to undertake covering the entire cake in fondant. Which turned out amazingly well.
It was actually a lot of fun to do (even the tedious cutting of the letters) and I’m very pleased with the end result. I’m really looking forward to the next birthday so I can try again!
Other lessons learned…
— If you have multiple colors, melt the marshmallows in batches and dye them before adding the sugar. Trying to mix in the gel at the end was pretty time consuming.
— The rolled fondant isn’t going to harden entirely, so keep that in mind when you’re rolling out your pieces. I left the logo fairly thick to give it more structure (although it still sagged a little on the unsupported sides) and rolled the cake covering thinner, using a rolling pin to move it from the counter to the cake. I still had a little tear, but I just made that the back.
— Plan out your design ahead of time. I discovered that I should’ve done the “A” in yellow after dying the logo background. Green on green doesn’t show up so well. And I wish I had done the actual cake in pink and purple. This color combination was just thrown together and I feel like it’s a little circusey.
But one person really liked it…
 |
| Priceless |
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