Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter
Desserts | How Tos

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

September 4, 2017

Making homemade marshmallow fondant with butter (MMF) is quite easy to do. I am making it with butter only because I don’t know if the shortening available in Germany or Switzerland is the same as Crisco (which is the only shortening I’ve ever used.) Also, butter is tastier than shortening and I always have butter on hand, so that makes it easier.

Also, fondant is not that readily available here in Biel. I have to go to specialty stores if I need to buy, or order online, of course. And they are quite expensive.

Why make your own marshmallow fondant with butter

  • Tastes better than store-bought fondant;
  • Comes out waaaay cheaper than store-bought fondant. Here in Switzerland it costs around CHF 4-6 (roughly USD 4.2 – 6.25, EUR 3.5 – 5.3, PHP 215 – 320) for 250 grams of fondant;
  • You color it exactly as you need it; and
  • You are assured of the quality of the fondant (I have had some experiences where I ordered fondant online and got a very dry block which I couldn’t revive even in the microwave.)

 When to not use butter?

When you need really white fondant. The butter in the fondant makes it off-white. Then, try using shortening for homemade fondant, or buying from the store.

Some tips and tricks I have learned when working with fondant:

  • Use cornstarch when rolling out and shaping fondant. I prefer it to icing sugar because I find the icing sugar gets sticky after a while. Some also say to use shortening, but as I said above I am not sure about the shortening here, so I have stuck with cornstarch.
  • Always cover unused fondant with plastic wrap as it dries out very quickly. But in the unfortunate event that it did dry out, quickly microwave (just a few seconds, I usually start with 5 seconds on high) and knead through again.
  • Use gel food coloring for tinting the fondant. Liquid food coloring makes fondant very sticky and hard to work with.
  • Always let the MMF rest for a few hours (ideally overnight and up to 24 hours) before using, especially if to cover cakes.
  • Use vodka for cleaning up the fondant (i.e. excess powdered sugar or cornstarch).
  • Store at room temperature – do not keep in the fridge.

 Let’s make marshmallow fondant with butter:

Ingredients:
– Store-bought white marshmallows
– Butter
– Icing sugar
– A bit of water

Materials:
– Microwave
– Microwave-safe bowl
– Kitchen scale (this will make scaling down the ingredients easier as it is quite hard to measure out the marshmallows by cups)
– Sieve/sifter

The quantity of course depends on how much fondant you need. Here is a helpful link for fondant quantity needed to cover cakes. For fondant decors, it also depends of course on how much and what kind of decors you are making. I only needed around 100 grams of fondant, but to ensure I had enough, I made around 200 grams. I will give you the ingredients needed for enough fondant to cover an 8-inch/20-centimeter cake with enough for some light fondant accents and for a small batch (approximately 200 grams.)

Procedure:

Place the marshmallows and butter in a microwave-safe bowl.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

Microwave on high for 30 seconds and give a stir. If all the marshmallows haven’t melted yet, microwave for another 30 seconds. Continue doing in 30-second intervals until the marshmallows and butter are fully melted. Stir well with a rubber spatula.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

Add in the sifted icing sugar and start mixing in with the spatula in folding motions until the icing sugar is fully incorporated. I don’t recommend using your hands yet as it can get quite sticky. Add in a bit of water if the mixture seems a bit dry.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

When most of the icing sugar has been incorporated into the marshmallows, tip out onto a non-stick area (a silicon mat) or dust your kitchen counter with some powdered sugar first and tip it out there.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

Knead a few times until it becomes nice and pliable. Dust your hands with icing sugar if the fondant starts sticking to your hands.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rest for a few hours, ideally overnight, in a dark area (i.e. your cupboard) before using.

Color as needed.

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

Other tips

If you need only one color, you may put in the food coloring into the melted marshmallows and it will be easier to incorporate it. Just remember that you are still adding icing sugar, so add a bit more food coloring than you think you need.

If you are using dark colors, you might want to use food-safe gloves while coloring them. Otherwise, start from the lightest color to the darkest, always washing your hands in between to ensure that the colors do not mix

If you are making the full batch, you will need a bit of elbow grease for the kneading.

Here are some of my cake recipes that you can use as base cakes:

Marshmallow Fondant with butter

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant with Butter

This has quantities for a normal batch (enough for one 8-inch or 9-inch cake, 3 inches high) and a small batch (around 200 grams for making fondant accents)

10 minPrep Time

18 hrCook Time

18 hr, 10 Total Time

Recipe Image
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Ingredients

    For fondant to cover an 8-inch cake
  • 300 grams white marshmallows
  • 64 grams/ ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 500 grams/4 ¼ cups powdered/icing sugar, sifted
  • 1 – 5 teaspoons water
  • For a small batch (around 210 grams)
  • 75 grams white marshmallows
  • 16 grams/1 tablespoon butter
  • 126 grams/slightly heaped 1 cup powdered/icing sugar, sifted
  • ½ - 1 teaspoon water

Directions

  1. Place the marshmallows and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and give a stir. If all the marshmallows haven’t melted yet, microwave for another 30 seconds. Continue doing in 30-second intervals until the marshmallows and butter are fully melted. Stir well with a rubber spatula.
  2. Add in the sifted icing sugar and start mixing in with the spatula in folding motions until the icing sugar is fully incorporated. I don’t recommend using your hands yet as it can get quite sticky. Add in a bit of water if the mixture seems a bit dry.
  3. When most of the icing sugar has been incorporated into the marshmallows, tip out onto a non-stick area (a silicon mat) or dust your kitchen counter with some powdered sugar first and tip it out there.
  4. Knead a few times until it becomes nice and pliable.
  5. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rest for a few hours, ideally overnight, in a dark area (i.e. your cupboard) before using.
  6. Color as needed.

Notes

Always cover unused fondant with plastic wrap to avoid drying out. Soften hardened fondant in the microwave (at 5-second intervals, kneading well after.)

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