A Birthday Cake

I’ve heard so many different things about fondant and their textures and tastes.  So when I saw marshmallow fondant somewhere on the internet I really wanted to try it.  I decided to make Jared the guinea pig. The verdict?  Mixed.  The texture is definitely weird.  I haven’t had regular fondant before, so I can’t compare.  The taste wasn’t great, but two of our kids did like it. I guess I’d do it again, but just for looks, not taste.  I can’t find the site that I originally saw it, but it was awesome.  I thought I bookmarked it, but I guess I didn’t.  I’m sure if you Google ‘marshmallow fondant’ you can find a decent recipe.  I am going to go off my memory here.  You don’t need much as you can tell, so this will be pretty easy.Take your bag of marshmallows and stick the in a microwave safe bowl.  Add a little water and start melting them in 1 minute increments.  Stir them after each minute.  They should be nice and smooth with no lumps. Nice and smooth.  See?  Now add a little vanilla for flavor.Next add your powdered sugar one cup at a time. Stir it up and keep adding more until it begins to pull away from the bowl. Then take your lovely, greasy Crisco and that’s right… Smear it all over your countertop.  Smear a ton of it, all over.  Really.  All over. Slap your fondant on the counter.  Sprinkle with some more powdered sugar.  The consistency should be smooth and elastic, but not sticky.  It shouldn’t break when you pull on it.  Once you get to that point that’s it.  Stop adding powdered sugar. It should have a nice satiny sheen to it. Once you’re done stick it in an air tight container or bag and stick it in the fridge overnight. Now we’re on to the the next day.  Sprinkle your countertop with cornstarch.  Yes, I said cornstarch.  Don’t ask why.  Just do it.  I don’t know the whys I just did it.  Now I got so into things I forgot  to take some snaps of what I was doing.  At this point, start kneading your fondant like bread dough to soften it up.  If it’s still too hard stick it in the microwave in 10 second increments until it’s workable.  You can also divide up the fondant and knead some food coloring into it.Once you’ve got it rolled out place it on top of your cake.  Of course before you do that you should frost your cake.  That will help the fondant stick better.  After you have placed a piece over your cake, cut the excess off.  We don’t have many “cake” tools around here, so a pizza cutter is what I used. The girls wanted to do the decorating.  Again we don’t even have many cookie cutters or things like that, so Rachel is using one of Anna’s bottles and Rebecca is using a biscuit cutter.  Whatever works, right?For the most part the bottle worked just fine.  Once the hard part was over I let the girls completely take over.  Rebecca did all the writing.  They painted the circles on with water. The water acts just like glue.The water also makes things shiny. David tried to steal a little.

Marshmallow Fondant:

• Bag of marshmallows
• 2-4 Tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Crisco
• 2-4 cups Powdered sugar
• Cornstarch
• Food dyes

Place marshmallows in microwave safe bowl with 2 T of water.  Melt the marshmallows in 1 minute increments.  Stir after each minute.  Once the lumps are gone stir in vanilla.  Add 1 cup of powdered.  Stir well.  Add another cup.  Keep adding powdered sugar until fondant pulls away from the bowl.  Then smear Crisco on a large area of your countertop.  Put fondant on top of Crisco and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Knead until consistency is smooth and has a satiny sheen.  Place in air tight container overnight.  The next day, sprinkle your countertop with cornstarch.  Knead fondant until workable.  If adding color, knead the fondant until the color is well mixed.  Roll out your fondant or cut it into shapes. Stick it to your cake with water!  Have fun with it.  Don’t eat too much of it.  It’s not really that tasty.  :)