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Fondant is an important part of baking because it gives your cake a smooth texture and a professional look. While you can buy fondant at the store, it can be difficult to find just the right color and texture for your cake. Making your own fondant at home ensures that you will have a consistent quality product without breaking the bank.
Featured With This Recipe
It only takes four ingredients and less than 15 minutes to make this fondant recipe, so it’s an easy choice for home bakers. You don’t have to worry about the quality of pre-made varieties going bad in a few weeks—this one can stay fresh indefinitely! And once you’ve made this particular version as written, feel free to experiment with different colors or flavor combinations!
What is Fondant?
Fondant is a soft, sweet, frosting-like substance that is used to coat and decorate cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. It is pliable, which makes it easy to work with and reshape as needed for decorating. Fondant is made by combining marshmallows and powdered sugar. Fondant is edible, but not everyone loves the texture and taste. Some people remove the fondant coating before eating the cake it covers.
Ingredients in Fondant
Surprisingly, there are only 4 ingredients to make this fondant!
- Mini marshmallows
- Powdered sugar
- Shortening
- Water
Decorating With Fondant
Fondant is a lot of fun to work and play with when it comes to decorating. It works beautifully on wedding cakes with fresh flowers, and it is easy to color for bright and fun birthday cakes and cupcakes. This easy recipe has been used over and over in our family for a variety of special events, including Erica’s wedding. It was used on her wedding cake. Don’t be intimidated – it’s very simple to make! Once you get it down, you will see that the possibilities are endless. Be ready for birthday cake requests, you are about to become a cake boss!
Tips for Making Fondant
Fondant is simple to make, and when made correctly, it is also easy to work with when decorating. Here are a few tips we recommend to beginners for this easy fondant recipe to be a success:
Marshmallow Fondant Mixture
- Start with white mini marshmallows. The mini marshmallows work best for melting and mixing. Do not use the colored and flavored mini marshmallows. Coloring and flavoring can be added later.
- Make sure the marshmallows are fresh! Marshmallows that have been in an opened bag or are past the freshness date will be stale and/or sticky, and the fondant won’t turn out as well. When you purchase the marshmallows, check the expiration date and shake the bag a little to make sure they aren’t all clumped together.
- Use a glass bowl to melt the marshmallows in the microwave and stir, stir, stir! If the melted marshmallows are still a little lumpy, they will smooth out completely in the mixture.
Use a Mixer with a Dough Hook
As you reach the needed consistency for the fondant, it becomes thick and more stiff. It is still pliable, but a hand mixer just won’t cut it. Think freshly opened play dough. The dough hook is a life saver! Most standard mixers like Bosch (pictured) and KitchenAid have a dough hook accessory.
Watch for Color and Consistency
Recognizing when to stop adding sugar and stop mixing is key when making fondant. It is ready to remove from the mixer when the color is no longer glossy and has a matte appearance, and the consistency is thick (again, think play dough).
Kneading the Fondant
Once the fondant is ready to knead and color, be sure to keep your hands and all surfaces lightly covered with shortening. Flour or powdered sugar will make it too stiff. Make sure it is pure white shortening. Butter-flavored shortening or cooking spray has a yellow tint, consequently turning fondant an off-white or yellowish color.
Rolling the Fondant
Use an adjustable long rolling pin or dough roller to roll fondant. Most long rolling pins have thickness rings to get a smooth, even finish. A regular rolling pin works for most projects, however the long rolling pin is an essential tool for projects like wedding cakes, making it possible to roll the fondant into a large enough circle to cover a large cake. It may be worth the investment if you plan to make fondant often. Adjustable long rolling pins can be found at bakery supply stores or on Amazon. This gives you an idea of what they look like.
Storage
Fondant can be made ahead and stored for later use. However, it will dry out, so it is important to keep it in an airtight container. It can also be wrapped completely in plastic wrap. It is not necessary to refrigerate fondant.
Ways to Use Fondant
There are so many fun things to make with fondant in addition to wedding cakes. This Hamburger Cake is a fun cake to make for the hamburger lovers out there. The cheese, lettuce, and onions are all made out of fondant. It’s perfect for BBQ’s, potlucks, or birthday parties. I recently made this with my sons for a Cub Scout cake decorating contest. The scouts loved it!
My sister and I made tea cup cakes for my niece’s birthday. She had an “Alice in Wonderland” theme. We made the tea cups by baking the cake batter in glass mixing bowls. After the cakes cooled, we removed the cakes from the bowls, and then placed the fondant over the cakes making a flat “bottom” so they wouldn’t tip. We flipped them right side up and made the handles, rings around the top, and the polka dots. Then we frosted the top of the cake. They turned out so cute! The candle you see on it is one of the coolest birthday candles I have ever seen. When you light the top wick, it spins open, lights all the birthday candles and continues to spin and play a song.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Fondant
Fondant is totally edible and can be eaten. However, many people prefer to peel it off before eating the cake.
It is always a good idea to practice laying fondant on a cake before attempting a large layered cake. Practice on single layer cakes and work on getting all the bubbles and bumps out. Once you are comfortable with it, move onto layers.
Fondant tastes like a dense marshmallow, or kind of like the cream filling in an Oreo.
Yes! Our recipe does not require gelatin and instead uses marshmallows.
How to Make Fondant
Fondant Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 16 ounces mini marshmallows
- 32 ounces powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon shortening
Instructions
- Put marshmallows, water, and shortening in a glass microwavable bowl.
- Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir. Repeat 4 times.
- Pour into a mixer and mix well using the dough attachment. Add in powdered sugar a cup at a time. Mix until the shine is completely gone. You may not need to use all the sugar, just keep adding until it has the consistency of play dough. The final result should not be sticky to the touch.
- When the fondant becomes too stiff to mix in the mixer, pull the fondant out and knead it on the counter, adding more sugar if needed. Knead in food coloring, if desired.
- From this point, you can roll the fondant out to place on a cake, cupcakes, or to create something amazing! When working with fondant, keep all surfaces and hands lightly covered in shortening to prevent sticking.
Notes
- Fondant can be made ahead and stored for later. Wrap it well in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Practice placing your on single-layer cakes before attempting layer cakes. Placing fondant and smoothing it out takes practice!
I can’t wait to try this out! I hate the taste of store bought fondant. Thanks for including all the troubleshooting and tips!
I am not a baker but my mother in law will love this! I will forward the recipe to her right away!
This looks so simple, definitely need to try it!
I am just starting back with baking my cakes from scratch so I really can’t wait to try my hand at making this easy 4 ingredients fondant
This is by far the best and easiest fondant recipe! It was perfect for my cakes, but they didn’t turn out as beautiful as yours!
Thank you so much gonna try this soon
Hi! Thank you! Can’t wait to try this!
Is there a way not to use a microwave for this recipe?
Thanks so much ☺️
Yes, you can heat the marshmallows up over the stove. Just be careful not to overheat them and keep the temperature low.
I’m assuming a double boiler would do the trick?
Yes! That will work great!
Super fun! I’ve always wondered how fondant is made, and of course was too lazy to find out until now! Wonderful! My kids would love to play with (and eat) fondant!
I’ve never worked with fondant before now, and I was surprised how easy and fun it was! Going to be making some fun desserts with this recipe, from now on!
I loved this recipe, it’s simple but with amazing quality. It didnt crack or even tear apart. It’s very smooth & consistent and the best part, you don’t have to spend so much money on expensive products!
I’ve always been intimidated to try fondant, but I love how easy this is to make! Great recipe!
This is a tried and true recipe that actually tastes good to eat, unlike the commercial stuff that tastes like cardboard. Thanks for the recipe!
Such a great recipe and tutorial! It was way easier than I thought it would be and worked like a charm!
This recipe is an absolute keeper. I haven’t seen a fondant recipe in quite a while, so this is quite unique, too!
Seeing all the steps, it looks so easy. Will definitely try it.
Can you make fondant cake decorations in advance and store them with this recipe?
I think that would work!
Thanks for sharing your fondant recipe! I’ve never tried to make my own, but I need to now.
Just happened upon your blog today and I love it! I want to try everything! I have made my own fondant and use it to make cakes all the time. A lot of people I know don't like the super sweet of the marshmallow fondant, but like you I can't stand the store bought. I add some butter and a little almond extract to my marshmallow fondant. I love the taste you get and have had rave reviews. Thanks for sharing so many yummy recipes!
That turned out absolutely ADORABLE! We are actually doing an "Alice in Wonderland" 3rd birthday party as well. I have NEVER used or made fondant before. I will have to give it a try. Could you tell me what exact size and kind of mixing bowls you used to bake the cakes and some further directions. I am SO intimidated with making cakes, not good at it. But I would love to give this one a chance. If you could, could you email me some of those directions? Thank you so much. I always love turning to your blog for great recipes 🙂
mandyfrazier80@gmail.com
The candles can be found at: http://www.theamazingcandle.com/en/
VERY CUTE!
I want to try this. Your photo makes it look worth trying. So plese tell the candle? Where on earth did you find such a wonderful singing candle????
That is the most adorable cake I have ever seen!!! You guys are so creative!!! I'm curious to know if the kids ate the fondant as part of the frosting when you cut the cake… and where did you get the candle?