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Fondant is a thick icing used to cover and decorate cakes. Our fondant recipe uses only four ingredients and is easy to work with and color. It also tastes much better than store-bought!
My mom made the most beautiful wedding cake for me when I got married. It was around the time when large, fancy, buttercream-frosted wedding cakes were going out of style, and the smaller, more simple fondant covered wedding cakes were becoming more popular. My wedding cake was covered with a smooth white fondant and then decorated with fresh flowers.
Since then, I have loved decorating with fondant, especially for my kids’ birthdays, and this fondant recipe is my favorite. It is quick and easy to make with just 4 ingredients. It’s a fun alternative to vanilla buttercream frosting and just as easy!
🩷 Erica
Rave Reviews from Our Readers
First try at fondant and was amazing! My 10 year granddaughter wanted to make her own birthday cake with fondant flowers. Was so beautiful! – Ruth
I can’t believe how easy it was to make fondant!! This recipe was perfect, easy to follow and turned out better than store bought. I did have to use additional powdered sugar due to the high humidity today, but the guidance about making it play dough consistency. was spot on! Thank you for sharing this recipe!! -Rena
It worked perfectly! My cake is beautiful! – Pepper
Table of Contents
What is Fondant?
Fondant is a soft, thick icing that is used to coat and decorate cakes. It is pliable, similar to the texture and consistency of play dough, which makes it easy to work with and shape. This fondant recipe is made by combining marshmallows and powdered sugar. It has way better flavor than store bought fondant and it’s easy to color with food coloring.
Ingredients
Surprisingly, there are only 4 ingredients to make this fondant. This recipe makes enough to cover three 8″ round (2″ deep) cakes. See full ingredient list and amounts in recipe card below.
- Mini marshmallows: 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.
- Powdered sugar: This gives the fondant structure and sweetness.
- Shortening: White shortening, not butter-flavored, is used to create the soft, flexible, workable consistency of fondant.
- Water: A small amount of water helps the marshmallows to melt evenly. Be careful not to add too much.
- Gel food coloring: Optional, but fun to use when decorating with fondant. Gel colors are ideal for fondant because they’re highly concentrated and won’t change the texture like liquid food coloring can.
Step by Step Instructions
Fondant is simple to make, and when made correctly, it is also easy to work with when decorating. Here are the steps we recommend to make this fondant recipe a success:
- In a microwaveable, glass bowl combine marshmallows, water, and shortening. Microwave for four 20-second intervals, stirring well in between each interval.
- Pour the mixture into a stand mixer. Using a dough attachment add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. You may not need all of the sugar, keep adding and mixing until the fondant is a play-dough consistency, not sticky at all.
- When the fondant becomes too stiff for the mixer, knead it by hand adding more sugar if needed. The fondant should have a matte appearance, not glossy.
- If adding color, start with a drop or two of food coloring and knead the coloring in with your hands until even. Be sure to wear gloves!
- You can divide the fondant into sections and mix in colors to each section. Once you have the colors you want, roll the fondant into a ball (or separate balls if you have more than one color).
- Roll the fondant out into a thin layer using a rolling pin. An adjustable long rolling pin works best. Keep all surfaces and hands clean and lightly covered in shortening to prevent sticking. Flour or powdered sugar will make it too stiff.
How to Cover a Cake with Fondant
- First, gently lift the fondant using the rolling pin and lay it evenly over the frosted cake.
- Next, press the fondant gently around the cake so it sticks evenly to the frosting.
- Cut off the excess using a fondant cutter or knife.
- Finally, smooth out the fondant with a flat spatula or a fondant smoothing tool. Shape and smooth as needed.
Decorating with Fondant
Finally, decorate the cake with fondant designs, ribbons, or flowers. The fondant is a lot of fun to work and play with. It works beautifully on wedding cakes with fresh flowers, and it is easy to color for bright and fun birthday cakes, like the Barbie Cake pictured below. This easy fondant recipe has been used over and over in our family to decorate cakes for special events. 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!
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!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can! Just chop the larger marshmallows into smaller pieces for even melting.
Sticky fondant usually means there is too much moisture. Knead small amounts of powdered sugar at a time into the fondant until it is no longer sticky or “glossy” and has a matte appearance. It should have the feel and consistency of play dough.
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.
It can be fixed! Knead a small amount of shortening into the fondant to smooth out cracks or tears.
Absolutely! That’s what makes it so fun! After the fondant is kneaded, add food coloring and continue kneading until the coloring is even throughout the fondant.
More Frosting and Icing Recipes to Try
Try this marshmallow fondant and see just how simple cake decorating with fondant can be! Comment below and share your tips or questions.
How to Make Fondant
Video
Ingredients
- 16 ounces mini marshmallows
- 32 ounces powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon shortening, (see notes)
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. Makes enough fondant to cover approximately three round 8" (2" deep) cakes.
Notes
- This recipe makes enough to cover three 8-inch cakes (2″ deep).
- 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.
- If coloring your fondant, add gel food coloring after you remove the fondant from the mixer. Be sure to wear plastic gloves!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This seems like a super quick easy recipe! Definitly gonna gibe it a try for mt daughters christmas party tomorrow! Question tho.. What if you dont have the dough attachment? What would work in place?
You could try the paddle attachment!
i’m going to try this recipe to secure edible logo toppers for my client holiday orders. i’m curious of the yield for this recipe – 1x = 24 servings ? 24 cupcakes? 24 cakes?
i only need 50 spoonfuls. any suggestions?
thank you!!
Sorry for the confusion – serving size is hard with fondant. This makes enough fondant to cover one double layer 8-inch cake. You might need to double the recipe!
I’m going to give a try.. I got our renewal coming up and I’d like to do my own cake for it..
First try at fondant and was amazing! My 10 year granddaughter wanted to make her own birthday cake with fondant flowers. Was so beautiful
Cool, I hope it works I’m gonna try it on my 12th birthday cake!:)
Hi does this fondant mix dry well for figures
Yes it should!
can i use cookie cutters with this recipe?
Sure!
Amazing
The flavor, cost and ease of this recipe is great. It worked perfectly to build a pancake stack looking cake. Thank you so much for posting this!
Wow! Highly educative
It was good but you need to make a smaller batch two pounds of powdered sugar is crazy
This recipe does make a lot of fondant!
Is it possible to make this fondant without a stand mixer and by hand?
Yes, but you might need some serious elbow grease!
what kind of icing do you use over fondant if you want to make flowers or other decorations.
Royal icing works really well for designs over fondant! https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/royal-icing/
I just wanted to say, with the answer that your recipe doesn’t contain gelatin and instead contains marshmallows, the person might be asking because they’re vegan and gelatin is an animal product, or due to a gelatin allergy. In which case, marshmallows themselves contain gelatin.
I wonder if you can make fondant using vegan marshmallows, or if you would need to use a different technique to get a similar result.
Thanks for making that point! We haven’t tried it with vegan marshmallows, but we’ll keep the post updated if we do!
This recipe looks great – I’m attempting fondant for the first time to make my kiddo’s bday cake (Spiderverse theme…wish me luck!). Can I assume that using a double boiler on the stove to melt the marshmallows is also acceptable or is it best to use a microwave? Also, I’ll need to make some black, red and possibly blue fondant. Will this recipe stand up to that much food coloring?
Thank you!
I haven’t tried double boiling the marshmallows – we always use the microwave and it turns out great. It should hold up really well to food coloring! We like to use gel food coloring for the best results.
Thank you!
It’s my first time making this recipe. I’m trying to roll the fondant with a lite coating of shortening it sticks to the rolling pin. Then I add a bit of powdered sugar to avoid it; it helps a bit. Then I roll it out and it starts cracking. What have I done wrong or what can I do to adjust?
I had to add more powdered sugar since mine was still shiny and sticky on the mixer. Till I took it out and started kneading it and adding a bit more sugar it finally got to the consistency I needed.
I’m sorry I don’t think I understand the question – was the fondant too sticky or too dry?
Any chance you have the powdered sugar and marshmallow measurements in g or cups?
32 ounces of powdered sugar is about 908 grams. 16 ounces of marshmallows is about 454 grams. I hope this helps!
FYI in your FAQs about Fondant it says, “Is there a way to make cake fondant without using gelatin? Yes! Our recipe does not require gelatin and instead uses marshmallows.” However, traditional marshmallows, including the ones linked, do contain gelatin, which makes this statement incorrect. Along those lines, I wonder if the recipe would still work with vegan, gelatin-free marshmallows, such as Dandie’s. https://a.co/d/ib13MjW
We haven’t tried making it with vegan marshmallows so we can’t say for sure. Let us know how it turns out if you try it!
Would it be best to halve this recipe if I’m only needing to make a decorative treasure map for a 9×13 cake?
Yes! That would be good!
Omg so easy and to make from scratch is so much better
This web site is so prefect
Thank you for making cooking so easy
Hi there! I am wondering how this dries and if it can be used for decorative elements, disks for cupcakes for example? Thanks!
It is very soft and stays fairly soft when it dries. I don’t think it would work for discs.
Thanks so much!
Can you use butter instead of shortening
We get the best results when we use shortening!