Fondant Fear?

So this is the very first time I have ever worked with fondant...and the fondant was home-made by me! I must say after all the things I have read about how fondant was so difficult to work with and especially scary to make at home, I think this was quite a success. What do you think?

Also I do agree that fondant is not the BEST tasting icing for a cake but this home-made marshmallow fondant is not as bad as store bought and if you roll it nice and thin you almost don't even know it is there, and if you start with a delicious cake (make sure it's a strong cake to hold the structure of the fondant and shape of your cake) then you won't be disappointed!

The cake...since you are makeing everything else from scratch you can use a cake mix...any flavor and add a few things to make it more like a pound cake. Use your favorite mix (I used yellow) and add 1/3 cup oil, 80z sour cream, any flavor pudding mix (i used vanilla) and 1/3 cup oil...mix it and bake it according to the package in greased and lined pans. Let them cool in the fridge for a while!

To make the fondant...use a 16 oz pkg of marshmallows (i used mini) and mix it in a large microwave safe bowl with 2 TBS water. Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring, unti

l completely melted (IT WILL BE HOT!!!). When completely melted mix in 1lb powdered sugar. Grease a large work surface with Crisco/shortening and put another pound of powdered sugar on the surface in a pile and turn out marshmallow mixture onto the pile of sugar and knead for 6 minutes or until pliable and mixed...thats it, done! Now, you can use it right away but it is best if you place in the fridge and use it the next day. Those blobs of sugar will dissolve! Coat the ball of fondant with shortening and wrap in saran and place in an airtight container. When you take the fondant out of the fridge you will need to microwave it for a few seconds to make it more pliable and ready to work with, knead for a minute or so (this is where you would add your color if you do not want white fondant) and roll it out to a thickness of about 1/8 and 1/4 inch but wait...don't cover your cake yet!

Frosting your cake with butter cream before the fondant is put on is an important step. You can buy your favorite buttercream or make a super easy version at home. Here is what you need.

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup, 1 stick softened butter

3+ TBSP milk1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, butter, vanilla and 2TBSP milk in a bowl until fluffy, adding milk 1 TBSP at a time until spreadable. Frost your chilled cake (it doesn't need to look nice at this point).

Now you can cover with a thin layer of fondant. Cut off the overhang, and smooth nicely with your hand. Decorate. To stick fondant to fondant, just dampen the area and hold it together for a second or two.