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Black fondant recipe

Making black fondant can seem super tricky but it's actually quite simple. I use my own marshmallow fondant recipe with a couple of small adjustments to make the perfect black fondant that does not rip or tear or get elephant skin. 

Tips for making black fondant

• Sift your powdered sugar so that you don't have any lumps in your finished fondant. Lumps can cause your fondant to get lots of holes and rip.
• Make sure your marshmallows are fresh. Dried out and old marshmallows will make dry fondant
• You can increase your water by ½ tablespoon if you live in a dry area or decrease the water if you live in a humid area
• Don't use more than 1 tablespoon of black food coloring. Your fondant will look dark grey at first but will darken over time. Using too much black food coloring (to make it extra black) can break your fondant and cause it to have pockmarks in the finished product. 

How to make black fondant

1. Sift your powdered sugar 
2. Place your vegetable shortening in the bowl of your stand mixer with the hook attachment
3. Melt your marshmallows in a large heatproof bowl. I start with one minute, stir, then 30 second increments until the marshmallows are completely melted and puffed up.
4. Pour the water over the top of your melted marshmallows to release them from the bowl. 
5. Pour the marshmallows into the bowl of your stand mixer and start mixing on low. 
6. Add in your food coloring
7. Add in ¾ of your bag of powdered sugar and continue letting everything mix until the marshmallows are smooth and sticking to the sidees of the bowl. 
8. Add in ½ cup of powdered sugar and let mix a few seconds to get the fondant to start releasing from the bowl
9. Use a flexible bowl scraper or spatula to remove the fondant from the bowl and place into your bowl of leftover powdered sugar
10. Fold over to work in the last bit of sugar. Once it's mostly worked in, you can remove it from the bowl and finish it on the table.
11. Keep pulling the fondant until it stretches like taffy and does not break. Now your fondant is ready to be used on a cake. Yes, you can use it right away!

How to store leftover black fondant

Store your leftover fondant by wrapping it in plastic wrap and then placing into a ziplock bag. Store at room temperature. Always re-warm your fondant in the microwave for 30-40 seconds and condition with vegetable shortening before rolling out and covering a cake. 

Trouble-shooting problems with black fondant

Fondant is too dry - Get your hands wet and work the moisture into the fondant to make it a little moister. You can also add 1tsp of glycerine if you have it. 

Fondant is too sticky - Knead in more powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until it's not sticky. A little stickiness is normal. I like to dust my table with cornstarch to prevent sticking and grease my hands with vegetable shortening. 

Fondant is tearing - Re-heat in the microwave until warm, pull like taffy until stretchy and smooth. You can also add a little vegetable shortening to your hands or add more pre-made fondant if it's not coming together. 

Recipe

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5 from 12 votes

Black Fondant Recipe

When making LMF marshmallow fondant, sometimes you need to make darker colors, like black, and that requires a variation to how you would go about actually making the fondant. If you were to make white fondant and then add food color, you'll end up with this thick, gooey, yucky fondant that's actually very hard to use. 

Okay, so let's get right into making black fondant!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 lbs

Calories: 1469kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Ingredients

Ingredients

• 2 lbs sifted powdered sugar you may not use all of the powdered sugar depending on your area, that's totally okay
• 1 lb mini marshmallows Hy-Top, Walmart brand or Haribo Brand if you can find it
• 1 tablespoon water use only ½ tablespoon if it is very humid in your area
• 1 tablespoon black food color gel Americolor is what I use but Wilton or any other brand is okay too
• ½ cup vegetable shortening also called white vegetable fat or trex
• 1.25 lbs Wilton Fondant

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Instructions

• Sift powdered sugar and set aside in a large bowl.
  
• Place vegetable shortening in a stand mixer bowl.
  
• Heat marshmallows for 40 seconds in the microwave on high. Stir the marshmallows with a spoon to break them up a little bit.
  
• Heat marshmallows again for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir again with a spoon.
  
• Heat marshmallows for 30 seconds again. Stir with a spoon and marshmallows should be completely broken down and like liquid. 

  Pour water into bowl to separate marshmallows from bowl and pour the marshmallows into the stand mixer bowl with the vegetable shortening.
  
• Turn stand mixer on lowest setting (setting 1 on Kitchenaid mixers). 

  Add in food color gel.
  
  
• Add in half of your sifted powdered sugar, a measuring cup at a time, and let mix for 2 minutes.
  
• Put some vegetable shortening on your finger tips and pull the fondant off the dough hook.
  
• Put the fondant into your bowl you have the remaining powdered sugar in.
  
• Warm Wilton fondant in the microwave for 40 seconds and add to the bowl with the powdered sugar and fondant mixture.
  
• Knead with your hands until mostly incorporated. You might not use all of the fondant at this point and that's totally okay.
  
• Pull fondant like taffy until it is stretchy and smooth.
  
• Store in a zip-lock bag at room temperature. Fondant will keep for months in a zip-lock bag. To use again, reheat and knead well until stretchy before each use. You can add color as desired but for dark colors, you should add them during the mixing process or you could get a sticky mess.

Video

Notes

FAQ

You can make this by hand if you do not have a stand mixer. All you need is your muscles!

You can melt the marshmallows over a double-boiler if you don’t have a microwave.

I prefer black Americolor gel for my food color.

You can half this recipe if you only need a little black.

Store in a ziplock bag at room temp for months. Head and re-knead well before each use.

You might not use all the powdered sugar in the final kneading depending on the humidity in your area and that is okay.

Nutrition

Calories: 1469kcal | Carbohydrates: 318g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 96mg | Sugar: 287g | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.4mg

Skill level: Newb
Making black fondant can be tricky but this recipe will show you how easy it can be!

Recipe

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4.75 from 4 votes

Red Fondant Recipe

Red fondant can be a tricky color to get right without having it accidentally turn into pink, orange, sorta red fondant. This recipe will get you true, sexy, deep red fondant.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 lbs

Calories: 5877kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Ingredients

Ingredients

• 2 lbs sifted powdered sugar you may not use all the powdered sugar depending on your area, that is okay
• 1 lb mini-marshmallows Hy-Top, Walmart, or Haribo brand
• 1 tablespoon water use only 1 tablespoon if it is very humid in your area
• 1 tablespoon red Americolor food color gel
• ½ cup vegetable shortening white vegetable fat, trex
• 1.25 lbs Wilton fondant Satin ice fondant also works

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Instructions

• Sift the powdered sugar and set aside in a large bowl.
• Place vegetable shortening in a stand mixer bowl.
• Heat marshmallows for 40 seconds in the microwave on high (or on stove top). Stir with spoon. 
• Place marshmallows back into microwave and heat for another 30 seconds (or on stove top). Stir with spoon. 
• Heat marshmallows (last time!) for 30 seconds in the microwave (or on stove top).

  Marshmallows should be ooey-gooey at this point and ready to be added to the mixer bowl.
• Turn stand mixer on lowest setting (setting 1 on Kitchenaid stand mixers).

  Add in half of your sifted powdered sugar, a measuring cup at a time, and let mix for 2 minutes.
• Take the soft mixture out of the bowl and put it into the large bowl with the rest of the powdered sugar.
• Warm the Wilton fondant in the microwave for 40 seconds and add to the large bowl with the powdered sugar and marshmallow mix.
• Knead until powdered sugar, marshmallows and Wilton fondant is mostly incorporated. You may not use all of the powdered sugar depending on your climate and that is completely fine.
• Pull fondant like taffy until it is stretchy and smooth.
• Store in a zip-lock bag at room temperature. Fondant will keep for months in a zip-lock bag. To use again, reheat and knead well until stretchy before each use. You can add color as desired but for dark colors, you should add them during the mixing process or you could get a sticky mess.

Nutrition

Calories: 5877kcal | Carbohydrates: 1273g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 103g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Sodium: 385mg | Sugar: 1148g | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1.6mg

Skill level: Newb
Making red fondant can be tricky but this easy tutorial teaches you how to make perfect, rich, red fondant every time.