This fondant recipe is a favorite amongst hobby bakers and professional bakers alike. Soft, smooth, easy to. work with and so delicious! This fondant recipe is so good you won't ever have to buy expensive fondant again.
My fondant recipe (LMF fondant) was one of the first ever published back in 2010 back when I was still Artisan Cake Company and is still my most shared recipe.
Fondant is basically the edible playdough your eight-year-old self always wanted. If regular fondant is edible playdough then marshmallow fondant is edible clay. It's much more versatile, easier to use and much tastier (I don't recommend you eat clay though).
Marshmallow Fondant vs Regular Fondant
When I first started cake decorating as a hobby in 2008, the only fondant I knew about was Wilton. I didn't even know other brands of fondant existed. I didn't know it was hard to use because it was all I was used to. I just assumed it took 2-3 tries to cover a cake. This was also before social media and facebook groups so most of my caking came from pure struggle.
The first time ever attempted to make fondant was out of pure necessity. I had took on a last minute order and suddenly found myself without enough fondant to get me through my project! Cue panic mode! I looked up a recipe on how to make fondant and it required a ton of cooking and ingredients I didn't have. Ok strike one. I checked another "easy homemade fondant" recipe that only required two ingredients. Marshmallows and powdered sugar. EPIC FAIL. It cracked, tore and was really oily? Not sure how that is even possible. In desperation, I combined the failed fondant with about ½ pound of leftover wilton fondant. I mixed it up, rolled it out and was AMAZED at how easily it covered the cake! No tearing, no pock marks, no bubbles! And that's how my famous fondant recipe was born.
For even better results, try putting this fondant over the top of our white cake recipe and see how delicious the two work together.
Why Are You Adding Fondant To Fondant?
I get that question a lot. I get it. It seems a little backward to add fondant to a fondant recipe but hear me out.
It is possible to make marshmallow fondant without adding the pre-made fondant BUT it won't be as stretchy. It just won't. I know lot's of people who make marshmallow fondant without pre-made but it just doesn't perform as well and you're here to learn about the BEST homemade fondant out there right?
The reason for adding in the pre-made fondant is to improve the workability of the homemade fondant and you're basically making a cheap batch of fondant that may not perform or taste very good into a larger batch of high-quality, super yummy fondant.
What Is Fondant Made Of?
Store bought fondant can be made of many things but in general, it's made from sugar, flavorings and some sort of gum (to make it stretchy). Depending on the exact combination, your fondant texture can range from soft and sticky to chewy or even tough! I often tell anyone who says they don't like the taste of fondant that just likes cheap grocery store chocolate compared to couverture, quality matters. Not all fondant is made the same!
Anyone can tell you that good fondant DOES exist.
Marshmallow fondant doesn't have that many ingredients. Marshmallows provide the main structure. Marshmallows contain mostly sugar and gelatin. A little bit of vegetable shortening helps the fondant from drying out. The best part is that LMF works best when you use really cheap marshmallows which brings the price per batch down even further.
Does Fondant Really Taste Bad?
Fondant is one of those things that my clients used to tell me they HATED right before a wedding cake tasting. I would smile and nod and say "ok" but I knew that once they tasted my homemade marshmallow fondant recipe (dubbed LMF by fans) I would have them hooked. Nothing was more satisfying than handing them that little cutout of fondant and seeing the look on their face go from "I'm definitely not going to like this" to pure shock, then a little more chewing, a big smile, then finally "OMG this is really good!"
BOOM.
My marshmallow fondant has been my secret weapon for years and now it can be yours too.
Easy Fondant Recipe For Beginners
So you want to work with fondant but you're scared! I get it! A lot of beginners are nervous to work with fondant because they have heard how difficult it can be to work with! But you know what? The secret to success really is in making it yourself. If you are getting cracking, tearing, elephant skin, pockmarks, bubbles or even dryness, you're probably using store-bought fondant that is just plain bad.
If you really want to learn all about the basics of decorating cakes you can watch our series on Sugar Geek Show and if that doesn't hook you, our wedding cake basics series will!
This recipe is easy to make, doesn't take any fancy ingredients and works best right after you make it (still warm).
Can You Make Fondant Without Marshmallows?
One of the coolest things that ever came from my LMF recipe has probably been DKF (Danettes Kosher Fondant). My friend Danette can't eat gelatin so she devised a fondant recipe that is just as easy to make as LMF but uses marshmallow fluff instead of cheap marshmallows. It works just as well and is kosher!
Tips
Here are some other tips for working with homemade fondant. You can learn more about the basics of cake decorating in our basic cake decorating series.
- Roll your fondant thin. ⅛" is a good place to be so that your fondant doesn't tear, you can get those sharp edges and you get the most out of one batch.
- Chill your cakes before you cover them. Make sure your buttercream or ganache is nice and cold (but not frozen) before you cover the cake for best results.
- Roll your fondant out bigger than you need. A common beginner mistake is rolling out the fondant too small and then you get tons of ruffles and tears around the base of the cake. If you roll out a bigger piece, it practically covers itself.
- Condition your fondant before you use it. Unless you just made it, then always warm your fondant and knead it well until it's nice and stretchy. Cold fondant likes to tear.
- If you have multiple tiers to cover, cover the largest one first and make your way down to the smallest to get the most out of your fondant. One batch of LMF will cover a 10"-8"-6" round with a little bit leftover if you roll it out to ⅛" thick.
How Do You Color Fondant?
Once you master making your delicious homemade fondant recipe, you might want to color your fondant recipe. The key here is making sure you don't use too much food coloring. If you use too much it could cause ruin the consistency of your fondant and it will look like it it has little holes in it.
If you want a light color of fondant you can simply add a little color to your white fondant but if you want a super bright color or dark colors like black fondant or red fondant then you need to add the color during the process of making it for best results.
Tools
Kitchenaid mixer When I first started decorating, I had a simple second-hand KitchenAid. That's all you really need! This recipe works best when made in the classic size.
How To Make Fondant
- Microwave 1 lb of marshmallows in 30-second bursts until fully melted
- Add your water and pour melted marshmallows into the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached
- Add in your vegetable shortening
- Start adding in all your powdered sugar one cup at a time, leave one cup out
- Let your fondant mix on low until smooth, this can take 5 minutes or so
- Scrape the fondant out of the bowl with a spatula into your bowl of remaining powdered sugar
- Knead the mixture until all the powdered sugar is incorporated
- Heat up your store bought fondant for 30 seconds and add it to the marshmallow fondant
- Knead until fondant can be stretched like taffy without breaking
To make this recipe, you'll need a little store bought fondant. It doesn't have to be Wilton but that's what I have available here and is super cheap BUT you can get it for even cheaper if you use a coupon. I get my fondant from either Jo-Anns or Michaels and there is always a coupon either online or in the app. You're going to want to buy the big box (5 lbs) and then use a coupon to get 40% off. You can sign up to get coupons right in the app or on the website. Each 5 lb box will make FOUR batches of fondant and is much cheaper to buy the big box than to buy one small box.
You can also buy fondant on Amazon and sometimes it's cheaper than buying it in person even with a coupon and you get free shipping with Amazon Prime.
Next thing is the marshmallows. I buy mine from Winco but if you don't have a Winco, just look for the cheap store brand marshmallows. Jet-puff tends to be too tough for me and dry. You'll need a 1 lb bag. At my Winco one bag costs .87!
Those are the main ingredients of making marshmallow fondant that tastes amazing and doesn't tear or get dried out. If you have a question go ahead and leave it in the comments for me and don't forget to watch the video in the recipe to see how I make my marshmallow fondant recipe.
Other recipes you'll love
The best vanilla cake recipe
How to cover a cake in fondant
Easy buttercream frosting recipe
Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 32 oz powdered sugar sifted (also called icing sugar, confectionary sugar)
- 16 oz marshmallows WinCo, Hy-Top, Aldi, and Campfire brands work best
- 20 oz Wilton fondant Satin Ice fondant will also work
- 2 tablespoon warm water For dark colors, use 1 tablespoon warm water and 1 tablespoon food color gel
- 4 oz vegetable shortening Also called white vegetable fat, trex, copha
Instructions
How to make fondant
- 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. Pour your water on top of the marshmallows to get them to release from the sides of the bowl. Pour into bowl with vegetable shortening
- Turn stand mixer on lowest setting (setting 1 on Kitchenaid stand mixers) with dough hook attachmentAdd in half of your sifted powdered sugar, a measuring cup at a time, and let mix for 2 minutes. It will be really rough looking at first
- Don't stop mixing until it's sticking to the sides of the bowl and looks smooth. Add in another cup of powdered sugar.
- Pull fondant off the dough hook attachment by putting vegetable shortening on your fingers and pulling it off the hook.
- 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. If there are still rough spots or it's tearing, put everything back in the microwave for 30-40 seconds to make it really hot and pull like taffy with shortening on your hands until it pulls without breaking
- 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.
Alicia Carballude says
But... How do you make the fondant black?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Check the black fondant recipe 🙂
Niki says
Liz, first of all I must say as the young people say. "You're the Goat" of bakers! Lol! Seriously!!!
Liz, I'm about to make your fondant for the very first time. I need both black and white so I've watched both videos, read your blog and comments, but I'm confused and nervous because the base recipe is different between the two.
In the black fondant one you use 2lbs of marshmallows, half of block of premade fondant.
In white you use only 1lb of marshmallows and same amount of premade fondant.
My question is does it matter? I really need to get this right as pick up is a day away!
Thank you so very much!!
The Sugar Geek Show says
It is 1 lb of marshmallows for both recipes
Jennifer gribbins says
I only have Walmart and Kroger’s around me. Are their store brand marshmallows good to use?
Jean says
When do I add the water please?
Jean says
When do I add the water please?
The Sugar Geek Show says
To the melted marshmallows
Nancy Mitchko says
FYI. Your calculator double .5 cups shortening to .10 cups instead of 1 cup. Also the amounts of water and gel are off. Just doubled to check the calculations. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.
Nancy
The Sugar Geek Show says
I will look into that thank you 🙂
Nancy Mitchko says
FYI. Your calculator double .5 cups shortening to .10 cups instead of 1 cup. Also the amounts of water and gel are off. Just doubled to check the calculations. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.
Nancy
Julie Nolan says
Hi Liz,
I'm Jules!
I'm a homebaker from Rhode Island!
I watched the 'Sweet Spot' on YouTube. She says she uses your LMF fondant. I love the look of it! Stretchy yet firm and it didnt tear a bit! Im a huge fan of Wilton products and I make my own regular and Marshmallow Fondant. I decided to check out your website!
Wondeful! I'm so happy to have found you!
I am looking forward to trying your version! I'll be 'looking you up' on YouTube!
Do you think I could use my own 'regular' fondant to mix in with your marshmallow fondant?
Thank you so much for your time and dedication to helping us "bakers, cakers & bloggers"!!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you can use other types of fondant. So far I know satin ice and renshaw work great in this recipe
Michelle Lee says
Hi Liz,
Great video. I'm always on the hunt to try new recipe hacks in my kitchen. (Test Kitchen Sunday). I'm interested in knowing if you ever flavor your LMF fondant and what the results are.
Thank you,
Michelle
The Sugar Geek Show says
No I never do because the flavor comes naturally from the marshmallows which is a neutral vanilla
Karen K. says
I flavored your recipe with raspberry to go on a chocolate cake. It. Was. DELICIOUS! BIG hit with the whole family!
Grace Jones says
How would I make this without a mixer?
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can make it in a bowl but it's a lot harder to do 🙂 .
Tina E says
I filled the directions exactly and watched the video. Unfortunately I have a sticky result that is tearing easily. I’m not sure if I should add more fondant? 10X? Or just knead longer?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Sounds like it was not kneaded enough. Re-heat until very warm and pull like taffy until stretchy.
VSM says
You mention the fondant stays soft on buttercream frosting. Can I also use this for decorations that I would want to harden, or at least not be completely soft? i.e. will it harden at all after being molded and cut to shape and left for a while on the counter? I'm attempting a very ambitious lego cake - for a beginner.
The Sugar Geek Show says
You don't want fondant to be hard 🙂
Melissa says
I made edible Legos using LMF fondant with tylose powder added in order to harden the fondant (along with a silicone mold purchased through Amazon). They turned out great!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yay that's awesome!
Brittany Atcheson says
I've been using LMF for a few months now and it it hasn't failed me yet! Thanks!
Lauren says
Take some good upper body strength but this is the best fondant I've ever used
The Sugar Geek Show says
That's how I keep my arms in shape hahahaha! Thank you!
Nineesha says
I tried this recipe and the fondant actually turned out great. I had to add about an extra tablespoon of water to the dough before I took it out into the bowl of remaining powdered sugar because it was still rough and lumpy after 10 minutes of mixing ?. After adding the water, the dough came together pretty well. The final product (after a heck of an arm workout ???) looked amazing so all in all I'm pretty satisfied. Thank you for the recipe:)
Kristy says
Hello,
Do I have to use shortening in the fondant?Could I just make it with all the other ingredients without the shortening?
Thanks!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Shortening is important to make sure the fondant does not dry out
Katie says
I made fondant for the first time the other day and the recipe I used (before finding this one, obviously) didn't require shortening for IN the recipe, only for putting on your hands for kneading afterwards. It was still amazing and I had no trouble with tearing or it being dry, but that's probably cause I used the shortening on my hands when I kneaded it.
Jennifer LePore says
Do I have to incorporate store bought fondant? couldn't I make this without the store bought just to create little details on a cake or cupcakes?
The Sugar Geek Show says
If you don't add the extra fondant you won't have any stretch or pliability in your fondant
Younghee says
For the recipe stated above, is it good enough to cover a 9"x4" cake? If I have two tiers, one is 6"x4", should I double the amount? Also, Wilton and Satin Ice costs a lot in my country, can I use other brands of fondant, like Bakels?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes it will be enough to cover both. I haven't tried bakels but I don't see why it wouldn't work
Krista says
Can this fondant be used for decorating as well? Do u have a tutorial on decorating?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you can use this fondant for anything. Check out the free tutorials in our tutorials section
Donna says
Does this fondant have to rest overnight?
The Sugar Geek Show says
No you can use it right away
Ruth Mouritsen says
You always mention adding tylose powder but never say when to add or how much to add to your marshmallow fondant recipe.
The Sugar Geek Show says
You just mix it in as needed if you need your fondant to harden up. It's not part of the recipe.
Kevin says
Love this recipe!
Any tips on keeping condensation off the outside of the cake? I was trying to smooth out my fondant after applying it to the chilled cake, but there was condensation forcing my smoothers to stick. Help?!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Condensation will always happen on a cold cake, if you have a very humid room then make sure the room is as cold as possible and you have a fan blowing on the cake as you are working and work fast 🙂
Elly says
Hi, liz. The first time you melt marshmallows for about 1 minute and 30 seconds in the video, but you write "Heat marshmallows for 40 seconds in the microwave on high" in the recipe,so I'm confused which one is right . Looking forward to your reply. Thank you !
The Sugar Geek Show says
I started breaking up the heating into smaller increments because my new microwave is stronger than my old one 🙂 Either is fine as long as they dont burn
Nicole says
What is the best way to store any of the left over fondant and how long could you store it for? Thnx!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Store in ziplock bags at room temeprature forever really unless it dries out
STELLA says
Any suggestions on how to heat this in its various stages without a microwave?
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can melt marshmallows on the stove top
Aimee Rider says
I love you Liz. You are the most generous person in the Cake world!
Aimee Rider says
I love you Liz. You are the most generous person in the Cake world! Genius and geeky indeed!