Homemade Fondant

I used this recipe to cover
this cake. Not for the flowers

Up until recently, I have always purchased my fondant at Bake-a-Ton in Pinetown. Their Premium Icing brand is tasty and easy to use. However, it does make the cake quite expensive. I promised myself that I would try to make my own fondant at some point. 

 

I had a cake order for one of my customers this past week and I used the opportunity to test this Marshmallow fondant recipe:

 

Ingredients

- 450g marshmallows (I had to sort the pink and white ones from two large packets. I got about 500g white ones)
- 3 tablespoons of water
- 1kg icing sugar
- Holsum vegetable shortening

First rub everything that is going to touch the fondant with a generous amount of shortening. This is a messy job and the shortening helps to keep the ingredients together. Don’t forget the spoons and all the bowls and the dough hook of the mixer.

Put 4 cups of icing sugar into the greased bowl of the mixer.

Melt the marshmallows in a big bowl with 3 tablespoons water. Microwave the marshmallows for 1 minute at a time stirring in between each minute. Once the marshmallows are completely melted (no lumps) you can add colouring at this point if you need a specific colour.

Add the marshmallows to the sugar and put the mixer on low.

Gently knead in most of the rest of the icing sugar.  Keep some aside for hand kneading later.

Test the fondant until it doesn’t stick to your fingers anymore. Add sugar until you reach this point.

Tip the fondant out onto a clean greased counter top or silicon mat. Hand knead the fondant using the rest of the icing sugar. Add water or microwave it for a few seconds if the fondant starts to crack or add sugar if it gets too sticky.

When you think the fondant is ready, test it by pulling it apart. It should stretch a little then break apart. If it is very stretchy, add more sugar.

Wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to set.

This fondant isn’t suitable for modeling as it doesn’t harden particularly well but it is very well suited to covering cakes.

The Birthday Cake Legacy

I blame my mother…. each year on my birthday my mother would create my birthday cake and every year the cake was better than the previous years. I would impatiently wait in my room for the big reveal and be led blindfolded to the kitchen to be wowed with my Mom’s latest handiwork.  This was in the years before we had Pinterest and the internet for inspiration!

When my first little princess’ birthday came around, I realized that it was essential that I continue the tradition. How hard could making a cake really be?  Lets just say that that first attempt at a simple heart shaped cake was a disaster and a disgrace to the legacy of my mother’s birthday cakes.

I decided at that point, that I would learn to make beautiful cakes if it killed me! Fast forward to today, I think I have achieved my goal of being able to create a decent birthday cake. I have even sold some of my creations for a small profit. 

Here are some pics of the evolution of my cakes: