Fun with Fondant

After enjoying my first cake decorating class in January, I decided I wanted to take it one step further. So today, Mom and I headed to Oak Ridge to the House of Cake to learn how to make homemade fondant, cover a cake, and decorate a cake. We had such a good time!

I ended up decorating mine with a variety of flowers; Mom chose a dogwood design: 

We were pretty proud! :)

We started the class by first making the fondant. This began by melting a bag of marshmallows in the microwave for only 1 minute along with 3 tablespoons of water. I didn't know this was even possible! In fact, I'm definitely going to try this technique the next time I make Rice Krispie treats. The texture was perfect after stirring, and there was no messy pot to clean nor fear of burning. Then, we added powdered sugar. That's it. I know that I have tried fondant in the past and didn't like the taste. Although I didn't taste our batch, surely it is good given the ingredients!

After the fondant was made, we rolled it into a very large, thin circle and carefully placed it on top of our frosted cake. Here is Mom in action:

 

 

After a little tucking here and there, and then trimming off the excess fondant, we spent the next hour or so just decorating. I thought that was the best part. It reminded me of working with edible play-doh. Here are the two proud "graduates" after their fun with fondant. You should try it!

Fondant

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of miniature marshmallows
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 (2 lb) bag of powdered sugar
• food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Place marshmallows in a microwaveable bowl. Sprinkle with water. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir until melted and smooth. Add 1 pound of powdered sugar to melted marshmallows. Stir until combined. Add another 1/2 pound of powdered sugar and begin folding it into the mixture. Add more powdered sugar, if needed, until the dough is no longer sticky. Use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball with the consistency of play-doh.

Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a very large, thin circle approximately 15 inches in diameter . . .  enough to cover the top and sides of your cake. Carefully place on top of cake. Smooth fondant with your hands around the cake until there are no wrinkles or bubbles. Use a pizza cutter to cut the excess fondant around the base of the cake.

Now you're ready to decorate. Break fondant up into approximately 1 cup pieces and color each piece as desired. Cut out desired shapes. Using a small paint brush, adhere fondant to fondant with water.