Black Marshmallow Fondant vs. FondArt

I was at a cake supply store buying some things I needed to make my daughters Lil'panda cake and spotted a 2 lb pouch of Albert Uster's FondArt Black Fondant and thought I would give it a try.  I've been making my own fondant for a couple years and it doesn't hurt to try something new and different for a change.

To my surprise, the FondArt Fondant was more of a very dark, green.  It looked black from a distance and under different lighting but up close and right next to my homemade black marshmallow fondant, it looked green.

FondArt Black Fondant (left) vs. Homemade Black Marshmallow Fondant (right)

I'm sticking to my homemade black marshmallow fondant - not only does it look black but it tastes like a chocolate tootsie roll too.  Yummy!

I did mix them together to cover the cake with.  Workability was great, texture was great, color and taste were better once mixed with MMF.  Used alone, I don't know, haven't tried it that way yet.

Tip:  When making black royal icing or buttercream, it always look a bit on the green side or a deep gray at first.  Add a tiny drop of burgundy coloring to it and let it sit overnight and it'll darken and deepen as it rests.  For MMF, chocolate chips are already a little brown so there's no need to add the burgundy to it.

If you want to know how I make dark colored marshmallow fondant (MMF), use my recipe HERE (for tips, visit my Marshmallow Fondant MMF Recipe page).  It's super easy.  You can make any color you like; red, green, blue, and even white if you want.  For black, don't fret if you can't find black candy melts.  I prefer using regular, semi-sweet chocolate chips to make black MMF.  Using candy melts or chocolate to color your MMF with works like a charm.  Give it try.

Chanel Classic Handbag Cake

I made this cake for my mother-in-law's birthday.  She loves Chanel and had requested for me to replicate one of her purses a few years ago.  This year, although being in the middle of a home remodel, I HAD to make her cake....I couldn't let another year go by.  She absolutely loved it and didn't let us cut it.  Luckily, I had also made some cupcakes to go along with the cake that everyone enjoyed.

So, here are the photo's of the process....

2 days prior, I made the Black MMF using black candy melts.  The recipe can be found under the "MMF Recipes" tab above.  You can also use dark brown/chocolate candy melts.  The black candy melts I had were more dark brown rather than black and I had to add a few drops of the black AmeriColor Gel to it to get it darker.

I think the black candy melts I used were either by Merckens or CK....I don't remember exactly but I do know that they were not the Wilton ones.

1 day prior, I made the blossoms, flower petals, and Chanel logos for the cupcakes with MMF (I mix the MMF with tylose to help it dry faster and harder like gumpaste).  I also made the chain links to use for the purse straps with MMF too.

I made over 100 links and only joined them in two's (you'll see why later).  I lay them over popsicle sticks so that they would dry with some curvature to them rather than being plain and flat.

I baked a 10" square cake (10 inch wide purse), and cut and stacked 3 tiers. Each tier was 2 1/2 inches wide by 2 inches tall (6 inch tall purse).

Carved the cake to the shape of the purse and covered it over in Italian Meringue Buttercream (IMBC).  I also inserted 2 dowels down the middle to help hold the purse up since it was narrow and tall.  Then, I put the entire cake into the fridge overnight to get nice and firm.

The following morning, I covered the cake over in MMF.

The 1st piece I did was the front.  I rolled out the MMF and trimmed it to size.  I also used Dark Cocoa to dust the surface with rather than Powdered Sugar or Corn Starch to help keep the MMF from sticking to the table top.  It was great at giving the purse a dark, brown look that matched the color of the purse perfectly.  Using a ruler and a stitching wheel (a sewing tool), I scored the quilt design over the MMF.  Flipped the MMF over so the underside was now facing up, and rolled 1/8" of the edge over and all around so you wouldn't see the cut edges - I wanted to seams to look just like they were sewed together just like the seams on a real leather purse - hope that makes sense.  Flipped the MMF back to the right side and lay it over the cake.   With a fondant tool (a small ball tool will work too), I went over the quilt seams and lightly pressed it into the cake slightly to give it a little bit of a puffed up look.

The next piece I lay, covered the back of the purse and went up and over the front of the cake for the flap.  I then added the 2 side pieces following the same technique above with scoring the quilt pattern and rolling the edges under.  I then lightly rubbed the entire purse with a little bit of shortening to make it look more like leather.

Once the cake was covered, I got started on the details.  I painted each link with edible gold dust mixed with vodka.  Tedious but well worth it - you gotta have the gold, Chanel chain!

Update:  For those that have asked, the Gold Dust I use (according to the simple label) is, 24 kt. Gold Dust, Non Toxic (2gr.)  #C409.  It looks to be the same as this one:

To use, add a little bit of vodka to the Gold Dust to create a thin paste and sort of dab it onto the fondant pieces or use really short brush strokes.  If you use too much vodka, the gold dust will get too thinned out and difficult to get a thick coating of it on the fondant.  If you fondant is greasy and the dust is not sticking, lightly brush some corn starch over the fondant first then try painting it again.  HTH.

I then cut out 4 circles out off the top of the purse (2 in the front and 2 in the back) using a piping tip.  The holes were then covered over with round circles made out of MMF which were also brushed over with gold dust.

  

Now to the fun part...laying each pair of links on the cake and threading the leather strap through it.  I cheated.  The leather strap is actually 1 1/2 inch wide pieces of MMF pinched in the ends and shoved into each link giving it the illusion of the strap going all the way through.

I used the same technique when adding the shoe laces on the sneaker shoe cakes I had done before...see them below:

Tennis Shoe Cake

Running Sneaker Cake

Now you can see why I only connected 2 links at a time to each other.  The part of the links that are under the black strap are not seen so therefore, do not need to 'actually' be connected - cool illusion hah!

I looked over so many purse cakes trying to figure out how the straps were done on the cakes that did have edible straps and didn't like what I saw so after playing around with the links, I came up with my own technique....at least I haven't seen anyone who has done it this way or at least shown us how.  Now, with this tip, I hope to see much better chain links out there by you all :-)

I used clear piping gel to help hold all the links up against the cake and onto the cake stand.

The 'minor' imperfection that really bugs me is that on the following day, since we didn't eat the cake the night of the party, I took the photo that you see above, outside in the morning light.  As you can see, the cake settled and the 2 dowels used to hold the cake up appear as bumps (to me, they look like horns) along the top of the purse...err!  I've been told, by a dear friend, that it's actually a bulging wallet full of cash - gotta love her!  Next time, I'm cutting those things down at least 1/4 inch lower than the actual cake to avoid such an awful bump...Live and Learn!

As for the large flowers, I made them up.  These were the very 1st flowers I've ever made petal by petal.  There are 5 medium petals for the inside and 5 large petals for the outside all glued together with piping gel.  The large, pink flowers are dusted over in pink luster dust and I added pearls of white, silver and black in an assortment of sizes to the middle of each flower and mini blossom.  I just love how they turned out but I do need to take some classes and learn the REAL way to make flowers someday.

I made both regular and mini sized cupcakes frosted with IMBC and topped with the Chanel inspired decorations.  The white, round disks have the quilt pattern on them too which is hard to tell from the photo.  The C's for the logo were made using circle cutters.

The cake is on the pedestal while the 2 purses on the table are the non-edible, real ones.

And alas, 3 days later, we finally cut the cake....and ate it too.

Kai-Lan Beach Themed Cake Decorations

Decorations for a beach themed cake.  I made Kai-Lan and Yeye out of modeling chocolate and everything else is made out of MMF:  Rintoo (Tiger), Hoho (Monkey with sunglasses), Tolee (Koala bear that thinks he's a panda), a Hula Duck, Mr. Sun and his little, tickle-me Sun Fuzzies, Seashells, Starfish, and an assortment of Flowers.

Kai-Lan stands at almost 2.5 inches tall and Yeye is about 4 inches tall.

They each have 1 popsicle stick for support and to also stick into the cake with.  Their heads are made out of RKT (Rice Krispie Treats) since they were very large and needed to be light weight.  I covered the RKT directly with modeling chocolate:  Modeling chocolate is great at filling in all the groves and rivets from the cereal treats.  The tiny features such as Yeye's hair, eyeglasses, eyes and the Kai-Lan's apple printed bathing suit are made out of MMF (Marshmallow Fondant).

Each character was hand cut of of MMF and I used gel colors to paint in the white highlights in the eyes and on Hoho's (Monkey) sunglasses and the brown stripes on Rintoo (Tiger).  I have a tutorial on how to make these cutout characters here (Making Fondant Cutouts).

I loved making these - Ni Hao Kai-Lan is such a cute show and the characters are so adorable!

Xie Xie (thank you)!

Photo courtesy of Doris R.

Recipe - Red Marshmallow Fondant (MMF)

Alas, I needed to make another batch of red MMF for a Toy Story Cake and decided to try making it with candy melts instead of Jello (see one of my posts about using Jello including tips and tricks).  Also, with Crisco greased hands and a camera, carefully wrapped in saran wrap, I took photos of the step by step:


Ingredients used:
10oz Generic Mini Marshmallows (since I didn't need an entire batch)
Approximately 1 1/2 lbs C&H Powdered Sugar, Sifted
4oz (approx 1/2 Cup) melted Wilton Red Candy Melts
1/3 tsp Americolor Super Red (very little, less than what I use on a Red Velvet Cake!)
1 Tbs Water


(see one of my posts about the tips and tricks with working with MMF to get additional instructions)


Here are the step by step photos:

The Candy Melts!

1) Melt the candy melts
2) Melt the marshmallows separately

Add the melted candy melts into the melted marshmallows

Add any additional coloring to achieve the color you want

Stir it all together

All combined marvelously

Pour mixture over the sifted Powdered Sugar

Knead and knead until all combined

Coat well with shortening, double wrap with saran wrap and store in an air tight container to set and until ready to use.

 Ta-da!  And this is the red right after making it next to a red LEGO brick.  Easy-peasy!


Note:  Using candy melts or chocolate makes the MMF very pliable:  No need to add any corn syrup to it.  When using it to cover a cake with, roll it out and let it sit for a few minutes (2-3 minutes) to rest and stiffen a little bit making it easier to roll up and unroll over a cake.

June 2013 Update:  You can now download the recipe (click here): Angela's MMF with Candy Melts Recipe

Recipe: Marshmallow Fondant (MMF)

Below is the recipe I've been using to make MMF including hints, tips, lessons learned along the way.  The original post is under the Notes page on my Facebook Page.  As requested by a fellow "caker" (as I like to call us), I am also posting it here on the blog for ones who do not have access to Facebook.  It is so simple to make, tastes so much better than store bought fondant and is much more economical.

Marshmallow Fondant (MMF)
- 16 oz Bag Generic Mini Marshmallow’s (not Jet Puffed, although some only use Jet Puffed, I favor the texture and workability of the generic ones...either way, just be sure they are FRESH)
- 2 lbs C&H Powdered Sugar, Shifted to remove any lumps (abbreviated "PS")
- 2 Tsp Water (you just need a little bit sprinkled over the marshmallows to help with melting)
- Shortening or Crisco (keeps the MMF from sticking to surfaces) - no more than 2 Tbsp
- 1 tsp Light Corn Syrup (optional, makes it more pliable when adding color)

Directions:
1) Coat a microwave safe bowl with 1 Tbsp shortening, add marshmallows, sprinkle with water.

2) Coat a spatula really well with shortening.

3) Microwave for 30 sec intervals, stirring really well with the spatula in between each interval. DO NOT microwave for more than 3 intervals (it will break down the marshmallows and you end up with a ton of air bubbles in your finished product). Stirring really well will help distribute the heat and melt the marshmallows thoroughly.

4) If needed, add any flavoring or color to the melted marshmallows (see Hints below). You can always add more coloring to it as you are kneading in the PS so don’t worry if you don’t get the color you want initially.

5) Grease a table or counter top really well with shortening and add ½ of the PS onto it. Create a well in the PS and pour the melted marshmallows into it. Grease your hands with a coating of shortening and knead the powdered sugar into the melted marshmallows (work fast, you don’t want the marshmallow to cool and see Hint #1 and #7  below).

6) Keep rubbing more shortening into your hands as needed. Add more powdered sugar and keep kneading until it forms a smooth ball of dough and is no longer sticky (feels a lot like play dough). Coat the dough really well with a thick coating of shortening, cover in saran wrap tightly, cover again in a 2nd layer of saran wrap and store in an air tight container or Zip Lock Bag overnight (sugar incorporates and any lumps melt away).

7) Knead again until soft before using it: If too dry, add a few drops of water or if sticky, add more PS.

Notes:
1) I have never used the entire 2 lbs of Powdered Sugar. Depending on the weather and humidity, I use anywhere from 1-1/2 lbs to 1-3/4 lbs.

2) Optional: When making colored MMF, add a tsp of Light Corn Syrup to the MMF as you are kneading in the PS. It makes it more pliable especially if you make darker colors. When I make white, I don’t find a need to add the Corn Syrup.

3) You can store the MMF at room temperate for about 3 months, in the fridge for a couple months or in the freezer for a very long time. Just keep it wrapped and let it come to room temperature before using it. If really hard, zap in microwave for about 10 secs to soften it slightly then knead by hand.

4) You can make the MMF by using a powerful KitchenAid with a dough hook, coat bowl and hook really well with shortening. I personally like doing it by hand; you can feel if the dough is the right consistency.  When I've used the KA, the PS gets compacted along the bottom and sides of the bowl which I have to scrap off leaving large lumps of PS in the MMF...not good, plus more dishes to wash after wards.

5) If the MMF is too stretchy, let it sit uncovered for about 5 minutes to cool down and settle a bit, you may have overworked it and got it too warm.  Also, MMF will take more PS if too warm so don't add more than the 2 lbs or else you'll end up with a big, lumpy, crumbly ball once completely cooled.

6)  Different brands of marshmallows give you different shades of off white as well as texture.  It may take a few batches to find one you like and works best for you.  To get MMF really white, add a few drops of bright white gel or icing colors to it.

Update Sept 2011:
7)  Don't use more than 2 Tbsp to make your MMF.  I usually use about 1 to 1 1/2 tbs to coat the bowl to melt the marshmallows in, the spatula, the work surface and my hands with.  If you use too  much shortening, your MMF will be really soft, sag and droop.  Use only enough to keep it from sticking and no more - the less you use the better the texture of the MMF.  Also, I read somewhere long time ago that shortening breaks down the MMF so if you need to make it more pliable, add a tsp of light corn syrup or glycerin instead.

Hints:
1) Don’t dig your hands into the melted marshmallows or else you will get a big, sticky mess on thy fingers. You want to FOLD the PS into the melted marshmallows while keeping a layer of PS between your hands and marshmallows and after doing this a couple times, you will be able to handle the marshmallows without it sticking like glue to your fingers. If you do get a sticky mess on the hands, rub them with PS and it will peel right off.

2) Use flavored jello’s to flavor and color you MMF. Add a large, 6 oz box, of Jell-O Mix into the melted marshmallows and stir it well and quickly to melt the jello into it.  Or you can also use Candy Melts. I haven't used the melts yet I am eager to give it a try soon.  

Nov 2010 Update:  See post about making Red MMF with Red Candy Melts =)  Worked wonderfully!

3) Dark colors become darker over time, so be sure to give yourself 2-3 days to get the shade you need and to allow the colors to mature completely.

4) Red MMF:  As difficult as everyone says it is to make red, I am glad to say that I have succeeded (see Ferrari Cake). How? When the marshmallows are melted, add 1 large box (6 oz) of Strawberry Jell-O Gelatin and stir really well and until it's not grainy (work fast, you don’t want the marshmallow’s to cool down before adding the PS). This gives the MMF a pink base to start with. Then added a ½ oz of the Wilton No Taste Red Icing Color to it. Kneed in the PS and add more of the red coloring a little at a time. Don’t worry if it is not very red; Dark colors darken over time. Coat the dough with shortening, wrap tightly and store in an airtight container. Let it sit overnight. On the following day, knead the dough more and add more red as needed. For the red on the Ferrari Cake, I made the MMF 3 days ahead, kneaded more red into it on day 2 and let it just sit and rest until I used it on day 3. It smelled and tasted deliciously like strawberry jello!

Red Ferrari Cake covered in Red MMF made with Strawberry JELL-O and Wilton No Taste Red
(the shine is due to rubbing the cake VERY lightly with with a TINY bit of shortening - letting the heat off you fingers melt and spread the shortening evenly around)

Closeup of the JELL-O MMF

Update:  I've been getting comments on how some of you are getting a grainy MMF when using the jello mix.  Be sure to use the JELL-O brand - I've used a generic brand before (see Denture Cake below) and the sugar didn't melted completely and left the MMF grainy feeling, almost like it had some tiny specs of sand it.  Please mix the JELL-O really well and completely into the melted marshmallows.  Above I added a closeup of the red MMF made with JELL-O (Ferrari Cake).  If you look really close, you can see some tiny, darker specs randomly around the cake that are only noticeable up close (really up close, this is the only photo I was able to find that it showed up on).  Even though there are some tiny darker specs, the MMF was still smooth and not grainy.  Please keep trying and if it doesn't work for you, don't give up.  You can also get dark and bright colors by using the candy melt method.  HTH!

Dental Cake make with a Generic Brand of Strawberry Jello Mix and a tiny bit of Wilton No Taste Red
(MMF was grainy)

Closeup of the Denture Cake right after it was covered and before it was dusted off and cleaned off.

Making Fondant Cutouts: Kai-Lan and Friends

There is so much to learn out there about cakes, so many different tools and techniques and from so many wonderful and talented people!  And although I'm still learning myself, I am all for sharing and helping others, so ask and you shall receive.  A request I get alot is how I make the Kai-Lan characters on 2 of my favorite cakes (pictures are posted on my Facebook Page).  So, here they are, detailed and complete with pictures so you too, can make them.

I use the web most of the time to find pictures of what I want to use but most of the time, I end up standing in front of the TV, camera in hand, and shoot away capturing any image that looks like something I would want to replicate. I then upload them and select the ones I want to use, insert them onto a sheet at the size I need (I use Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop) then print them out on regular paper. Here is one I used for this tutorial...

How to make Kai-Lan out of Fondant and/or Gumpaste:

Step 1 (Face/Body) - Trim out the paper to make a stencil, roll out the fondant to about 1/8” thick, dust the top of the fondant with some corn starch to keep the paper from sticking to it then lightly trace out the outline.

Remove the paper then, use a sharp blade to trim the face and body out, remove the excess fondant and lightly indent in some of the details such as the outline of the face and arms here.

Step 2 (Hair) – Roll out, very thinly…paper thin, black fondant, dust w/cornstarch, lay the stencil back over it, carve out the outline of the hair lightly, remove the paper, trim out the bangs 1st then trim the outline for the rest of the hair about ¼” larger than the actual outline. Brush the back with a little bit of water and carefully place the hair over the head area. Fold the black fondant down and over the sides of the cutout and trim off the excess (this way, you won’t have any of the beige showing on the sides).

For the strands of hair hanging over the ear, fold the extra piece along the sides underneath to almost create a tube and at the same time to give it some height then trim into shape: This will help raise the hair to the same level as the ears and you won’t get a weird dip below the ear.

Step 3 (Eyes) – the dreaded eyes! I love and hate this part. Love it since I don’t get those bulging eyes like you see in this picture on the left; hate it since you have 1 shot to get it right. I stack the 3 colors of the eyes one on top of each other (white, brown, black). Make each piece slightly smaller than the real eyes. I use piping tips of different sizes to cut these out then trim off the side’s straight to create ovals. Make 2 eyes at the same time so they look alike and lay them next to each other (see picture above on the left). With a rolling pin, gently and carefully with even pressure, roll the eyeballs flat (picture above on the right). If it doesn’t work and eyes get all wacky looking, you have to start all over again (the hate part). I don’t use any water between the layers to make them stick.

Step 4 (Assemble) – Roll out very thin snakes of fondant for the eyebrows and lashes or draw them in with an edible marker. I used fondant for the eyebrows, nose and mouth, then the marker for the lashes. Wet the back of each eye and carefully place on the face.  I then painted the highlights on the eyes with white gel color diluted with almond extract. Add the shirt. Use a small petal cutter for the red flowers in the hair but let them dry separately overnight so they get hard and sit flat. The following day, attach the flowers to her hair.

Repeat with the other characters…Tolee, Rintoo, Hoho, Dolphin, the Platypus…

Cut out various sized flowers; lay them over a piece of wrinkled foil to give it some shape and let everything dry overnight. I like to put everything in the oven with the pilot on overnight so that they dry faster and are also out of the way.

I made these to be raffled off at a Cake Club meeting complete with a sketch of what I was envisioning the cake to look like if the winner decided to make a Beach Themed Kai-Lan Cake.

Each piece was glued with piping gel to parchment paper then stacked in a box lined with tissue paper.

I realized until much later and only when I was going through the photo's that Tolee the Koala bear looked a little off...I had forgotten his eyebrows!  Poor little guy.

Let me know if you have any questions…I'm here to help!