Fondant

==Fondant ==

I would advise making the fondant, but it does make your kitchen sticky! The store bought is just not as good but its is very hard to make fondant so don't get frustrated!


 * 1) **Marshmallows** - big or little!
 * 2) **Icing sugar** - You'll be mixing the icing sugar into the marshmallows to make a dough so I usually make sure that I have an entire bag on hand.
 * 3) **Food coloring**

====Take a couple of handfuls of marshmallows and put them in a microwave safe bowl. Add a couple of drops of water and fold the marshmallows in it until they are all a bit damp. If you are going to just make one color then put the whole bag of marshmallows in the bowl and add a couple of teaspoons of water. ==== ====I like to make smaller batches because its easier to add the colour to the melted marshmallow than it is to work the colour into the fondant later. ==== ====Stick the marshmallows in the microwave for ten seconds at a time until the are puffed up and easily stir into a goo with a wooden spoon. Tip: Grease your spoon with butter, things can get a bit sticky. ==== ====Add food colouring to the melted marshmallows until you get the colour you want. Remember that you're going to be adding icing sugar which will lighten the colour so make it a bit brighter than you need. ==== ====Start folding icing sugar into the marshmallow goo until it becomes a soft and fluffy dough. Grease your hands with a bit of butter and turn the marshmallow out onto a table sprinkled with icing sugar. Continue to knead in icing sugar until the fondant is stiff enough to roll out. ==== ====If you add too little icing sugar the fondant will be very sticky- Just add more icing sugar ==== ====If you add too much icing sugar the fondant will be very stiff and hard to roll out - knead in a little bit of butter ==== ====To store your fondant wrap them in pieces of lightly greased plastic wrap and keep them either in a big ziplock bag or a tupperware container. The fondant is essentially a sugar paste (its just marshmallows and icing sugar) so it has a shelf life of three or four months. If it feels a bit stiff and hard to use after being stored for a long time you can soften it up by kneading a bit of butter in or putting in the microwave one-two seconds at a time ==== ==== Making, everything ====