The recipe says add 10x sugar until it forms a ball in the mixer. I keep adding, and adding, and still no ball? Is there another way to tell when it's ready? It's my first homemade fondant. Thought it might taste better than the Wilton stuff.

I just made a batch yesterday. I put 2lbs of 10x pow. sugar in my kitchen aid with the dough hook on it. Following directions for all the wet ingredients, I strain the wet into the 2lbs and start on low. This should start forming a ball and then I just keep adding sugar a little at a time until it is all mixed. Take it out of the mixer and finish kneading with my hands with crisco until it is completely smooth.

HTH
Carol

Well, depends... how humid is it where you live? It can make all the difference in how much sugar you need to add. And are you certain you have the liquid measurements correct? I've made batch after batch with great results. Mine didn't look exactly like a ball of bread dough, but it was in a cohesive mass.

It was a cohesive mass - and it seemed nice and smooth when I started kneading it. I think I was just hung up on the word "ball". Thanks for all your help. Very much appreciated.

Glad it worked out for you, babycakes. I love Michele's fondant, it's all I use. I do agree with grandmom--every time I make the recipe I add a different amount of sugar. It all depends on the weather for me so I have to do it all by sight and feel. Hope that helps in the future!

It is very humid here - and it's the first time I ever made it - so I definitely needed some help. I don't know which I love more, making cakes, or this website! You guys gave me the info I needed on the spot! I've just begun working with fondant and saw a lot of great reviews about this one and wanted to try it. I colored it and covered it with oil and am letting it rest. Do you use a buttercream icing under the fondant? Our instructor didn't believe in using a crumb coat, but I have read a lot on this site about crumb coats. Do I need one?

Babycakes1: You do need something under the fondant for it to adhere to the cake. You can use buttercream, ganache, apricot jam, etc. If you don't have some type of medium on the cake the fondant will just hang there and never stick. Good luck!