I am sure this question has been asked a trillion times so sorry in advance!

In regards to fondant, what do you use? Do you make your own, and if so is it regular fondant or MMF? If you purchase it, what kind do you prefer?

I have been making MMF just because it is so much cheaper to make it rather than buy it, but I am not liking the way it is coming out on my cakes (bubbles, cracks, etc....) I feel like I have played around and tweaked it enough I should be at a point where I like it, but nothing I do is helping the outcome!!

I make my own because I am a hobby baker and it's too expensive to buy. If I need a lot of black or red, I'll treat myself and buy it. I use Rhonda's ultimate MMF because it tastes really good. I think homemade MMF is more of a challenge to get 'just right'. I also have made enough where it should be perfect, but it isn't always.

I did learn that even if you heat your marshmallows just a little too much, you will have air bubble problems. Heat for 40 secs, stir and heat for 30 , stir and then a wee bit after that (10 secs) and stir - only do as much as you need. Let the mixing melt them as much as possible. Then don't add to mixer immediately. Give them a couple of mins to cool a bit. If you add your icing sugar when they are too hot, you will have issues too.

I have also made Michelle Fosters' and it's good too. But I just prefer Rhonda's MMF. I have bought Satin Ice and it's nice to work with and tasty but dries out quickly in my climate (DRY!) Oh and it's expensive, as is all store bought fondant, at least in my neck of the woods.
HTH!

Thanks for the reply!! I actually have not tried either of your tips, as I was leaving the marshmallows in the microwave for more than I probably needed and was also adding it when it was quite warm. Thank you so much, I am hoping these two things will do the trick for me!!!

I've tried a couple times making my own fondant without much success. Normally, I purchase SatinIce, via internet, in 20# bucket for $45. If I value my time in creating a cake, then I should value a time in cleaning up my kitchen too. For me...I'll pay the $45.

In regard to brands...I don't want to hijack this tread but I would like to hear other people discuss the type of fondant they use, their location (since fondant is humidity sensitive) and success they have.

I had an issue with SatinIce last year...it was described as a "bad batch" in the threads here but I received no response from SatinIce. Last week I had 3 cakes due and reached under my cabinet and pulled out to be my last bucket only to find out it was empty!!! Off to the local cake supply store and paid almost double the price. At 2 AM on Friday night...I emailed SatinIce to let them know I believe I got another bad batch. Elephant skin all over my tiers. After a good cry...I did what I could and reduced the cost of the cake to my actual cost. Two looked awful (the last was a pirate ship and luckily I had enough chocolate fondant to make it work). Still no word from Satin Ice. Think I will try FondX since Satin Ice can't seem to acknowledge their customer's concerns. Lesson learned...throw away the empties!!!

I use a brand called Carma Massa Ticino Tropic (not to be confused with Massa Grischuna which is a completely different brand). It's a swiss product and it is AMAZING!!! It doesn't tear, stretch, elephant skin etc. I would never buy anything else. It is pricey though. My 7kg tub cost me roughly £50 HOWEVER because of it's high quality I am able to roll my fondant to 1/16th of an inch thick and it still doesn't stretch or tear. I live in the UK so for me I didn't really have too many options of which fondant to use but I can tell you that getting away from the nasty regal ice was fantastic.

I love michelle fosters fondant recipe, to me it is waaaay less of a pain to make then MMF is and I havent had any issues with tearing, since I've switched to that recipe instead of pre-made fondant I've had perfect cakes.. Also, there's the dvd, fun with fondant frills (I think), that has a recipe for making a white chocolate fondant, out of pre-made fondant, and it works perfectly with the fondant recipe I use, and is even more flexible then the fondant already is and tastes incredible. Definitely worth checking out in my opinion. Good luck finding what works best for you!