Hello, I'm new here and also a beginner cake maker. I've been practicing making homemade fondant using powdered sugar and marshmallows but need help to figure out how to stop it from cracking. It seems like when I leave it white, it doesn't crack but I still have the problem of not being able to roll it out good.

I make it the same every time but sometimes it will come out 'ok' and some times it will come out a cracked up mess. I've actually never worked with fondant so I have no idea what kind of texture it is supposed to have or thickness. I know to roll it out to 1/4" but when I make it, it is so irritatingly hard to roll out - it just shrinks back down.

We recently threw my sister a going away/wedding shower so I decided I would make the cake. I had planned on it being a two-tier cake, but as I was still up at 1 am the morning of the party, i decided 1 tier would be enough. I practiced my fondant for weeks and I never really got to the point of being confident in it. My purple fondant on the cake came out cracked like no other, and my flowers looked awful. I will try to figure out how to post pictures, hopefully it works. It looks great from far away, but up close I was mortified. Everyone complimented me on it, but I guess since I was the one who made it, I could see every flaw.

Oh, also, I made my colored fondant 2 nights before putting it on my cake (wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an air tight container, placed in fridge) and my white fondant I made the same night it was put on the cake. I heated my colored fondant in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it was workable. Not sure if you needed this info or not but thought I would stick it in here.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

your fondant sounds too dry. fondant is a fun adventure in moisture control. you can knead in some vegetable shortening (e.g. Crisco) and/or a little bit of food grade glycerin (Wilton sells them in little bottles, you can get it at craft stores or sometimes Walmart) to help it be more pliable. you don't have to store fondant in the fridge.

when you get a chance (and a coupon!), buy some commercial fondant. it'll give you some perspective on fondant's stretchiness and workability (and sometimes yucky taste!).

I don't know what recipie you are using but I use "Rhonda's Ultimate MMF" from this website and there is a great instructional video on Youtube! See "How to make Marshmallow Fondant Part 1 ( using a mixer )", and Part 2.... She gives an awesome step by step on making homemade fondant!

Homemade fondant tastes so much better than commercial and you can change up the extracts you use to change the flavor.... have fun

I agree with both of the above posts. I am also new at the cake decorating, and making homemade MMF. I had a friends cousin show me how to make it and when she showed me we only had 10.5 oz. bags of mini marshmallows so she was 'eyeing" half a bag to try and make the right measurement. Well... some of the batches turned out really nice and usable... some of them were waaaayyy to dry and I swear I must have worked in at least a 1/4 of crisco! But I have made well over a dozen batches now and I'm thinking I kinda got the hang of it now... just practice and it does taste better!! I have done almond, limon and I will soon be trying orange! Good luck and keep up the practice!

Thank you for the link, i will definately be checking that out. I usually do 1 tbsp of shortening mixed in with it but everything i have read just says 'until you get the right consistency' - which is no help to me lol. The recipe is really simple (1 bag powdered sugar, 1 bag marshmallows, 2 tbsp water, shortening as needed). I've been trying to get into a class at our local college but they fill up before I get a chance.

Thank you both again for the replies, I shall continue experimenting with it and try adding more shortening!

When I first started working with fondant, I tried several different brands/types to see which one I liked working with the best. Alot of this will depend on personal preference, and sometimes even the humidity in your area.

This is what I found when testing them:
Wilton - HORRIBLE taste but great for modeling anything that isn't going to be eaten; it rolls out very well & is generally easy to handle.

Satin Ice - Pretty good taste & a good choice if you need substantial amounts of a certain color like red or black. You can knead in a little crisco into this if it starts drying out.

Homemade MMF - Love the taste & is a really good all around fondant. Dries hard so it can be used for modeling. I found that coloring this was a little difficult (for me) but that doesn't happen to everyone.

Chocopan - This is my absolute favorite fondant to use in covering a cake. It's made with white chocolate so the taste is very different from most. It takes color very well, but it doesn't harden so it's not good for modeling. Also, kneading crisco into this (to keep it from sticking) will ruin it. I made a gummy mess out of mine when I tried it.

I hope this helps a little bit.

michele foster's Fondant is a BIG hit now and it's just as easy, maybe easier, to make like MMF! NOt only that, it's awesome! I was getting flustered with MMF and decided to try Michele Foster's fondant, since so many ppl are raving on CC about it..so I did it and I won't be going back to MMF due to it being a little tougher to roll out and less headache to make because you can make it out of your Kitchen mixer!! Not all by hand. Look up Michele Foster's fondant and I can guarantee you that it is worth the making of it and you may not even go back to MMF anymore.> Not me..

I suggest you don't do MMF but the regular rolled fondant instead... it works out great every time! This is the recipe I use over and over:

2 lbs 10x sugar
1/2 cup glucose
1 tbsp unflavored gelatine
2 tsp glycerine
1 tsp flavoring (almond, vanilla, or your preference)
1/4 cup water

In a water bath mix the gelatine to the water, then stirr until liquid. add the glucose, flavoring and glycerine, and stirr until the liquid is clear and no lumps are in. Add this to the sugar, and knead until you have a firm ball, and all the sugar is well incorporated. it works everytime!

cheer up, it is one day at a time!

Wow, thank you all so much for the tips!!! It has been a huge help and I will definately try out all that you have suggested!

Such great tips! I am a newbie to fondant and this helps me out a lot!

I also stand by michelle foster's fondant. I find it sooo easy. I tried out MMF back in the day and thought it was such a PITA! I've never had any trouble with MFF, rolls well, colors well, not cracking etc etc. Good Luck!