Hello! I'm new to the forums, but stumbled upon this site and it looks like it would be great for questions and such :)

I am always making funky treats for my daughter, and for my students as well. I don't get TOO involved though. But my daughter requested for me to make her a funky cake and I found out what I want to do.

I have never made marshmallow fondant though, can someone give me tips/pointers for it?

Do I need to wear gloves so the gel dye doesn't dye my hands and nails?

The recipe I found was:

200g of small marshmallows

2 1/2 cups icing sugar (that's powdered sugar, correct?)

1 tablespoon water

Gel food coloring

Vegetable shortening (most is for greasing the surface, but it does say to add a teaspoon to keep the fondant from drying out)

Is this a good one, and will it make the fondant yummy?

Basically, I'm creating a cake similar to this:

http://livelearnloveeat.com/2012/06/05/four/#comments

The inside will be my tie-dye white cake I always make. I was going to use cream cheese frosting instead of buttercream to attach the fondant... is that one okay?

I'm really excited to make this for my daughter for her party... she is SO excited too!

Her party is Saturday... when should I start preparing the cake, fondant, fondant pieces, etc...

Thanks in advance everyone!

Hey, welcome.  Here are some responses to your questions.

I have never made marshmallow fondant though, can someone give me tips/pointers for it?

I use this recipe http://cakecentral.com/a/marshmallow-fondant-darla

Depending on the size of the cakes you are trying to make, you may have to make a couple recipes of this one.

Do I need to wear gloves so the gel dye doesn't dye my hands and nails?

You don't need to wear gloves, but it will dye your hands.  It washes off pretty easily if you do it immediately, although I have had colored hands the next day before.

I was going to use cream cheese frosting instead of buttercream to attach the fondant... is that one okay?

Should be fine.

Her party is Saturday... when should I start preparing the cake, fondant, fondant pieces, etc...

You can make the fondant pretty early since if you seal it in a container well, it will last for a couple months.  As far as the pieces, if you don't want them to dry hard, you can just do it the day you decorate the cake and attach them.  You can also make the cake several days ahead of time and freeze it.

Hope this helps