Hello everyone!

During my entire baking experience, the only fondant I have ever used was homemade marshmallow fondant. I knew that it would generally taste better than store-bought and it would work well enough for everything I needed. I've never had any significant problems with it, and because it was the only thing I've ever used, I didn't know anything better.  

Recently, I made a quite a large cake and planned on covering the entire cake with my marshmallow fondant. Everything seemed to be going normally and I was rolling it out as I normally do. As I was rolling it out, I was noticing "elephant skin" or whatever you prefer to call it, and I thought that was odd because that shouldn't be happening as I simply roll it out 

I finished up the rolling and honestly everything seemed normal except for the large amounts of "elephant skin". I lifted it up and over my cake, and the moment it started draping over the sides, it started breaking off/cracking. Not in a brittle sort of way, though. Basically, my fondant had little to no elasticity to it. I've never had this problem before and don't know what I did wrong when I made the fondant. 

My recipe is very simple, and its basically this: 

1 10 oz bag of marshmallows for every 1 lb bag of confectioners sugar, plus 3 tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of flavoring/extract. Some shortening might make its way in there as I coat the mixing bowl with it and surface that I knead the fondant on. 

Do you see anything glaringly wrong with this recipe? I've never had problems with it before... Thank you!!!

I use the same recipe except, corn syrup instead of water.   I have never run into the elephant skin issue.  I read somewhere on here that corn syrup helped with elasticity.  I am in Florida an it usually hot and humid here.

Yes corn syrup or glycerin (the food save one). I use Macsmom here on CC. Or you can use Rhonda's fondant recipe too.

Hi :-) I don't post here often, but I do read here a lot! And yes, the corn syrup would have made the difference. I make that same recipe when I do make fondant, only I add a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of corn syrup. And then, when I am 'working' the fondant, I keep my hand generously covered in shortening.

Also when you roll your fondant you have to do it quickly (so it doesn't dry) and I roll it on a lightly greased surface (not powdered sugar) this way it doesn't dry the fondant and change its texture.

I never roll mine on a greased surface. I roll on a mixture of 50/50 cornstarch and powdered sugar. But if you put it out there, roll it and basically, get to business, you shouldn't have any problems. To me, its not so much about doing it quickly as it is just not wasting time re-rolling and starting over. Just roll it out and get it on the cake.

I think your recipe has too much water...try cutting back to 1-2 teaspoons, just enough to coat the marshmallows before melting them. Also, sometimes marshmallows just don't like to cooperate, either because of brand or age...cheap brands seem to work better...fresh also makes a difference, especially with elasticity. To restore the stretch, knead a bit of tylose powder into the MMF batch.

If you'd like to try a different recipe, may I recommend this link...I've always gotten great results with this recipe!

http://sugarsweetcakesandtreats.com/2010/09/recipe-marshmallow-fondant-mmf.html

I tried a new chocolate fondant recipe last week and it didn't hold up well (was tearing) even with glycerin. I didn't have time to make it again so I put about 10% of gumpaste (which has tylose) and it worked like magic! It became elastic and very easy to work with. I will remember that trick!