I made a batch of MMF today and whenever I try to put it on the cake, it tears immediately. I suspect it's too dry and I'm wondering if I should bother taking the time to knead shortening (or something else???) in or if I should scrap it and start over.

I've made two prior batches and had no problem - the only difference this time is that I used 1 T. of cocoa powder. I think that dried it out.

So, will kneading in shortening help or should I start over? I'm off to bed but will be eagerly reading your responses at 6 tomorrow morning to try and save these cakes!

When you add cocoa, you also need to add one 1 ounce square of melted Baker's semi-sweet chocolate. The cocoa will dry it out but the melted chocolate will increase the chocolate taste and counter the drying effect.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I added melted chocolate to mine and it came out great.

Hmmm, that explains why mine "broke" when I obviously hit the "cocoa saturation point of no return". Would it be simpler then to put just melted chocolate into the fondant and skip the cocoa powder completely?

Squirrely Cakes -

Can I still add this or do you think I should start over?

Thanks -
Christy

And thanks to the other responder, too!

ETA: I've answered my own question - nope can't be added at the end. Off to buy more supplies!

I had that problem and sorta salvaged my Chocolate MMF. The next time I made it though I used the 1oz melted bakers chocolate AND the 1oz cocoa powder and it came out beautifully.

I've also had terrible fondant and saved it just by kneading in a bit of shortning and about 1 tsp of water in a large batch. After 5 mins it was perfect.

i havent made chocolate MMF but i had a bit of the same problem with the regular MMF... in desperation i tossed it back into the microwave for just a few seconds so that the MM could melt a tad.. and it worked perfectly.. it softened it up just enough to knead it and roll it out smoothly..

When mine is too dry, I wet my hands and massage the ball of MMF and this helps .. either that or you can do the same by using some Crisco on your hands and massaging that into the ball of MMF. I found wetting my hands or just turning on the faucet and very quickly running the ball of MMF under it, then working that in works for me when it's too dry .. becareful and don't use too much water though! Otherwise it will become very sticky.

Here is the recipe, you use both the cocoa and melted chocolate. I would sift the cocoa into the powdered chocolate and I would add the melted chocolate to the melted marshmallows. Haven't tried rescuing it by adding at the end though. I am not as big a fan of marshmallow fondant as a lot of people are so I only use it when I have to. I don't find it has the same elastic quality that regular rolled fondant has, so I don't tend to use it often. Could be the marshmallows I am using - Kraft - don't work as well as some brands, I don't know. But I find it hard on my hands so that is a bit of a factor for me.
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 Tbsp. water
powdered sugar (1 cup +)

Add 1 oz melted choc & 1Tblsp cocoa powder for choc. fondant
Hope that helps.
Hugs Squirrelly

How thin are you rolling out your fondant?

Honestly, Texassugar, I've got no idea. I'm horrid with measurements like that. I know that it was no thicker or thinner than the two batches of MMF I had used previously and those worked like a charm. I ended up making a new batch today (sans chocolat) and it worked perfectly. I think chocolate MMF is my nemesis!

Thanks everyone for your responses!