This one is definitely personal preference. Weather and other issues can make a difference as well.
That being said, I prefer to make mine. A heavy duty mixer is required and a little bit of time. It costs a LOT less to make than to buy. It's also easier to make various flavors and colors for various applications. For about 7 pounds of fondant, it costs me less than $3 to make. It does take some time, but I can work on many other things during the waiting times.
For commercial brands, Pettinice and Satin Ice are good, somewhat expensive, but are well accepted and usually easy to find. Choco Pan is good, easy to use, but very expensive and not so easy to find. FondX is relatively new and not my favorite, many like it though. Wilton is probably the least liked fondant of them all. It's great for letting kids learn to make fondant figures. Other than that, avoid it.
There are other brands, but I can't remember them all.
HTH
Michele
Here is the recipe I use. It fantastic!!!!!!!
Marshmallow fondant
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 tbsp water
1 1/2- 1 3/4 cup powder sugar
Place marshmallows in a standard 1 cup measuring cup and push down and pack them in. Place in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. Put in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Just long enough for them to soften and puff up. Take out and stir with a spoon until it is combined well. At this point it looks kind of soupy. Then add the sugar and mix and fold until all is incorporated and it is no longer sticky. I take it out of the bowl when it gets to the point where most of the sugar is incorporated and I knead it in my hands. This takes roughly about 5-7 minutes. Take a fondant roller or a regular rolling pin and roll out just as you would Wilton's fondant. You can get this fondant almost paper thin and it also repairs well. It's cheap, easy to work with, and tastes great too.
You can make a large batch of this fondant as well by doing this:
Large batch of Marshmallow fondant
1- 16 oz bag of mini marshmallows
2 tbsps water
2 lbs powdered sugar (8 cups)
Do the same procedure as above.
Tips for success from Bunny:
I add any flavor Lorann Oil flavorings to this. Something that will compliment my cake well. What I do is cut back on the water and add about 1/8 tsp Lorann flavoring. You can certainly add more (especially if I make the large batch) for a more of a pungent flavor, just adjust the water amount accordingly. *****The more liquid you add to this will make it stickier to work with. Try to be accurate in measuring the liquid.*****
Stickiness??????
If it is way to sticky to work with then cut back on the amount of liquid that you used by about 1/2 tsp. This will help.
Let it sit out and "air dry" for about 10 minutes.
Use a small amount of Crisco on your work surface and hands. A little goes a very long ways so don't go over board with the Crisco.
Knead the dough with a spoon!!!!! Do not attempt to pick it up and knead it too soon. This dough is hot when comes right out of the microwave!!!!! I say this because I have had people contact me saying they received a burn from it. I can almost knead it fully with a spoon.
Dough that is not in use must stay covered with plastic wrap or it will dry out. Or place it in a Ziploc bag. That works too.
Dried out Marshmallow fondant: place it back into the microwave and nuke it for a few seconds to revive it back to its original state. The bigger the batch the more time on the microwave. Example: small batch 3-5 seconds.......large batch about 10 seconds. Microwaves vary too so keep that in mind.
Coloring: well I have experimented with this several different ways. If I want to make the whole batch of Marshmallow fondant one color then I have added the color, just Wilton paste color, Americolors, or Chefmaster colors.....any will work for this, when I pull the bowl out of the microwave when it looks "soupy". Stirred it up and then added the powdered sugar. Otherwise I have added it after it has come together and kneaded it in by hand. I use plastic gloves too when I do this, because otherwise your hands are never the same!!!!
You can work with this just as you would the regular fondant. Pizza rollers cut this very well. Ribbon cutters work fabulous too for this. I can make bows and drapes, push molds etc with this. I love the taste of this stuff. Great on the pocketbook too!!!!!!
i just started making my own, i previously used to used mmf. i still do for covering cake boards, making flowers, bows, etc. but as far as taste goes mmf is just too darn sweet. i needed to find a great tasting fondant as my customers were not crazy about the taste of the marshmellow stuff. the homemade recipe i used is awesome because its made in one bowl and clean-up is a breeze, not to mention ecomomical. i know alot of people like to purchase premade fondant but i could never bring myself to buy it considering how expensive it is.
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