The recent posting about the mmf recipe inspired me to try it again (3rd time). I put in a whole bag of sugar and it still sticks to my rolling pin. So I use cornstarch to get it unsticky. When I put it over my cake, my cake always seems to shift so that one side of the fondant is bulgy. I'm taking my first fondant course next week and I'd thought about making mmf instead of buying the wilton but not if I can't have the same consistency as everyone else. Look in my gallery at the football cake. Oh, and making a football cake wasn't my original intention. I started to make a garden cake (thus the fencing on the side). I probably should have put the words D-fence over the fence to make it tie in. Luckily its just for my family.

Hi, so sorry you are having so much trouble with MMF, really, it takes a while to get a hang of it but don't give up, it is wonderful to work with once you get the right consistency. OK, I don't know if it is very humid where you are at summer time, I'm in FL and oh boy, it is humid, so during the summer time it takes me more than 2 lbs to make my MMF, during winter, it takes only 1.75 lbs... so, if when you are making it and you are done with the 2 lbs and it is still sticky, then add more sugar, about 1/2 a cup at a time until you get a play doh consistency.
Now, your cakes shifting, I would guess it is your filling that is causing this. Try to use a sticky/med to stiff consistency for it, if it is too slippery then you cakes (if you torte) will move. So use a better consistency filling with a dam and then cover with BC, let the BC crust and then cover with fondant. You can also place your cake in the refrigerator for a while to make the BC crust really well and then cover your cake with fondant. Don't give up, really, you will be amazed how easy it is to work with! I am more than happy to help if you have any questions. HTH and good luck.

Sorry you're not having fun . You should try to Michele Foster's Delicious fondant. I have never made fondant before today and it was super easy to do. I hope you have better luck in the future.

This post reminded me of something I forgot to mention when making my fondant recipe. It may not be news to some, but it was a duh moment for me.

Anyway, when you are ready to get the fondant out of the bowl, using a flexible bowl scraper works much, much better than a regular spatula. It gets the fondant out faster and more of it without such a battle.

It had been a while since I had made fondant until a few days ago. Then I remembered about the scraper and couldn't find one since we moved. When I finally found one, I made sure to put it where I could find it again. I've made 5 batches of fondant in the last week. So glad I found the scraper.

redbird, I've read that adding more shortening to the MMF helps with stickiness. Don't take my word for it, I could be remembering it wrong.

Good luck.

Michele

Join the club! I'm still trying to find my MMF groove! I finally had one batch that turned out perfect and haven't been able to get it that way again . I actually just tried combining a batch of MMF & a batch of RBC because they were both giving me a headache! I was about to throw them out anyway so I figured what the heck. To my surprise, it turned out kinda good I'm still trying to tweek it a little bit to get the perfect consistency but it's much better than the mess I started with! I guess it just takes practice practice practice!!! Hang in there...I'm sure we'll both get it sooner or later.

Hey guys! I've been using MMF for over a year now, and recently discovered the Alternative Marshmallow Fondant recipe here on CC - I'm not sure which post you're referring to, since I did respond to a similar inquiry the other day, so I apologize if I'm repeating myself to you! But basically, this recipe has you melt in 1/3 cup of crisco right in with the marshmallows, and I found that the MMF was MUCH easier to work with! More elastic and easier to roll, and had a better "body" to it, so it looked better too. I highly recommend it! And remember to knead a lot- that should convert some of that stickiness to more of the right consistency. I've never had to use more than a bag of sugar, but it does depend on the environment, so make sure you have two bags of sugar all sifted and ready! Better to have too much than not enough!

Sifting get rid of any lumps and makes it easier to knead into the fondant. Sometimes the quality of the powdered sugar isn't the best and will have lumps of regular sugar in it. This won't dissolve.

Sifting just makes for a smoother fondant/frosting.

HTH

Michele

Out of curiousity, are you all using C & H for your powdered sugar or a different kind. I know the other kinds have cornstarch in them and I wondered if that's why I had to use a full bag and others didn't.

I use dixie crystals. I always have and they work great. I'm not sure where they are available because I've never heard them mentioned on this site. It's kind of lumpy, but I would sift it even if it wasn't so it doesn't really make that much of a difference to me.

Thanks for all the assistance. I think you guys really helped me along with my fondant & gumpaste class. I learned two things: if I use enough Crisco I don't need as much sugar for the mmf recipe & trim the cakes. When I used buttercream I didn't do much trimming when I filled and the cakes stayed perfectly fine, no shifting. Fondant just didn't work for me that way. Oh, and I learned not to put too much buttercream underneath. That I figured out before this post when one of my cakes not only shifted but had melting mmf on it. Anyway, all told, my cake this last week for my class was a beauty and still hasn't moved or bulged on me. I'd love to show you a picture but we only practiced a few different techniques and didn't make a complete cake so it wasn't worth taking a picture of (other than it was so wonderfully smooth and not shifty!).