Between the amount of comments/messages I get about how I do my fondant/colors/chocolate/etc, and the amount of messages I see here about mmf being difficult, people kneading it forever, etc.. I figure I should post what I'm doing!

I melt a 1lb mag of mini marshmallows in a pyrex dish. It's about 3" deep, and I nuke it for about 2 minutes. I use a handful of water (I'm not one for measurements!).. probably about 2 tbsp.

I take it out, stir it till it's all melted, then I do whatever coloring or flavoring I'm planning on. I use wilton paste colors, and I color it to just a bit stronger than the final color I'm wanting. If I'm doing chocolate, I use the Hershey's Dark cocoa powder, and just mix it in till it's slightly too dark. I use between 1/2-1cup of cocoa. I DO NOT USE MELTED CHOCOLATE!!!! I have never been able to make that work. Screw it!!

If I'm doing a light chocolate, I use regular cocoa powder, and less of it.

Then, I stir in a bit of icing/powdered sugar until it's fairly thick and there is NO MOISTURE, no hard bits of sugar, etc. Btw, this whole time, I'm stirring with a greased butterknife.

I have a large plastic bowl with the remaining icing/powdered sugar from the bag dumped in it and ready before I even nuke the marshmallows.

So, I dump the REALLY THICK marshmallow mix into the bowl of sugar, stir it around a bit with the greased knife. I HATE getting really sticky marshmallows all stuck between my fingers, this avoids that.

Then, I grease my hands up with some crisco, and knead it for a couple of minutes, till it's not sticky and is about teh right feel.

Then, I turn that out onto a mixing bowl lid. It's plastic and has a lip, so any stray bits of sugar stay put! I don't grease it or have sugar on there or anything, as the mmf isn't sticky at this point.

Anyway, on the lid, I knead it another minute or so, so that all the sugar on the outside is incorporated in, and it's all smooth and the right color. I grease it with a bit of crisco and wrap it tightly in cling wrap.

I read one post where someone mentioned kneading it for an hour.. holy CRAP. This takes me about 7 minutes from the time I put the marshmallows into the microwave, till the time I wrap the finished fondant in cling wrap.


Annnnyway.

I roll it out on a sheet of plastic that I've lightly greased with crisco. If the mmf gives me ANY attitude, I nuke it for 10-15 seconds until it's nice and soft and bends to my will. Chocolate mmf firms up MUCH more than the regular, so I usually end up nuking it by default.

Hope this helps! Let me know what you think.

Wow, that does sound easy... and tasty... and I can already imagine just the bowl I would use, tupperwear-biggest blackest bowl I have- lip on the lid and all!

I haven't done MMF yet, but am looking forward to trying it, I used Wilton on the wedding cake I did and it's pretty but tasted terrible!

From the recipies I've found on here, I read that I could just use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, 5qt, paddle first, then dough hook. (I just learned how to make soft pretzels and am amazed at how well the dough hook works! ) Any thoughts/ideas on that? I don't have any upper body strength and am worried about hurting myself in the process of kneading the fondant...

I wouldn't use a mixer. WAAY too messy.

Besides, kneading warm mmf isn't THAT hard on your upper body.. and this way, you're only kneading for like 5 minutes. If you knead a lot longer, it cools off and stiffens. No thanks!!

I'm hoping this buffs my arms up a bit, but kinda have my doubts! It's way too "no pain" a way of doing it.

Ya know, I learned about MMF somewhere else, before I found this. I start out with the whole "dump it all in a pile and mix/knead it on the counter" nonsense. I've tried the mixer (didn't work well for me!).. this method is the result of a lot of trial and error, and a bit of quasi-laziness.. I'm always trying to find easier ways of doing something better, you know?

Very informative, thanks for posting that!!

your instructions are extremely well written, thanks! I too have been making MMF for awhile now and was always curious what I was doing "wrong" when I read posts that said it was sticky & took forever. From start to finish w/ mine it takes less than 10 minutes and is hardly a mess or sticky.

Thanks so much. I've had nothing but problems with this stuff. One person told me the brand of marshmellows makes a difference. What do you use?

Thanks for the info! I am a big fan of MMF, so this will befiled away for future reference.

Thanks for the advice. Makes me want to go and make some right now!!!

Thanks for your post, I will hafta try MMF again. I too tried the counter method, then in my kitchenaid mixer and found them way too messy for me. I already make a big enough mess!

I had resigned myself to buying Satin Ice, but it's so expensive for me as this is just a hobby that I do for friends and family.

Hrm.. have used whatever the target brand is.. but tend to use that main brand. Lemme go look at what it is - I don't pay attention. LOL!

Ok, it's Kraft Jet Puffed

krazykat_14 - I use my stand mixer when I make my mmf, there is still some kneading involved but it doesn't take much strength at all since it is warm and very pliable. I grease my bowl before any ingredients are put in it, I haven't greased my paddle but have thought about it but really the stuff just slides off. I also add a little crisco to my mixture as well when mixing. I actually use the recipe on here called 'Alternitive MMF'.
HTH

PS: the method works even better if you have a kid to wash the bowl and pyrex out for you between batches!

Loves me my child labor! LOL. He de-thorns roses for wedding orders, too!

(This was before going pro and moving to an outside facility, before anyone freaks out. )

Thanks for posting I have a quick question though do you use one of the receipes on here as far as how much of what u use or do you have your own amounts? I will be trying MMF for the first time this weekend to make a cake for our fair and want to make sure I get everything right the first time.

I posted the amounts... a handful of water, a 1lb bag of marshmallows, and a bag of icing sugar (there will be leftovers in the bowl, though)

Thanks for the tips! I've only made it once, but i had a pretty hard time. When using cocoa, does it really taste chocolatey? that may sound silly, but when i made it without cocoa, i kind of expected it to taste different than it did. it just tasted like PS... which wasn't awful, just though there would be a little marshmallow-ey taste to it... I'm almost looking forward to making it again now!

thanks again!

I find my chocolate mmf tastes like tootsie roll. Definitely a chocolate taste though.

How much cocoa did you use? I find the "special dark" and TONS of it (I like a really rich dark color!) makes it really chocolatey.

Thank so much for the directions !! I have been a little scared of MMF but really been wanting to try it. Now I feel like I have some good step by step directions and am less nervous and scared

Yeah I saw that now that I read the post again. Hey u can add that to the pet peeve thread going on. U can shoot me I am a dumb a## sorry.

Thanks for posting. I always make a BIG mess with MMF which is the only reason why I hate making it. Your way seems so much more better than the way I've been doing it. I'll be trying it soon!

TOTALLY makes it taste look a tootsie roll.

If you've seen my photo from the bridal show a few days ago, you'd see my chocolate draped hearts cake right on the table. I got a bunch of people to sniff it as proof, lol!

Quite a few people made comments about wanting to take off with it, styrofoam or not!

Ok, silly question, but I'm assuming it's a 1 lb bag of powdered sugar? I've gotten myself in the habit of buying 4 lb bags because I seem to keep running out...

I *thought* it was 2lb.. I don't know, whatever the regular bags are at the grocery store or walmart, LOL.

I really meant that I'm not one for measurements. Sure, you can use the 4lb bag.. you'd just have a lot more left in the bowl when you're done.. and you'd probably be wearing some!

Ok I have another question this one is real since you haven't answered it yet and I looked . How much MMF does this make. I need to cover a 12, 10, 8, and 6 four inch dummie cakes. How many batches do you think I will need to make.

Depends on how thin you roll it, and how good you are about not getting icing/crumbs on what your trim off, etc.

I'd make a batch and a half to be safe, if I were you. When you get more practiced at it, you should be able to do that in 1 batch.

I just spent a good half hour nosing around your photos...all I can say is WOW!!!!! Thanks for sharing your tips for chocolate MMF. So far I've spent way too much money on pre-made fondant, and havn't had the nerve to make my own mmf. I think this may be the final push to make my own, now that I have your advice. Your cakes are amazing. You're a real artist!

Wow! Thanks so much for the tips. They came just in time. I've only made MMF twice and am using it on a wedding cake this weekend and have to make several batches. I love that you already have the sugar in the bowl. That's what's the worst part about it for me because sticky fingers results in sticky bag! LOL

Oh, and conf. sugar comes in a 2-lb bag in the store.

I've never made MMF before, but heard a lot about it from other decorators. I'm looking forward to making a batch soon!

Flower GirlMN, here is a question for ya! I'm making the Cool School Cake in the Wilton 2007 book for this Saturday. I've never made MMF before (I'm also going to post this question in a separate thread just in case you're not around). Anyway, the recipe in the Wilton book says to use 72 oz Royal Blue, with several other colors, all totaling 111 oz!!!

This seems like a lot to me. Especially if you're rolling it to 1/8 inch thick. I've so far made 4 batches of MMF (using Rhonda's ultimate recipe online here). Should I figure one batch equals one pound? I'm scared I'm going to either end up with too little or way too much!

TIA
Amber