Okay... I've been trying to do MMF for awhile now, and it always seems to come out too dry. It will seem 'right' when it comes out of the mixer, but then it will crack when I'm kneading and rolling it. I work lots of shortening into it, but then it seems to fall apart.

I broke down and bought some Wilton fondant (not to use on a cake I intend to consume) just to practice with and get the texture and feel of it all.

Is the Wilton stuff right consistency-wise? It seems a lot more pliable and lighter than the stuff I've been making, which would explain a lot. It doesn't crack around the edges or anything. Maybe I'm just putting in too much sugar or something, but I'm following the recipes exactly.

Help me, please! LOL This is the one area of cake decorating that is keeping me incredibly humble. I just can't seem to master it. (and for reasons I won't go into here, I'm not able to take the fondant/gumpaste classes at the local craft stores. Long story!)

Thanks in advance!

Depending on the humidity, brand of sugar etc, you may not always need the amount of sugar that the recipe calls for. I always make my own fondant & use Toba Garrets recipe. She adds glucose to make it pliable & she also states when making to add 75% of the sugar called for & then place the rest on the counter & work in as much/as little as needed.I find that there is always sugar left over. The fonadant should be the texture of playdough. Hope this helps.

It sounds like you are using to much PS. Depending on where you are at in the world, country and what season it is the weather will play a huge factor in how much PS you actually use.

I typically don't use all of the PS, I just go by feel.

Buying pre-made fondant to get the feel of it was a good idea. That is what I based my first experience making MMF off of and have since created my own preferences for the feel of the fondant.

Hope some of this information helps.

I agree, too much powdered sugar. I sift some, a mound, on the surface, pour the melted marshmellow mixture into a hole made in the mound and, with Crisco coated gloves, start to fold the mixture together. I only add more PS if it is too sticky. Remember, you can add but you can't take away. I let the MMF rest for several hours, if possible, before using. That way I know if it has become sticky again, and a tiny bit of PS needs to be added. Don't give up. You'll get it. HTH

I read somewhere to add 2 tbs of light corn syrup and no water to make it more pliable and it worked. I also use cream bouquet flavoring in it and it is the best tasting fondant. I used this on a wedding cake I made for a friends daughter last month and it is the first time I didn't see people taking the fondant off. Everyone was eating it and loved it!! It is also very easy to work with. The cake was square and I always had trouble getting the corners nice and smooth ..... but not this time. My corner came out Great!!

I've never bought any fondant...first I was making the "real" fondant from scratch (yuck, at least the recipe I had) and then MMF. So I'm not really sure how the texture of MMF compares to Wilton...except that one of my friends bought a pack of wilton fondant to play with and she had trouble working with it, so I gave her a ball of MMF and she said it was a lot softer than the wilton stuff.

I've had one dry, crumbly batch of MMF. The recipe I was using was 1 lb marshmallows, 2 to 4 tbsp water and 2 lb powdered sugar. The crumbly batch was the time I tried 2 tbsp of water instead of 4. I've experimented with using cheap marshmallows and the walmart ones work fine in it. I've experimented also with using cheap powdered sugar and decided that I should only use 10x cane sugar. Also, it's much better if you sift the powdered sugar. I don't use very much crisco, and adding crisco when it's crumbly doesn't help...it will just make slippery, shiny, crumbly fondant.

thanks for all the helpful advice! I've managed to make a few batches that worked for what I was doing, but all in all, fondant has been kicking my hiney. I'll try it again tomorrow (raining today, and I don't have good luck with bad weather! LOL), and see what happens.

Thanks for everything. This is why I love this site.

I had my first experience with fondant this week for my Wilton Course 3 class. I used Wilton's fondant for the bow because I wanted to get the feel of "real" fondant and made Michele Foster's Delicious Fondant Recipe in CCs recipe section for the rest. I LOVED her recipe and it worked wonderfully for me. Good luck!

Becca