How do you do it? I kept reading on here how everyone LOVES MMF (marshmallow fondant), so I dove in and made my first batch tonight. What a disaster! I couldn't for the life of me get the powdered sugar to knead into it. It just wanted to lay on top, and the rest was a sticky, gooey mess! I never did get all the sugar in it (most of it is on my counter top and floor!). What did I do wrong? How can so many people love it, and right now, I think I'd EAT a whole box of Wilton's before I'd try to make MMF again (and I HATE wiltons!) By the way, it stuck to my silpat, and NOTHING sticks to silpat! LOL

I tried making it once and had a similar experience. I got a lot of the ps in but it was VERY sticky!!! I'm very hesitant to try to make it again b/c it was such a disaster I see so many beautiful cakes by people who said they used mmf and I just don't get it!!!!!! its VERY FRUSTRATING

lol! sorry...but this reminded me of the very *first* time i made mmf! what a mess. i was so discouraged that i didn't make it again for months. fast forward several years...its what i used for all my cakes now. the key is to knead, knead, knead. it *will* start to come together...promise

Oh I don't like MMF. Made it once - never again. I'm a confirmed SatinIce fan!

SatinIce is a brand name, so yes, I buy it.

I love making my own fondant. It takes about 7 or 8 minutes, tastes good and is less expensive!

I do have two recommendations.....

First, don't mix it in your KA mixer. It worked for me a few times and then the next time it got stuck between the side of the bowl and the bread dough hook.....totally stripped the gears and cost me $100 to get it fixed.

Secondly, melt marshmallows JUST till melted. In fact, when I pull mine out of the microwave, there are little bumps left of the marshmallows and I just stir till they are melted. If your marshmallows are too hot, it it will become a sticky mess all over your hands when you go to knead it!

Irish

This is the method I use. Has never failed. Except when I dropped a fresh batch on the dog one night...but that is not the recipe's fault. Hee hee.


http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

Important things to remember. Have everything set up and greased exactly like the instructions say to do. When it says to rub Crisco all over your hands, literally, rub it on thick, remove rings, and make sure it is thick enough to see, not a light coating. Rub it up past your wrists even. Keep some close to regrease while kneading.

Don't use a KA like someone else mentioned.

Breathe breathe breathe. This is going to be one of the messiest things you ever make, and if you attempt to stay clean during the process, you will fail, and get frustrated. So be in the mindset from the go that you are going to be a messy mess when you're all done.

If you relax and take it easy, it should come together fine for you!! Just give it time, steady pace, ignore the mess until you are done, and you will have it mastered in no time!

I've made MMF for 4 years. For the few cakes I've made and gotten paid for I've used Satin or PettinIce. The MMF is so fickle and sometimes batches turn out prefectly and sometimes they don't. It does make a huge mess. I do use my KA, but only til it reaches a bread dough consistency, as your KA is made to handle that. It gets it past the super stick-to-your-fingers point, especially with hot, gooey marshmallow!
I recently made Toba Garrett's fondant and so shocked how easy it was and less messy. The ingredients can be kept on hand easily. A bottle of cornsyrup, a packet of Knox, some PS, some glycerin if you want....Toba's fondant is delicious, melts in your mouth, and was so easy to work with. I've officially retired my MMF and will NEVER make it again.
Buy new marshmallows when you make it. If they've been sitting in your cabinet since last month's cake, you'll get a grainy, crumbly mess and it will NEVER come together. I didn't know marshmallows went bad. . .and they were within dates, granted at the end of those dates. Though I do recommend the tutorial Jamie gave you, it really helped me get it to work, if you try MMF again. If it seems like its not working either add a little crisco and wrap it and let it sit (it does improve after sitting for a while - I think the moisture evens out) or try popping it in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time.

I make my own fondant in my KA all the time.. batches and batches of it. I don't like MMF. It's too sweet for my likes.. and it set up chewier than traditional fondant IMO. I make Michele Foster's fondant.. you can find it in the recipe section (just look up Foster and it'll pop up). It is wonderful fondant that is VERY easy to make and comes out perfect everytime I make it.

If MMF is making you want to pull your hair out.. try Michele's fondant.

Thanks everyone! Here is an update: I actually did use the MMF (I made a flag drape for a military retirement cake) and it worked pretty well. It was a bit on the sticky side, even after I used a ton of cornstarch on it. I may try making it again...I do like the way I can have fresh fondant whenever I want if I use this recipe. Now, if I can only persuade my husband to mop the kitchen floor for me (it's sticky!).

When I make MMF I used to freak out that it would not become MMF, because for a while it looks like a sticky mess with goo and ps separately. The key is to keep going when you are most frustrated. When it looks like it will never combine, it starts to in just a few more minutes. I love it!

Here is a great tutorial link I posted in another thread...this is from CakesCanada...great site btw...

http://cakescanada.com/HowTo/MMF_Instructions.pdf

This 'splains it all with good pictures...

Thanks, Rocketmom! That was a great tutorial!

I feel you cakedesigner! I posted a thread about the SAME thing!!! All I have is a big sticky mess!!!! I'm gonna try some advice that I got from everyone today....so we shall see!

Good luck and you are not alone!

My first time with MMF was a bit disappointing as well. I dumped all of the 2lbs of suger it called for and it was a hard ball of chocolate turd! It tasted good but to hard even when I popped it into the microwave. I was scared to try it the 2nd time but I did and this time I added 1c of ps at a time! It turned out good. Instead of using 8c's I used 6 1/2 and it came out really good. I havent tried Michelle's Fondant but I hear great things about it. I really like keeping it as simple as possible. The less ingredients the better for me.

I hope you try it again! MMF is the BEST! I was once a Satin Ice fan and still ove it, but the cost killed me.

Liapsim, let us know how it turns out. I have my fingers crossed for you.

Alvarezmom, I am totally with you on the ingredients...3 or less is perfect! LOL Anything more than that and my eyes start to glaze over.

Tonight I joined the ranks of those who will never make MMF! Not only was it a big sticky powdered mess, but I didn't even like the taste. Ok, ok... I'm a little strange. I don't like powdered sugar. I don't like homemade buttercream either. Oh well, I guess I'll just help the economy a little more with my fondant purchases!

i did think it was waaaay sweet....

I'm with jkalman. Before I found CCC, I had never heard of MMF or MFF before, and would make my own fondant (Wilton recipe for figures) or buy Satin Ice to cover cakes. I wanted to try both MMF and MFF, but after reading about so many disappointments with MMF I decided to try MFF and was very pleased with the results. I received some really nice compliments from my friend and her family (who hate fondant), about the look and the taste of the cake I made for her son's first birthday. (Its the jungle cake in my pics)

Tammy

Seriously, is it possible that I just can't do fondant? I used MMF successfully a few times and decided to also use it for my daughter's birthday cake (it's the super bright colored tiered cake in my pics) and I was so happy with the results. It covered the cakes well and I was able to smooth it nicely and make all of the decorations with it, no problem. And everyone at the party was picking all the little decorations off and eating them, so I know they liked the taste. So the next time I used it went well also, no problem. Then I attempted to cover a huge tiered anniversary cake with it and it was a nightmare! I almost gave up on cakes completely, it was that bad! I was literally up all night rolling and re-rolling fondant. Over and over I rolled, tore, and peeled off the stupid fondant. I gave up and pulled out my Satin Ice and covered a couple of the layers (badly, even that kept pulling and tearing and wrinkling on me) The onlly tier that I wasn't horribly ashamed of was the black square covered in black Satin Ice. Now every time I try fondant it's a disaster. What am I doing wrong? I can't get it smooth now, and if I finally do I tear it beyond repair. I don't understand because it went so well in the past.
I recently tried Michelle Foster's fondant and liked the texture, but I'm still having problems covering the cakes. How did I go from being able to do it well to being COMPLETELY inept?!

Use a large pyrex bowl (not too large for your microwave). Grease the bowl with Crisco. Pour a 16oz bag of Marshmallows into the bowl, then add 2 Tbls of water and 2 tsps of flavoring (vanilla or whatever). Microwave on high for 60 seconds, then stir with a greased wooden spoon. Microwave 30 seconds more if needed, to melt all the MMs. Now place the bowl onto a folded towel on your countertop. Pour in 1/2 of a 2 lb bag of sifted confectioner's sugar and stir with the wooden spoon. Once this is mixed in then put the spoon aside and rub a little Crisco onto your hands. Pour in a the other 1/2 of sifted conf. sugar and begin mixing with your hands. If it starts to stick to your hands just use a little more Crisco. Once a ball forms knead it a few times, then put the whole ball onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it up nice and snug, with no air. Put the whole thing into a ziplock bag and press out the air and seal. Now let it rest for a couple of hours or overnight. The whole process from start to finish takes only a few minutes. It took me longer to sift the sugar!

When you're ready to roll out the fondant use cornstarch, not conf. sugar. The constarch is SO much better, makes the fondant nice and easy to work with and it cleans up with a soft pastry brush once it's on the cake.

What is your favorite MMF flavoring? or do you prefer to leave it as is.

Also, are there any recipes out there for a chocolate MMF?

I use 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of Creme Bouquet. I think the Creme Bouquet gives it a nice depth of flavor.

I haven't made chocolate MMF, but there are recipies on CC for it.

Tashablueyes, I don't know about where you live, but there was an article in our local paper explaining that ps companies have been using more cornstarch in their ps as a filler in the last year or two. Not sure if this would make much of a difference in your case . . .

My coworkers and I were having a conversation recently about Christmas baking experiences. The subject came up because one of the gals was having a hard time making shortbread cookies lately . . . but the same recipe used to work out just fine. She didn't know what she was doing wrong.

I live in Canada, and maybe this is just a Canadian problem, or maybe even more local than that . . . It could be something worth looking into, but I wouldn't know how to rectify it.

cakedesigner59-I even "eye" it when I half the recipe. I always add the 2 tbs. of water no matter. I really like keeping a recipe as simple as possible, and you cant get any simplier than: water, p. sugar, and flavoring.

mom2rascals-I stopped adding flavoring. I really cant tell a diffrence. Maybe I could if I added like coconut flavoring. Also, the same thing was happening to me. I used this one SC recipe for almost a year and NEVER had a problem with it. Then all of a sudden the cookies were coming out all crazy looking. I couldnt under stand why. Then I changed to NFSC recipe on here and I havent had a problem. The cookies always come out great and ppl actually like the taste better.

I DO recommend adding the coloring before you add the p. sugar. I dont know why but it gets REALLY hard if you try adding it after. Dont know why???? Maybe one of the expert's on here can tell us why???

I am a total cake newbie and have made MMF about 10 times. So far it's been fine every time (except once I tried a shortcut that failed miserably). Here's what I do:

1. Melt marshmallows with water in big glass pyrex bowl until just melted. (Some marshmallows still kind of have their shape when I pull them out of the microwave.)

2. Stir with wooden spoon until soupy. (Add coloring if desired.)

3. Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cup PS. (I do not sift.)

4. Turn onto nonstick mat.

5. Knead in enough PS (adding 1/2 cup at a time) until MMF just slightly sticky.

6. Wrap and store.

When I want to use it, the stickiness has usually pretty much gone away. I give my hands a light coat of crisco (and I crisco the surface if I'm rolling it out) before working with it.