I have made 22 cakes so far: 21 were with homemade mmf and the inconsistencies were toooo much for me! Stretch marks, pock marks, bubbles, you name it, and I never knew what I was going to get!! GRRRR

Finally I searched elsewhere and found Jennifer Dontz's recipe! I bought her dvd from a website called sugar delites and I truly love everything about her fondant: from the feel, to the taste, to the workability. I do need to get used to the difference: with the marshmallow I had to rush rush. Now that I have more time to work with the fondant, I have to change my pace. And that's a good thing!!!

I just really recommend it to anyone who craves consistency that the mmf can't seem to give! It would be a crime not to share! hehe....I think I am going to add a poll question to see how many people think the mmf can be too inconsistent: just out of curiosity!

OMG now I'm seriously going to have to try Jennifer Dontz's recipe for fondant I love the ease of making mmf but hate the inconsistency too. Normally I don't have disasters with it but sometimes it requires rolling and rerolling to get it to look ok - I'd love a consistent recipe even if it took a bit longer - for a very important cake it's even more important to have a failproof recipe - thanks for the tip

TOTALLY agree on the jennifer dontz dvd!!! absolutely the best!!!!!!!!! the fondant is awesome to work with!!

I have had the same issues, same MMF recipe, almost a new adventure every time. I'll go in search of the one you mention. I bought Satin Ice once, but I didn't think it was that much better, seemed too dry and stretched a lot. Since homemade is so much cheaper, I really want to find something I can rely on.
Thanks
j.

i just did a cake last night with my MMF recipe (16ounce mini marshmallows, 3Tbsp water and PS)... and for the first time it had cracks galore, stretching, bubbles... ugh.......

so, i would love to try the one you mentioned.. how do i locate it? i am not the best at navigating the site (any site for that matter)..

thanks..
M

I went to google and typed in Jennifer Dontz DVD. It came right up. Looks like she has two DVDs. I ordered the one that wasn't talking about fancy frills or something. I looked like the other was the basic one. Sounds like she uses mostly chocolate, must be white chocolate. It cost $31. Let me know if you can't find it, I'll get the address.
I also e-mailed her like she offered to explain how she makes her quilting designs look so great.
Her e-mail is: [email protected]
j.

thanks so much.. i'll try google and let you know if i still can't find it! i've been searching CC site trying to find it with no luck!

i'll go check it out now!

okay.. that was easy.. i found the DVD's... but where did you get the recipe for the MMF? or did i misunderstand?

I think the DVD has the recipe on it.

I've learned I love mmf if I am only making some accent pieces, it's cheap and easy. I hated trying to cover a cake with it. But I recent used mff to cover a cake and I love the texture and taste.

I'm SO glad I'm not the only one!!!!! Jennifer's fondant is MUCH easier to make than mmf....MUCH less messy: feels better, everything. I really could NOT believe the difference. And the name of her website is sugardelites.com......the name of the dvd is "the easy and tasty way to perfect fondant." And yes: the recipe is on the dvd and she shows step by step how to make and cover a cake with it. ANOTHER AWESOME AWESOME thing about the dvd is the baking tips she shows for alleviating the need to level cakes, and crumb coat. Her tips have helped me out and saved me lots and lots of time.

It is DEFINITELY WORTH THE MONEY TO get the DVD!!!! I'm going to get her other one soon and see what other great tips she has on it!!!!!

Hi sugar friends!

Imarpet - I am THRILLED you like my white chocolate fondant as much as I do!!! It IS dependable.... the last thing I want when I'm working on a cake is problems.... not good. I want a consistent product.

Happy fondant covering!!

Jen

I used to have some problems with MMF until I tinkered and found out what I was doing wrong. Since then I haven't had any issues.

I use 20 oz of marshmellows rather than 16 oz. I don't use water. I do use shortening. I don't put hot marshmellows straight into the powdered sugar (I let it cool a little, it was causing clumps of PS), I knead and knead and knead until it passes my test (I hold it up to see how fast it stretches with gravity pulling it down, if it's fast... more PS, if it's slow check for tears. With tears add shortening and recheck gravity, if no tears and slow you're good to go!) I always mix my color into the melted marshmellows (It's eay to stir in, you make it a tad darker for the PS will lighten it). Roll it on cornstarch. Viola!

That being said.... I will still give Jennifer's a try just because I like to know all different ways to try things and I just might like it better! Thanks for the tip.

Darth, I'm going to try your method too. So just melt the mallows..........when do you add the shortening? And about how much works best? I'll try letting the melted marshmallows cool a little. I usually find myself in some type of self induced panic stage at about this point. Usually forget to get the pouring, kneading area ready...................
I think I've also found that if I put too much shortening on the work surface that it causes it to be too thin and rip. Do you use cornstarch on your work space?
I tried mixing the PS in with my mixer once too and it was too stiff. But the times I've added coloring to the marshmallows, it worked out great. Would love to find a plan I could replicate every time with confidence.
The first MMF I ever made was the best. Not sure what's happened since, trying too hard, I think.
j.

hehe. that is me too: the first time I made mmf it turned out perfect. After that it was hit and miss. I began to really dread the MAKING of the fondant and it was just disrupting my cake zen. Really. I mean, the main reason I make cakes is for the gratification it gives ME and well, the mmf became a chore and just one big panic attack wondering if it was going to come out right. It's funny that everytime I was making a cake for a relative for FREE the mmf seemed to come out beautiful, but when I was making one for MONEY, THAT seemed to be when it would act up. Now I feel a happy fuzzy feeling when I think about using Jennifer;s method again. It just felt good and was NICE having a break from the crisco!!

I can't wait for my dvd to get here. I love making cakes too, but the fondant stress is the absolute worst. Lets keep in touch, wonder how you set up the "buddy" part of this site. I lose track of everything if its not someplace I can get back to.
j.

Does anyone know if the Jennifers Fondant frills includes the recipe for Pearl Clay and her fondant or just her pearl clay? I am a hobbyist and don't really have a cake budget so if both recipes are in one DVD I'd like to be able to order it.

Thanks!

I use MMF but found it works best for me when I make it and let it sit overnight. Once I started doing that I had very few issues. First time I used Satin Ice, I had the most issues i have ever had with fondant. I hope to try Mff soon, but I like the ease of the MMF and the cost..lol

I use MMF but found it works best for me when I make it and let it sit overnight. Once I started doing that I had very few issues. First time I used Satin Ice, I had the most issues i have ever had with fondant. I hope to try Mff soon, but I like the ease of the MMF and the cost..lol

I had the exact same problem as what I've been hearing... the first couple of batches were great and then they started getting worse.

Something I probably did with the the first batch ever was being overly cautious. You're going slow, just trying to make everything go right. Then as I had a few under my belt, I though "making MMF is nothing.. I'll just slam out a batch". Yeah, the MMF corrected me. I couldn't figure out all my problems so I started doing practice cakes with test runs on fondant and I turned to help on the Cake Central forum.

The recipe I use said 16 oz of marshmallows with 2 pounds of PS. I changed mine to about 20 oz of MM to 2 pounds PS. This also helped because instead of trying to make the original recipe stretch to fit as much cake as possible, I had more fondant and could roll it reasonably thin and still have a lot to cover a couple of cakes.

I don't add water. Never have.
I now run a coating of shortening around the bowl to help get as much melted marshmallow as I can out.

I heat the marshmallows on high, first 30 seconds, then another 15 seconds. I honestly believe if you over heat them they can get stiff and will cause problems down the line. They may not be mushy looking on top, but if they have puffed in size that is plenty. When you start to stir them, the hotter bottom mallows will melt them the rest of the way. If you are going to add color now is the time. Remember the whole batch will be this color, so if you need multiple colors you will be making multiple batches. Add the color to the MM a little darker than what you want, cause the PS will lighten it. If you are not coloring and want it white, stir it anyway you need all the MM melted and it helps to start nice and smooth. Let it cool for about 5 minutes or so. This stopped the lumps I was getting in the PS.

Get a big mixing bowl and put some PS in the bottom. Pour in the MM and then pour more PS on top. Grease up those hands really good with shortening and start to flip the PS and MM together. I try to imagine what a dough mixer would do and work the fondant in that manner. It takes a little for the MM to get covered to where it wont stick, and once it does you need to twist and turn it until its sticky insides are outside so you can pick up more PS with it. If you never get the sticky to pick up more PS, youre not going to get the mixture you need. Keep working its guts inside out to pick up more PS.

If it starts to get dry and the surface of the ball I am making starts to tear or looks rough, I take some shortening and coat the entire outside of the ball. Not a ton of shortening, just enough to make a good sheen coat around the ball. Then I work that in before going for more gut turning and PS.

I now have an idea about when it is ready by using a gravity test. I hold the ball up loosely over the bowl and watch how its own weight pulls it down. This is a good idea of how it will act once ON the cake. So picture it that way if it stretches a lot, itll stretch on the cake. You need more structure to hold it so keep working in PS. If it stretches and tears, add some shortening and then PS. When it is just right it should stretch under its own weight, but very little and veeeeerrrryy slow.

Cover youre rolling area with cornstarch. Make a ball out of the fondant, and then work it by hand out to a pizza shape. Set it down on the cornstarch and roll it out. Roll a little, rotate, roll a little, and rotate. If it sticks add more cornstarch. You may need to re-ball it and start again.

Ive gotten to where I can make a batch, roll it and cover a 12 two layer cake in about 35 minutes. Not bad for making the fondant from scratch.

I hope this helps, again this is just the way I have learned to make it. Advice on letting the fondant set over night is VERY wise as the color sets better.

sister340: I wonder about the buddy list too. If I can figure it out, we should def. become cakepals!

I don't have the frills DVD yet but I would imagine it has the recipe for the pearl clay on it? You could emailJennifer and ask her: she posted earlier on this forum ....cakebabe1 I think (Me=bad memory!)

the fondant frills DVD just has the pearl clay recipe, Not the fondant one.

Darthburn I do the same thing I grease the bowl & add some sugar before adding the mm & after I refrigerate for 2 hrs or overnight & don't have any problems with it. I too alter the recipe a little.

As I am so new at this I have just tried the Wilton fondant in 2 cakes, the taste is just awful. I bought the marshmallows and was going to try the MMF, even though I am scared of it.

I am so ordering the DVD, white chocolate fondant sounds like the fondant I want to use. Yum!

Thanks everyone for all the tips, I will let you know hos it goes with my first attempt to MMF.

Darth, Thank you so much!!! Those are great instructions and advice. Thanks for taking the time to do that. I can't wait to try it.

Also, someone here said they use the MMF with (tylose?) and make gum paste. The best gumpaste I've come up with is Satin Ice with tylose. Just a little tylose. Now I'm wanting to try MMF with tylose and see how it works for modeling figures, etc.

I love cake decorating! Wish I didn't have to work and could make a sustainable income from it. As it is now, it's extra income.

j.

Can anyone tell me how different Jennifer Dontz's recipe is, from the one that Martha Stewart has posted?

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/recipe/white-chocolate-fondant

I've bought way too many DVDs in the past month, my DH would kill me if I bought another DVD at this time. If it's vastly different, I'll have to buy it at a later date.

I was going to order the DVD but I have a question for those who have use the fondant, how easy can you get the ingredients? I just don't want to spend the money to later find out I can't get the proper ingredients.

I live in Canada (Alberta)

Thanks you so much!!

manotas: I ordered the fondant ingredients directly from Jennifer's website when I ordered the dvd. her website is sugardelites.com and i believe you can email her from there and she tells you which products you will need. The nice thing I found, with ordering through her is that the shipping is cheaper. She does a flat rate. I can't recall exactly how much it was for the dvd and the two ingredients I needed from her site, but I do know that the flat rate thing makes a difference! When i tried to order premade fondant from another site b4 I stumbled across sugardelites.com, the shipping ended up doubling the price of the fondant. So I never ordered from that site. I really like the flat rate thing.

The fondant frills DVD does have both the white chocolate fondant and the pearl clay recipe on it. Look at the menu, in the recipe section. The difference is, the tasty fondant DVD shows step by step how to make and apply the fondant. The frills shows step by step how to make the pearl clay and some of it's many uses.