Perfect MMF.. the easy and no mess way!

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.

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?

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

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. )

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)