I made the fondant recipe from the confetti cakes book. It was great I thought all was going well and it said it should some to a sticky ball in my mixer and it said using the paddle. All it did was paste around the sides of the bowl. It said to start with a total of 9 cups icing sugar and only put 6 in the bowl and when it got to a sticky ball dump it out and knead in the remaining 3 cups which I thought was alot. Where did I go wrong maybe I didnt let it mix enough in the mixer. The nI got about 2 more cups of sugar in the fondant and I thought it felt good. Well I went to use it and it was a terrible, all dry feeling and not stretchy. I had to a a lot of crisco to it and it still didnt feel like it should. I hate MMF and this is what it felt like. HELP!!

Sounds like too much of the PS was added. Sometimes my recipe uses 2 full pounds of PS other times it only uses 6 to 7 cups. Weather plays a big part in how much sugar I need.

For the record....MMF when made correctly is awesome. Smooth, pliable and very easy to work with.

Don't give up on it just yet, it just takes some practice to get it perfect, but when you do you'll love it. It's so easy and inexpensive to make. I've got it down to a science now and can whip up a batch in under 10 minutes...turns out perfect every time.

well I would like to know what I am doing wrong to the mmf? I must be adding to much PS but I thought It had to not be sticky and feel like purchased fondant to be done. so this is waht I do to it and it never turns out right. It never feels like bought fondant.

When I've made fondant from scratch (not MMF), I like the feel when there are a few Tbsp of glycerine in the recipe -not sure if yours has it. I know it's awfully dry here from the cold, which would change the texture. When it's being kneaded, I alternate between adding more 10X and rubbing shortening in my hands which mixes in. That seems to get in all the 10X. Do you let it rest overnight?

I'm going to try the recipe on here with the heavy cream, butter, and white chocolate (I think Michelle Foster's?). It sounds scrumptous and has great reviews.

Normally, I buy 2 lbs of bright white choco-pan and knead with 2-5 lbs of satin ice. I like the flavor better, and it lasts much longer before it starts cracking.

I use my KA mixer with the dough hook.

I grease everything with shortening, the KA bowl, the hook and the bowl I melt the marshmallows in.

I place 4 cups of PS in the KA bowl, nuke 16oz marshmallows and 2 T water for 30 seconds....take out stir, nuke 30 more seconds, let sit then stir (usually that's enough to melt them completely) If you over cook the marshmallows it will dry them out and the mmf will fail. (Always allow the residual heat to melt the remaining marshmallows, don't continue nuking them until they're all melted, it will burn them.) I think this is the most important step of making successful mmf.

I pour the melted marshmallows into my KA and turn it on speed 3 to mix.
I add 1T shortening and switch to my beater blade. I again use speed 3 to 4 to mix.

I add more PS 1 cup at a time until it all comes together into a ball. The sides of the KA bowl should be clean and you should end up with a completely mixed ball of mmf on the bottom of the bowl. You want it to be slightly sticky at this point. Don't use the entire 2lbs of PS if you don't need it.

I turn the mmf out onto a greased piece of plastic wrap and lightly coat the mmf with additional shortening.

It's finished. I allow it to rest at least over night (or 12 hrs)

The next day I unwrap and kneed, kneed, kneed (by hand) It slowly begins to get silky smooth.

If I want flavorings I add them to the melted marshmallows and stir before I add the marshmallow to the sugar.

If it's still too sticky the next day then dust your surface with additional PS ( a couple of Tablespoons at a time) and kneed it in.

Thanks for the detailed instructions! That definitely gives me a clear visual on the steps... which helps me a ton!

Thank you, for the details it really helps I will try MMF again. From what you have said I believe I have 1. over cooked the MM and 2/ it didn't come off the sides of the bowl. Thank you for your help.

I'm still not friends with MMF. I've tried it over and over. Followed the great advice of fellow CCers and still no luck with it. I've added corn syrup to it, added glycerine to it, rolled it out on vinyl sheets rubbed lightly with shortening to keep it from sticking, waited 24hrs to use it and STILL.... My MMF is so soft, I cant lift it to place on a cake, when rolled out on vinyl sheet, still seems to get stuck. When I try to lift it with my rolling pin, where it over laps itself, sticks together. Also find that mine has LOTS of small air bubbles. I would love to learn to do this the right way once and for all but to no avail.

Jakedreamer, it sounds like you are not using enough powdered sugar, and you are not kneading it enough. MMF is the only fondant I use, and it is smooth as silk for me.

I agree Loucinda.

It does take quite a bit of kneeding and patience....but, it will be smooth as glass when it's right.

Can you over-knead fondant? What happens? I think I heard in a class that overworking commercial fondant isn't good, but how about homemade? -Kim

Michele's is the best! If you don't have any luck with the others, definitely give it a whirl!

Does someone have a link to Michelle's recipe?

It's in the recipe's section - search for Michele Foster (make sure you spell Michele right)

I use Deb_'s recipe as well. It's great, but a lot of work. I go out and get Satin Ice now.

I am going to have to try to leave the marshmallows and sugar in the bowl until it is kneaded. I have been dumping the whole mess on the counter and making a mess. I bet this way is a whole lot easier!

I'll add, one time I decided after making enough batches of standard recipe MMF I would do some experimenting. I tried adding various amounts of oils, corn syrup, shortening, extracts, water and dabbled in using less PS. I decided to do this simply because my fondant turns out really hard to knead and hurts my shoulders! LOL I figured there HAD to be an easier way!

-Well, I found that adding a few teaspoons of an oil (canola, vegetable etc) helped immensely with pliability and moisture but prevented it from hardening nearly as fast with regards to decorations.

-I found adding less PS than normal eventually caused the fondant to droop when you pick it up after rolling, and also caused the fondant to have the tiny air bubbles and larger air bubbles in it once applied to the cake. It also caused elephant skin.

-The corn syrup made it more pliable as well until I got to experimenting with more than 2 tbsp. That made it more sticky, I think.

The best finish was achieved when I added a small amount of oil and a small amount of corn syrup. The little air bubbles are from not having enough PS, and it drooping can be attributed to the same. I know this is a repeat of info, but something told me it wouldn't hurt to share anyway!

Which recipe of Michele Foster's from here do you guys use?? There are three recipes posted. One is Michele Fosters Fondant, one is Michele Foster's Updated Fondant, and the other is Michele Foster's Delicious Fondant.

TheDomesticDiva - I use her updated fondant recipe and use 3 tablespoons of knox gelatin even though it's a typo (it's supposed to be 2 tablespoons). My fondant tastes good and is easy to decorate with. Just remember to let it sit at least 6-7 hours (overnight is best) and knead, knead, knead before using. I do coat my hands with Crisco when I knead.

Could you be using the wrong type of PS? I took a class once and the teacher said to only use a certain brand- the kind they sell at Costco. The Costco kind is cheap!

She also said to use a name-brand marshmallow, not a store-brand. Marshmallows also need to be fresh.

I live in the desert and can not keep marhsmallows on hand. I have to buy them as needed.

Any thoughts on this/