Stale marshmallows?

I've used stale mms and never had very good results.  The resulting fondant was very rubbery and hard to roll out.  If you are using half fresh you might have better results, but I'd just add a bit more water rather than glycerine.  The poor results seem to be because the stale mms have lost a good deal of their moisture and adding some moisture back in seems to help.  If you're just using it for dummies, I give it a go with a bit of extra water added in and I'd add the ps slowly because the less moisture the less ps you will need.  You can always add a little glycerine after its made.

I only use mmf and buy the large bags of mms.  To prevent them from going stale I've been using my heat sealer to seal them up with the airsucked out of the bags.  It seems to keep them fresh longer than using zip bags.  These days I generally keep the older mms for use in rice cereal treats because I tend to sculpt almost exclusively with rct rather than carving cake. 

I've never done a cake that big.  My only stacked cake was a 6 on an 8, so I'm probably not the best one to advise, but. . . here goes:

The standard mmf recipe makes about 3 pounds.  With stale mms it will yield a little less (but only a little if you're adding water back in--and btw they're not that bad if you've less than an ounce between the stale and the fresh). I've gotten a six and an eight from a single recipe.  When I did my dds wedding cake I did a 6/10/14and used just over two recipes (say 7 pounds).  I do tend to roll my mmf fairly thinish, so say eight pounds would have done you for the same cakes with a thicker roll.  I'd plan on at least 4 recipes (say about 12 pounds) for your dimensions especially since you'll have the extra from your cutouts.  Wilton says 17 pounds because they're looking for a 1/4 inch thick fondant layer (gag).  I've never (even in early days of caking) used as much as their charts call for. 

Of course, I'm going to qualify all of the above by saying I've only been caking for three years and I'm still three cakes away from my 100th cake so my figuring may be hugely off (but I don't think it is).  I'll be really interested to see how it works out for you.

I keep track by taking photos of every cake I bake, and have a numbered file for each one.  Thank God for digital cameras.  I started taking photos because I consider my cakes to be every bit as much art as my paintings, but because they're more fleeting I need the photo record.  I started my first cake blog because I was half way across the country from my family and it was a way to share with them.  After I moved closer I kept it up with the new blog because I'm proud of most of my work (there are a few duds in there--experiments that didn't work out) and really enjoy the thought that other people will look at it.  I guess I'm just a closet exhibitionist (now there's an orymoron--but nonetheless true!). lol 

G'nite and happy caking.

I actually just made some on the weekend with a bag of stale minis, just to try it out, worked really well. It was a super basic recipe, just the marshmallows, water and icing sugar. Rolled out really smooth, lots of elasticity.

May have been a big fat fluke, it's only the second time I've made MMF, I sort of hate marshmallows, but keep getting requests for it, so figured I should start experimenting. lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annabakescakes 

FYI, to update, I couldn't get the stale ones to melt! WTH? I mixed them with fresh, and I nuked them a minute, stirred, nuked 30 seconds, stirred, and all the fresh ones were melted, but the stale where slimy lumps. Nuked again, stirred...Nuked again, stirred....The fresh ones started turning slightly brown, and I still had big lumps. I finally had to toss it, after I tried breaking up the lumps with a fork, and then my hands, because I thought, "They are hot marshmallows, of course they will melt! I have to make them melt!" Nope, they didn't! 

Was thinking of you last week when I tried using up some old Walmart brand mms.  I heated and heated them, stirred and stirred them, then added them to the ps anyway and mixed them in the KA.  I got about half the ps into them , added some boiling water and got another cup in.  Kneaded it up and let it sit for two days.  Used it to cover the three tier dummy in my photos and it was a right b**ch to roll out.  It acted like rubber and kept trying to spring back till I heated it good in the microwave to relax it.  I have never seen the like, and the fondant was an actual beige instead of white.  I won't be buying Wallys brand again.  I'll stick to my no-name which never give me trouble even when they're a bit dried out.

I'm blaming that for the fact that my 7 month old KA chewed up its own gears three days ago half way through mixing a batch of burger buns.  Still under store warranty, and exchanged it today.   We're baking bread tomorrow!