Sweet Fondant Recipe: How to Make Marshmallow Fondant

Fondant, which comes from the French “fondre” (to melt), is a type of candy typically used in cake decorating. Fondant is made by boiling a mixture of table sugar and glucose to the soft-ball stage, then kneading the syrup on a cold work surface until it becomes opaque. Its most famous application is fondant icing, a thick form of icing cake decorators use for wedding cakes and birthday cakes. Due to its pliable texture, fondant is useful as a topping for cupcakes and as a dessert filling for sweets like chocolate-covered mint cremes.

There are three main types of fondant icing:

1. 1. Poured fondant: Poured fondant is the classic form of fondant icing made with sugar syrup and poured over cakes for a glossy finish. French desserts, such as petit fours, feature poured fondant.
2. 2. Rolled fondant: Ingredients for rolled fondant include table sugar, glucose, gelatin, glycerin, vegetable shortening, and water. To use it, you roll out the fondant with a rolling pin and then place the fondant sheet on top of a cake, or form shapes or cutouts. To make color fondant, knead food coloring into homemade or ready-made white fondant. Add water and sugar to reach the right consistency, which is playdough-like. To cover cakes with rolled fondant, it's typical to first frost the cake with a thin layer of buttercream frosting, which helps the fondant adhere to it.
3. 3. Marshmallow fondant: You can make marshmallow fondant from ingredients readily found at the grocery store—melted marshmallows, confectioners' sugar (also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar), vegetable shortening, and water—which is why it's popular with home cooks. Marshmallow fondant behaves just like rolled fondant. You can knead in colors or flavorings like peppermint or vanilla extract, and to roll it out, use a rolling pin on a cornstarch-dusted surface.