For the cake base, I used the recipe from this site, omitting the vanilla bean. Because of the time crunch, I baked the cakes ahead of time and stored the two layers in the refrigerator. The finished product tasted absolutely delicious and held up impressively in the face of all my manhandling (i.e. my forgetting to parchment paper line the bottom of the pans, my haphazard sawing off the dome of the lower tier, etc...). I really am an amateur. Regardless, this "plain" vanilla cake was really flavorful, which was in no way diminished by being stored in the fridge for two days. Not plain in any way, shape or form - I'd definitely use this recipe again!
To prep the cake for the decorating process, I took the chilled layers out of the fridge and applied a truly horrible crumb coating of buttercream. Now onto the big challenge: the fondant making. Theoretically the process should have been fairly simple. The directions, in a nutshell, basically read as follows: Melt a 16oz bag of marshmallows in a large greased bowl. Pour confectioner's sugar into the bowl of a large stand mixer and make a well in the center. Pour melted marshmallows into the center of the well and mix on lowest setting until a cohesive mass is formed. Given, my bastardized version of the directions were heavily paraphrased but it sounds simple enough, right? First of all, I don't own a stand mixer, nor do I own a bowl large enough to mix the confectioner's sugar and marshmallow goo together. Of course, what do I decide to do? Mix them all together anyway of course! Flaaaxx that. As soon as I stirred, great globs of powdered sugar and melted marshmallow spilled over the sides of the bowl. Our counter will never be the same again.
Do you know how hard it is to mix something so powdery into something so sticky and gooey? I've always thought incorporating flour into cookie dough was troublesome enough. After what seemed like a year of stirring vigorously and scooping handfuls of powdered sugar off the counter and dumping it back into the bowl (rest assured, I sanitize the counter before I start baking) the fondant finally formed something that could vaguely be called a "mass". Yeesh. Lesson learned: If thou doth not haveth not a bowl of the correct proportions, thou shalt not be so stupid as to attempt a full sized recipe anyway.
Thankfully the rest of the process went blessedly smoothly in comparison. After chilling and resting the fondant for 2 hours, I pulled it out of the fridge and divided the ball in two, one half of which I stained with food coloring and kneaded for a bit to distribute the color evenly. To lay over the cake, I dusted the counter and the rolling pin with a mix of flour and confectioner's sugar and rolled it out very thin (you can simply dust it off later to keep the fondant from absorbing too much and becoming tough). To keep it from stretching, I folded the thin round into 4ths and unfolded it over the cake, much like one would for a rolled out tart dough.
Yes! It didn't tear! It actually looks pretty nice. After bit of stretching and patting into place I cut off the excess fondant with a knife and smoothed down the edges.
For decoration, I rolled out the other undyed half of the fondant and cut it into strips in order to constitute the bow and cutouts. I improvised the simple bow on top because I'd read that that complicated-looking fancy bow doesn't work too well for marshmallow fondant, which is far too soft. Here is another reason I extol my hate for humid weather...the bow ended up becoming all soft and droopy after sitting a bit. Oy.
The finished product looked pretty cute for my first time making a layer cake and working with fondant. Not too shabby ;)
When I served it up it was certainly eaten up quickly by my ravenous classmates (then again, that probably isn't saying too much). Something I noticed was that the fondant layer didn't adhere very well to the buttercream. It actually pretty much peeled off entirely when I was cutting it. Any ideas as to why that would be? Guess the buttercream didn't work too well as a "glue" to keep it in place.
After making marshmallow fondant for the first time, I've got to say: maybe I'm just not made to appreciate the taste of the stuff. The fondant tasted like... marshmallows, all compressed and rolled out into a sticky, sugary gum-textured thing. Which is basically what it is, except with a lot of added sugar. Of course, it's probably partially my own fault as well, as it's likely I rolled in too much confectioner's sugar to prevent the fondant from adhering to the counter forever...sweets with a lot of powdered sugar tend to have that chalky mouthfeel. My classmates seem to share my taste: when I served it, the fondant strip was the only thing left behind on their napkins. Sigh.
I have come to the conclusion that fondant works more for looks and not taste...though if anyone has any suggestion for a fondant recipe that really and truly tastes delicious, please let me know - I want to be a convert! In the meantime, however, I'll continue using this marshmallow recipe when I finally get a larger mixing bowl.
Marshmallow Fondant (adapted from this recipe)
* yields quite a bit more than you really need for a two tier cake, but it should fit a 3 tiered one nicely. Also, if you're making it for the first time like I am, better safe than sorry eh?
16 oz bag plain marshmallows
2 Tbsp water butter, for greasing your LARGE bowls
1-2 tsp vanilla (or another flavoring)
2 lb bag of confectioner’s sugar, divided
pinch of salt
food coloring, if desired
Grease a microwave safe bowl, a spoon, and another very large mixing bowl with butter or shortening (grease it well or you'll kill a sponge trying to clean it off).
Place the marshmallows and water in the greased microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds or less, depending on the strength of your microwave. Stir with the greased spoon to ensure complete melting. Stir in flavoring.
Place confectioner’s sugar and salt in a large bowl and set aside 1 cup. Make a well in the center. Pour in the marshmallow mix and mix carefully, making sure to scrape down the edges of the bowl. It will look like there is far too much sugar, but just persevere and continue mixing because the inside of the marshmallow mass is still wet. Once all the sugar is mixed in, turn out the fondant on a greased surface. If the fondant is sticky, add the reserved confectioner’s sugar 1/4 cup at a time.
Rub a bit of shortening on the outside of the ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, place in a ziploc bag, and let rest for at least 2-3 hours. Keep unused portions well wrapped when not using or they will dry out. If the fondant becomes stiff, place in microwave for 20 seconds at a time until pliable.
To color fondant using conventional food coloring: Stretch out the round of fondant until it is about the size of your palm and drop a few drops of coloring over the surface. Using a toothpick, spread out the dye and wipe it over all different parts of the fondant ball (spreading out the color helps the process go more quickly). Scrunch ball together again and knead until color is uniform. Repeat until desired shade is reached.
Roll out on a greased mat/fondant circle to the desired thickness.
