Marshmallow Fondant

Recipe from Fondant 101

Makes about 3 lbs of marshmallow fondant

INGREDIENTS

16 ounces white mini-marshmallows 

2-5 tbsp water

2 lbs powdered sugar 

about 1/2 cup Crisco shortening, to grease hands and work surface

INSTRUCTIONS

Melt marshmallows and 2 tbsp of water in a microwave safe bowl. Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 second intervals (stir between intervals) for about 2-1/2 minutes until marshmallows are melted. Place 1 to 1-1/2 lbs of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.

 

 

Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY (palms and in between fingers), then heavily grease the surface you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. 

Start kneading like you would bread dough. It will be VERY sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and surface when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily or it is to dry, add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time). Continue to knead and add water until there are no bits of powder sugar visible. It usually takes about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing.

[NOTES: I added about 1-1/2 tbsp of water]

 

 

Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, double wrap with saran wrap and then put in ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Let rest overnight for best results.

Color with Wilton concentrated gel. Use a toothpick to poke coloring into the fondant. Knead with your hands until the color is dispersed evenly. Continue to add color and knead until you reach the desired shade you want.

source: www.iheartcuppycake.com

Pumpkin Spice Cake

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cup pumpkin

4 eggs

2 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (or more)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

dash of cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine sugar and the oil. Blend in the vanilla, applesauce and the pumpkin. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Mix the dry ingredients together and beat into the pumpkin mixture until smooth.

Bake in a greased 9X13 pan or the batter makes great muffins or smaller size cakes too. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Cool then ice with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Beat 8 oz softened cream cheese with 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla until smooth. Add 3 to 4 cups of powdered confectioners sugar ( I like it sweeter and add 4 cups) -- beat for a few minutes until creamy.

Heart In A Cupcake!

For the cupcakes and the hearts you’ll need:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

the seeds from half a vanilla bean

1/4 t. salt

2 1/2 c. flour

1 1/3 c. whole milk

red food coloring 

For the Laffy Taffy buttercream you’ll need:

10 pieces of strawberry Laffy Taffy candy

2 T. heavy cream

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c. powdered sugar 

Directions: 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F). 

Mix the butter and sugar together at medium speed for about 90 seconds, until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so everything gets well combined. Add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla and mix until the batter is smooth. Finally, alternate between the flour and milk, beating on med-high speed until the batter is light and creamy.

Pour a little more than 1/3 of the batter (about a cup and a half) into a smaller bowl. Add red food coloring until you get your desired pink or red color. Pour the batter into a non-stick (or lightly greased) 8x8 baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes until the edges of the cake start to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely (to speed up the process, I stuck in in the fridge).

Once the sheet cake is cool, loosen the edges away from the pan with a knife and then invert the pan onto a cutting board. Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a dozen cake hearts that are small enough to fit into an average-sized cupcake pan.

Spoon two heaping tablespoons of the remaining batter into paper-lined cupcake tins, so they’re about half-full. Put one heart into each tin and press it point down into the batter. Keep all the hearts facing forward in the pan. Cover with another teaspoon of batter and bake for 24 minutes.

Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Here’s the tricky part—you’ll have to keep the cupcakes facing forward so you get the right cross-section of the heart when you cut or bite into the cupcake (to get the full heart effect). So keep all the cupcakes facing forward as you move them from the cupcake tin to a cookie sheet for cooling/frosting. After frosting, put heart candy on them (or some other decoration) that can also face forward so you know which way to cut the cupcake in order to see the heart shape inside (if you cut the heart in the wrong direction you just get a rectangle shape—not very romantic!).

For the buttercream, melt the taffy and the heavy cream together in a small bowl for one minute on high, stirring every 20 seconds. Stir the mixture together until it’s smooth, then stick it in the fridge so it cools a bit (the cream will keep it from hardening). 

In a mixing bowl, whip the butter for 30 seconds until it’s smooth. Add the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, whipping until fluffy. Finally, with the mixer on medium-low, drizzle in the melted and cooled taffy mixture. When it’s all in, turn the mixer up to high and whip the frosting until it’s fluffy. If you’d like, add a little pink or red food coloring to get the desired shade. Then frost! 

{recipe copied from here}