Fondant Recipe
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Oct 10, 2025 This fabulous homemade Fondant Recipe is made with a few simple ingredients and makes the softest and stretchiest covering for your favorite cake and decorations. This easy recipe tastes better than most fondants and will definitely impress your friends!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
This homemade fondant recipe is SO much easier than you ever thought it could be, and trust me, it takes your baking game to the next level.
Not only does this fondant recipe make the coolest figurines and decorations, it also tastes a lot better than the store-bought version. So whether you’re baking a cake for a birthday, or just having fun in the kitchen, this foolproof recipe makes bakery-quality fondant right at home. The kids will LOVE it!!
Why You’ll Love This Fondant Recipe
- It saves tons of money – My local baking supply store sells fondant for $8 a pound. This recipe make 3 pounds for less than $5.
- Customizable – Add your favorite colors, glitter or whatever else your heart desires.
- Stretchy – This recipe makes the softest and most pliable fondant, so when you pull it apart it doesn’t break.
This easy fondant recipe is a must when it comes to baking and it will take all your decorating skills to the next level.
Ingredients and Tips
- Mini Marshmallows – Use white marshmallows, not the colored variety.
- Water – Use cold water.
- Flavored extract of choice – This is optional, although I used almond extract.
- Powdered Sugar – Make sure to use lots of it.
- Shortening – You can also use lard.
- Cornstarch – This is key for rolling.
- Food coloring – Use whatever color(s) you like!
Recipe Variations and Dietary Swaps
- Chocolate – To make the fondant taste chocolate-y, use unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
- Marbled – For that fun marbled look, fold together at least two colors.
- Glitter – For that extra wow factor, fold in your favorite edible glitter and you’ll have sparkly fondant.
- Natural coloring – Use turmeric for yellow, beets for red or pink and spirulina instead of artificial food coloring.
How To Make Fondant
You might be intimidated to make homemade marshmallow fondant, and I get it! But trust me, this recipe is so easy and you’ll have the best time decorating cakes or making the cutest figurines.
Find the full Fondant recipe with detailed instructions and storage tips in the printable form at the bottom of the post!
Tips For Success
- The most important thing to remember is grease, grease, grease. Marshmallow fondant is very sticky until it’s finished. Grease everything it is going to touch… Including YOU.
- To make fondant at home, you simply need a large microwave-safe bowl and an electric mixer.
- Avoid Over-drying. If the fondant starts to tear or feel dry, add in small amounts of water until it is soft again.
Storage Notes
- Storing Leftovers – Wrap the leftover rolled fondant tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 months. Don’t freeze fondant!
Marshmallow Fondant Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 16 ounces mini marshmallows
- 3-6 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon flavored extract of choice, optional
- 2 pounds powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup shortening
- Cornstarch for rolling
Instructions
- Place the shortening in a small bowl, you’ll need to dip into throughout the entire process.
- Grease a microwave-safe bowl, the electric mixer bowl, the paddle attachment and a spatula with shortening.
- Pour the marshmallows, 3 tablespoons of water and the extract in the microwave-safe bowl.
- Melt the marshmallows in the microwave in 30 second increments. Stir with the greased spatula in between.
- Continue until the marshmallows are completely smooth—2-3 minutes.
- Pour the marshmallows into the greased mixer bowl. Start the mixer on low and slowly add the entire bag of powdered sugar. Mix until the mixer starts to struggle. There will still be plenty of dried clumps in the bowl.
- Grease a clean work surface and your hands. Dump the mixture out on the surface, clumps and all. Start kneading and re-grease hands as needed.
- Knead for several minutes until the mixture is clump free. At this point, if it seems to be dry and rips when you pull it, add a little more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the fondant is soft, pliable and can stretch a little ways when you pull on it. *When you add the water, it is going to seem like a mistake for a moment, but re-grease your hands and keep kneading. The water will absorb into the fondant.
- Now, grease the whole ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Place the wrapped ball in a large zip bag and squeeze out all the air before sealing. Let it sit overnight to improve the texture and elasticity. *You can use it immediately in a “cake emergency” but it’s better to wait. *It’s best to color fondant right before using so the color doesn’t fade. Drop a few drops of food coloring on the fondant and knead in.
- Once it has sat overnight, sprinkle a clean work surface, and your hands, with cornstarch. *Some people use more powdered sugar for this, but they risk adding clumps to their perfectly smooth fondant. Cornstarch doesn’t clump.
- If rolling out for a cake, rub cornstarch on the rolling pin and roll until just over 1/8-inch thick. Make sure to measure the cake and sides accordingly. Drape over a frosted cake and gently smooth any bumps or creases. Carefully cut the excess fondant around the bottom.
- If using for molding, HAVE FUN! It molds just like play dough. If wrapped well, it will keep at room temperature for a long, long time.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Your homemade fondant will be white. If you want to make solid colors, cut the fondant into chunks and knead food coloring into each piece until the color is smooth. (See images above for reference.) Gel food coloring offers the most saturated color.
You can also make shapes with white fondant and paint them with food coloring for a “watercolor” look. Simply mix food coloring with a small amount of water (about 1 tsp) until the edible paint is as dark or saturated as you want it to be. Then, use paintbrushes to decorate the fondant shapes. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly before moving.
You can, but it probably won’t get you very far. You’ll have to do most of the mixing by hand. It’s a good upper body workout!
When making fondant the air temp shouldn’t matter that much. It will be a little softer in warm temperatures and a little more firm in cooler climates, but not by much.
You can use your amazing fondant to cover cakes, mold into critters, and cut fun shapes for cupcake toppers. It rolls out like a dream and molds just like playdough.
Fondant is best used to create a smooth layer over cakes, for FLAT decorations, and for small squatty shapes that aren’t top-heavy. If you want to make standing bows or larger flowers you’ll need to use gumpaste, because it dries harder.
I just made this today. Making the fondant was super easy. Coloring it was another story. After sitting in the fridge all night I had a white rock to work with. I had to cut it up and attempt to kneed in a color. It wasn’t until the fondant got so dry from the shortening and the air and I added water that the color became more uniform, and the fondant a sticky mess. Eventually it worked out, however it took hours of kneading and fighting. I would recommend cutting it into smaller pieces and microwaving it. It becomes super malleable and the color is uniform very quickly. On the upside, it tastes yummy!
I greased everything with coconut oil instead of shortening. Worked great. Now I’m off to make fondant toilet paper for my son’s poop cake…
Wow, this is an amazing find, thank you for been so generous in sharing this recipe. As I am from South Africa any suggestions on what I could replace the shortening
with as we dont have it in SA. Has any one tried it with butter. This has come at such a good time as I am planning to make bakes for parties and weddings, again thank you
I just tried out this recipe! amazing :) and you are right…. grease grease grease!
I have made this fondant before & mine was SO sticky…but the more powdered sugar I added, it made the fondant crack (I was covering a cake). I literally couldn’t touch it, without it sticking to me, which was incredibly annoying. Any remedies for this…or something I possibly did wrong?
I tried this recipe today to make a smiling sun for a bday cake. I halved it, but stuck to the exact measurement ratios, and it turned out like runny, gummy glue. Fortunately I had the wherewithal to realize it just needed something dry, and since I didn’t have any more powdered sugar, I added flour. Turned out great! Not too sweet, still tastes like marshmallow. Thanks for posting this.
Hey Kelly, As with most baking/sugar issues it might have had to do with climate and conditions. I’m so glad you were able to fix it!
This is a very good recipe but blending the powdered sugar and marshmallows did not work out very well .. so instead I just used my hands to mix it up . hanks worked out very well !
Hi–
I am planning on making this fondant however I do not have a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Will it still turn out if I use a hand mixer?? thanks =)
Hi Shannon, You can, but it probably won’t get you very far. You’ll have to do most of the mixing by hand. Let me know how it goes!
I do not use a hand mixer when i make mine. I microwave the marshmallow, add most of my powder sugar, then grease my counter top before i pour out and just knead it. As I knead ! add a little bit of sugar at a time until I get the right consistency.
You have made my dreams come true. I got out of walmart bakery, and am in a private bakery that someone else has. And soon, armed with this and imagination, will go on my own with a bakery of my own someday.
And it tastes better then all that stuff that gets shipped anyway, but then again, all homemade things do.
I’m getting ready to try this recipe, but am curious to know how long it will keep at room temperature? You said if in #13: “If wrapped well, it will keep at room temperature for a long, long time,” but what exactly does that mean. Once it’s wrapped in saran wrap, can I put the ball in a ziplock food saver bag & remove the excess air with my handheld foodsaver vac? And how long is “a long, long time” really…1 week, 1 month, longer? Please elaborate…it would be greatly appreciated.
And thanks for sharing this recipe…
Hi Dawn,
I’ve had some in the pantry (wrapped well) for 3 months and it’s still soft. The longest I’ve ever let it sit and still used it was about 4 months. I had that in the frig though…
Lovely recipe….!!!! and how nicely u’ve used the food colors…!! can’t wait to try…
Can’t wait to make fondant for the first time and Ive never used it! What kind of extract do you use? Is it good without any extract?
I usually use almond extract, but you could flavor it however you want. I bet it would just taste like sugar without a flavoring. :)
It Tate’s like marshmallows without doing any extract