Cream Cheese Fondant
I had my first ever experience using fondant the other day. I wanted to make a cake for my husband’s birthday that looked like the logo for the Dharma Initiative (nevermind what that is, unless you are a LOST fan). The point is, I needed fondant. I’d heard horror stories about the yucky taste of the Wilton fondant and how hard it is to work with. I’d also heard that homemade fondant tastes better, but most of the recipes I’d found used ingredients like glucose or glycerin. Being new at this, I was feeling just a bit intimidated.
But then I came across the blog of a friend of mine. She makes cakes and had a recipe posted for a Marshmallow Fondant. I talked to her about it and she mentioned that it was pretty easy and reassured me that I could make this without too much trouble.
So I took the plunge.
Her recipe noted that chocolate (dark, milk, or white) could be added to make a chocolate fondant. That seemed interesting, but I was making a Carrot Cake, so I was wondering if I could add a cream cheese flavoring to the fondant. My google searches came up empty. But I risked it anyway (figuring marshmallows are cheap if I screw up).
So I modified her recipe to include a small amount of cream cheese.
The resulting flavor was very subtle, but it worked well with the cake. The fondant was also a bit stickier, but adding a bit more powdered sugar worked well.
So, first is the original recipe from Camille’s Cakes (slightly reworded). Then, my modification, Cream Cheese Fondant.
Marshmallow Fondant
8 oz. mini marshmallows
1 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 – 1 3/4 c powdered sugar
CriscoPlace marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. Microwave in 20 seconds increments until they “puff up.” Go slowly. Stir in with a spoon until it’s all “soupy.” Add the powdered sugar. Knead it with the spoon until it’s all mixed well. Then you can knead it on a lightly greased (with Crisco) surface.
If you want to add color or flavoring to the fondant do so at the “soupy” stage.
Keep covered in an air-tight container so it doesn’t dry out. If it’s too hard to work with, stick it in the microwave for a few seconds (ten or so) and it softens right up, like playdough!
Variations:
Chocolate:
add 1 oz. melted chocolate
1 t. cocoa powder to basic recipeWhite Chocolate:
add 1 oz. (maybe 1 1/4 oz.) good quality white chocolate, melted to basic recipe.
And this is my modification:
Cream Cheese Fondant
8 oz. mini marshmallows
1 Tbsp. water
1 oz. cream cheese
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups (approx.) powdered sugar
CriscoPlace marshmallows, vanilla, and cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and add the water. Microwave in 20 seconds increments until they “puff up.” Go slowly. Stir in with a spoon until it’s all “soupy.” Slowly add the powdered sugar. Knead it with the spoon until it’s all mixed well and no longer sticky. Then knead it on a lightly greased (with Crisco) surface until smooth.
*Note: The cream cheese seems to make this recipe a bit more sticky, thus the need for additional powdered sugar.
Store extra fondant in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature, microwaving a few seconds at a time as needed, before use.
Please note, I do not claim to be any type of fondant authority. This is just what worked for me.
On the Carrot Cake I made, I first frosted it with traditional cream cheese frosting, and then covered it with the cream cheese fondant. It taste of the fondant was sweet and a bit sugary and it blended well with the frosting layer beneath it. I don’t think that it would hold up as a cream cheese flavored topping on its own, but it didn’t detract from the carrot cake/cream cheese frosting flavor.
Also note: In the images above I used a chocolate fondant for the decal on the cake. I didn’t like the chocolate flavor with the cream cheese/carrot cake, so we ended up pulling off those pieces when we ate it. In retrospect I think I should have simply colored the cream cheese fondant. Next time.
Last but not least, I imagine at some point in my future I will try other types of fondant recipes just so I have something to compare, but in the meantime I think this is a great recipe worth trying and using. Thanks again Camille.
(I also came across a website with a similar – though slightly more complex – recipe. But they also have some good tips on covering the cake with the finished fondant.)
April 8th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
do you this will work for a red velvet wedding cake?
April 8th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I don’t see why not. But please note that this fondant isn’t perfectly white… and if you’re spreading it over cream cheese icing it may be a little more work to get it perfectly smooth – the consistency is a bit different from butter cream icing.
It may be worth making a small sample cake to get a feel for what it will be like working with.
Best of luck! And please, let us know how it turns out!
July 10th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
i made this at home for a practice grooms cake before i makw the actual cake for our wedding and it worked awsome thanks
February 9th, 2010 at 10:05 am
Thanks for the tips! I have developed many mixed feelings about Wilton Fondant. I love the look, hate the taste. I am anxious to try the recipe you included for a Red Velvet cake I am making this week. I wasn’t sure how fondant would taste next too cream cheese icing, but with your suggestion, things should be great!
April 27th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
was is the yeild for this recipe?
April 27th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
The recipe makes enough to cover a single layer 9″ round. Let me know how it works for you!
April 28th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
i’m so glad someone else has tried this out… i’ve been working on recreating a friend’s grandmother’s big red cake recipe; it’s a very moist cake that is supposed to be two layers with a whipped cream/vanilla pudding filling and cream cheese icing, but i’m nervous about putting it all together — i’m hoping if i can do a cream cheese fondant, it’ll hold together.
May 18th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Hi! I’m planning on making a dharma cake for the series finale of Lost this Sunday. I’m wondering if you had a template you used to cut out the fondant or if you did it free hand? Looks great! I think I’m going to try and replicate it! 🙂
May 18th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Suzy… I’m glad to see another LOST fan on here! As for the fondant template, I made a quick one by printing out a Dharma logo on my home printer the same size as the cake, then I just used a razor blade to cut the fondant the same size as the printed template pieces. It took quite awhile, but I was happy with the results.
There are more pictures of the process on my other blog, http://blog.ernstrom.net/?p=408, if it would help.
Let me know how it turns out! I think I may try making “fish biscuits” this Sunday!
January 5th, 2011 at 12:44 am
You’re a life saver I was wondering if this could be done! Looking forward to trying it out 🙂
January 26th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
I just tried this fondant for my first time using fondant, ever! It worked great. I found that leaving it overnight in the fridge and then slightly microwaving it back to room temp worked better than just using this stuff right after it was mixed. But it looked great, tasted wonderful and I got lots of compliments on it. Thanks for the recipe!
June 21st, 2011 at 9:25 am
Thanks for this! I only like working with marshmallow fondant, but my daughter wants a carrot cake for her birthday, and I was afraid the two flavors wouldn’t work together. Now, I feel I can go forward with the project!
October 15th, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Thank you so much! I am not a great baker but want to make the cake for my babie’s (my youngest daughter’s and soldier) first baby’s shower. Her favorite cake is spice and i have never used fondant. Thanks to your recipe i can make the traditional cream cheese flavored fondant. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Maybe a pic too. :-p
September 4th, 2012 at 5:53 pm
I was wondering if I could use a cream cheese flavored extract instead of the actual cream cheese? if so, how much would I need to use in this recipe?
June 2nd, 2013 at 2:03 pm
Probably. I looked for cream cheese extract at my local supermarket without luck… I have no idea how much to use. I’d love to hear back if you try it though.
June 2nd, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Hi there, I am from South Africa, and I want to try the Cream Frosting on my Carrot Cake. Can someone please tell me what is Crisco ? It might be called something else here ?
June 2nd, 2013 at 2:01 pm
Heidie, Crisco is shortening.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisco
Hope that helps!