The Tale of two Fondants (Rolled Buttercream Fondant + Marshmallow Fondant) Part I

It is not often that I get this excited about trying out something new cake wise. But, I am soooo excited about this weeks post. Are you ready for this? Rolled Buttercream Fondant. Yup… American buttercream that can be molded like regular fondant to cover cakes and make cake toppers. Grab some chocolate, pull up a chair and let’s dive in eh.

I decided to expand my horizons and try making rolled buttercream fondant and marshmallow fondant. There has been so many reviews and claims about how great rolled buttercream fondant and marshmallow fondant are (while I am not one for hype) I wanted to try it for myself.

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Warning… This is the first of a two-part series only because it is way too much information to stuff into one post. Part I (Rolled Buttercream Fondant). So, you must come back for part II (Marshmallow Fondant) ok… Ok great.

Raise your hand If you love working with fondant or If you love eating fondant.

Now I know a lot of people did not raise their hand on the second one. I find that many people do not eat the fondant myself included *shock*. I love the versatility of fondant and the clean look it gives to cakes. Disclaimer, I tried rolled fondant and it was delicious. Maybe trying rolled buttercream fondant or Marshmallow Fondant will change your mind.

If you love the taste of American buttercream then “rolled buttercream fondant” is for you.

Rolled buttercream fondant is made with the traditional American buttercream with corn syrup added to give it some flexibility. The million dollar question about rolled buttercream fondant and marshmallow fondant is how do these fondants compare to what I use every day? Rolled buttercream fondant while tricky to work with is worth adding to your fondant library. If you don’t believe me just keep reading.

Recipes used for Rolled Buttercream Fondant

I tried two tolled buttercream fondant recipes: one made with butter and the other one made with shortening (Crisco). Now I really did not know what to expect, I went in with an open mind.

First Recipe Rolled Buttercream Fondant here:

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp heavy cream
4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
• Mix the heavy cream with the butter until fluffy.
• After the butter mixture comes together add in vanilla extract and mix well.

• Then mix in the powdered sugar a little at a time. I dumped the 4 cups of powdered sugar all at once, might be the reason it took so long to come together.
• Continue to knead the mixture until it comes together.
• Wrap in plastic and let it sit in the refrigerator.

Second Recipe Rolled Buttercream Fondant here:

½ cup light corn syrup
½ cup shortening
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp clear vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

• The first step is to mix the shortening and corn syrup together.
• Then add in the salt and the vanilla extract. Mix well.
• Slowly add in the powdered sugar. If you add it all once it will take longer to come together.
•Knead the dough by hand until it comes together. Then, cover in plastic and place it into the refrigerator.

Making Rolled Buttercream Fondant

The rolled buttercream fondant is very easy to make. I was able to make both recipes and take photos in about a half-an-hour. If you have ever made fondant from scratch you know it is a labor of love, but the result is worth it.

However, when mixing I realized it was so much faster to knead by hand. It seemed like it was taking forever (in our fast-moving, New York minute kind of forever) for the dough hook to knead. I was so impatient with this one. So I chucked the dough hook and started kneading. Surprisingly it came together very quickly.

My thoughts on Rolled Buttercream Fondant

My first impression is that it was soft and sticky and you need lots and lots of powdered sugar to keep it from sticking all over the place. Perhaps if I had followed the note to roll out between parchment paper I would have avoided any sticky mess.
There really did not seem to be much difference between the butter and the shortening. The rolled buttercream fondant with shortening seemed more oily but was a bit stiffer (firmer) than the one made with straight butter. Nevertheless, they are both sticky, yummy and workable.
Once powdered sugar was added it was easy to make any design. Even though I am not sure how long it will hold up because the rolled buttercream fondant was still very soft when it came to room temperature.
The fondant colors really well and was definitely firm when placed in the refrigerator. I colored them purple, black and pink.

Projects made using rolled buttercream fondant

I was so excited about doing this project, I immediately began using the rolled buttercream fondant. Wait, didn’t the instructions say to let it sit in the refrigerator… I could not wait so I decided to make some cupcake toppers. So, I pulled out my mini pocketbook mold, tiny bows mold, channel cupcake label mold and this cake boss mold I use for quilting cakes. I was ready to roll.

Tiny handbags (pocketbook). If you have a fashionista in your life they will definitely appreciate these pocketbooks. I made a tiny Birkin bag, and a Chanel and coach purse. About the closest, I would get to have these bags (I mean the Birkin and Chanel).
Pink Ballerina shoes. They were so cute.
Cupcake toppers. Made with a circle cutter, the quilting impression mat and then followed with my stitch tool. It turned out great.
Flowers. I made open flowers different sizes and a white rose. The open flowers needed some help to keep it in position. The rose, however, was intact.

Experiment with stiffening for modeling and the ultimate test covering a small cake with the rolled buttercream fondant

To stiffen for modeling added more powdered sugar and more corn syrup.

Covering The Cake with Fondant

Covering the cake with fondant was very tricky, but can be done. You will need to add lots of powdered sugar to the rolling pin and the mat that is being used.

There will be some cracks, however, it can be molded back together again very easily. Just for fun, I covered a six-inch cake that was frosted with buttercream.