Dark chocolate marshmallows are a tasty way to make black marshmallow fondant.
I’ve been humming the theme song to Transformers all week long. I don’t remember all the words – after all, it has been 20 years since I watched the cartoon regularly on Sunday mornings before church (or if it was football season, before the Oilers game came on).
My brother loved, loved, loved Transformers when he was little. And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And The Thundercats. And GI Joe. He might have been out-numbered 3:1, but there was no room for Jem and The Holograms, Care Bears, or Rainbow Brite on our TV because the baby of the family was a boy. What’s a house full of girls to do?
Watch with him.
One of the challenges of deeply colored frosting is that you often require so much coloring agent, that it alters the taste of the final product. And it almost never alters it in a good way. Black is toughy but I’ve found that Americolor products work really well (thanks, Mom!)
To make black fondant for this Transformers cupcake cake (in “Bumblebee”), I started with a chocolate marshmallow recipe – a recipe that David Lebovitz gave us in a recent cooking class. I then used those marshmallows in a marshmallow fondant recipe. The result was a true black fondant with a cocoa-y flavor and a faint Oreo-like aftertaste.
Techniques used on this cake:
Cupcake Cake
Frozen Buttercream Transfer (for the white Autobot shield background)
Dark Chocolate Marshmallow Fondant
Dark chocolate marshmallows are a tasty way to make black marshmallow fondant.
Ingredients
- 2 envelops gelatin
- 1/3 cup + 6 Tbsp cold water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 3 large egg whites
- pinch of salt
- 8 rounded Tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Shortening, for greasing tools
- 1 tsp black liqui-gel coloring
- 2 lb + 1 cup confectioner
Instructions
- Grease an 8x8 pan very well. Pour 6 Tbsp cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Let sit.
- In a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan fitted with a candy thermometer, add the sugar, corn syrup and 1/3 cup water. Cook over moderate heat. While the syrup is cooking, put the egg whites into a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- When the sugar reaches 225F, begin whipping the egg whites on medium with a pinch of salt. As the temp of the syrup climbs, beat the egg whites on med-high until they're fluffy and hold their shape.
- After the syrup reaches 248F, remove from heat and scrape in the gelatin (I use a knife to cut the gelatin into a grid before dumping it into the syrup - it dissolves quickly and uniformly this way). Whisk until completely dissolved and then whisk in the cocoa powder.
- Increase the speed of the mixer to high and pour the syrup into the egg whites in a slow but steady stream. Stop the mixer to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the vanilla, and continue to whip the marshmallow mixture until thickened and the side of the mixer bowl feels slightly warm. The mixture will still be runny, like chocolate pudding.
- Pour the mixture into the greased pan. Cool at least 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. As long as the pan was greased well, the marshmallow will peel out of the pan with no trouble.
- Grease the mixer bowl, hook attachment, spoon, and microwave-safe bowl. Place the marshmallow square and black gel into a greased bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir until smooth (microwave an extra 30 seconds to melt the marshmallow, if necessary).
- Place confectioner's sugar in the stand mixer bowl, reserving 1 cup, and make a well in the center. Pour in the marshmallow mix and turn the mixer on to the lowest setting. When it sounds strained, increase the mixer speed up one setting. Turn off the mixer once all sugar has been incorporated. If the fondant is sticky, add the reserved confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup at a time.
- Turn fondant out onto plastic wrap. 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 covered when not using. If the fondant becomes stiff, place in microwave for 20 seconds at a time until pliable.
- Roll out on a greased mat/fondant circle to the desired thickness.
Notes
Yields: 64 marshmallows or enough fondant to cover 1 cake
Estimated time: 5 hours
Good morning dear!! What a great cake!! You are really talented!
And thanks for the recipe dear!
Have a nice we
Silvia
What a cool looking cupcake cake! As a child of the 80s I also have fond transformers memories.
Wow! Love the cake. It looks awesome!
The cake looks incredible! My youngest has a birthday coming up, and if he saw that cake I’d be getting a request for that one!
My husband would ADORE this cake. (He also talks about Thundercats all the time! Ha.) I was the oldest of three girls so although we DID watch Transformers, we were more likely to be found watching CareBears on tape.
You’re such a talented decorator! This would be a great groom’s cake…
Oooooo! A new marshmallow recipe to try! I might try this before lemon ones…
My brother was into He-Man, but we didn’t have a t.v. to fight over. He did get action figures, though. 🙂 Anyway, great cake!
This cake was awesome! We absolutely love it and it was the hit of the birthday party.