The July 4th themed weekend begins

More Fourth of July festive delights! This simple treat I made today is just one fondant star draped over the curvature…what makes it shine is the edible Red, White and Blue star shaped confetti that surrounds it.

I’m going to keep with my patriotic theme for the next few days and I’d like some suggestions with ideas for this nationalistic holiday.

Send along your red, white and blue marshmallow ideas to:

amazingmarshmallows(at)gmail.com

Include your name and state with your idea if you’d like me to mention your name when I complete and post the marshmallow design.

Stars and Stripes

The next few posts are going to be in honor of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

I’m not sure what marshmallow creations I’ll design exactly yet, however, today I started with Stars and Stripes! …Or in this case ‘Star and Stripes’…because there is just one lone star. I coated the marshmallow first and rolled out the red and blue fondant. I rolled it a bit thick, then cut small strips with my fondant wheel. A pressed blue fondant star placed on top of the stripes completes the treat.

Roses on a warm day

The sun was shining so bright and warm today. I looked over the deck and I felt bad that my garden was mostly greens (and some browns).  I decided to create some color and give a little life to my garden, even if just momentarily.  The marshmallow I made today is a real beauty. I carefully brought this lovely rose outside to sit in the garden bed to bloom and catch some sun. I pressed each red petal flat and thin to create a realistic delicate rose and strategically placed it atop the sweet marshmallow. The rose sits perfectly in bloom and the white curvature is flawless making it a perfect piece of marshmallow art.

A marshmallow with a big heart…literally

I just purchased these new purple paper cups that are so fun and summery. I figured since the design on the paper cup is so bold I should keep a simple and easy design atop the marshmallow. This red heart was is a solid red fondant heart attached to the top. As you can probably tell I used a free hand to mold it into shape rather than a cutter or mold press.  It is a heavy solid heart and had some trouble adhering to the marshmallows candy coating. I cracked it a tad at the bottom, too.

Wine time

I need something unique for my dinner setting tonight, and since I’m cooking I don’t have much time.  The tea lights will be lit, the napkins folded, plates and silverware ready….… My settings need something first-class that will both decorate and promote conversation (and of course be tasty to nibble on)…… I have to say this was a great idea for an on-the-fly marshmallow masterpiece. I just took my tall stem wine glasses and filled them with mini-marshmallows. A Jack and Jane ribbon tied at the bottom of the stem and a few quick fondant stars strategically placed atop the almost over flowing glass of mini-treats and violaaaaaaah…  a marvelous eye catching display!  

And here is another view close up:

A surprise on the curtain

The marshmallow I made today is in response to a scary creature my sister found in her house crawling up her curtains. She e-mailed me immediately as she knew I had seen this bug before and could share in her fright. This particular fondant centipede is a replica of a centipede I myself found above my bedroom door one day…it was a grayish blue color, rectangular shaped and bulky with very wiggly ‘hair’ like legs...It was more monster than caterpillar-like.  I’m feeling squeamish just thinking of it. After I made this sweet treat I decided that no creepy crawly things should ever be placed atop my sweet delights again!

Still Raining...

It’s still raining today so I coated a marshmallow treat and appropriately placed a mini fondant umbrella with rain drops. This was the first time I have made a fondant umbrella and it looks a little more like a mushroom cap than I would have liked. For the umbrella handle I piped the curvature into a tiny candy-cane shape and carefully attached it to the inside of the umbrella.

Let's Play Ball

It has been raining all day…I was looking forward to some weekend fun outdoors now that summer is officially here and the warm weather SHOULD be in full force. I dipped these marshmallows into the chocolate coating and added the basketball and baseball before the coating dried. For the golf greenery I waited until the coating was dry first, and then applied some extra coating to the back of the green before adding it. This technique ensured that the putting green area would be flat. I used WHITE fondant and colored the pieces myself by massaging the colorants into the white until it was the desired color I needed for the two balls and putting green….this is not a good use of time since they sell fondant already colored, but, I could only work with what I had on hand and the rain today did not encourage me to go out to the store. Then I simply rolled the fondant into balls then carefully painted the lines on.   The golfing green I rolled into a small green ball then compressed it into a flat kidney shape. There is also a tiny hole atop the green made with a toothpick dipped in black colorant; the golf ball is a tiny piece of bead fondant. I didn’t make as many ‘sporty’ marshmallows as I had wanted to today… at some point I’d like to make a treat that will help inspire me to play tennis or bocce when the rain stops.

The Conquistador

I have not been able to get the supermarket to seek out a bag of the giant oversized marshmallows yet. So I decided to cheat a little and use the opposite side of the large marshmallow for another summer scene.  The vibrant colorings are great. I love that the blue is ‘sea blue’. My little conquistador has the smallest red flag at the top of the sails.

…..keep turning the marshmallow aaaaaallllllll the way around and you’ll come to a lighthouse with more seagulls.

A scene from Nantucket

It sure was easier to draw on this large oversized marshmallow. I am finally getting around to using the gargantuan size marshmallow that my sister gave me a few days ago. I kept it sealed in a baggie to keep it fresh and soft for the last couple of days. This canvas is huge compared to what I am use to. The artwork for a marshmallow this size is limitless.  I decided to paint a summer ocean scene that reminded me of my favorite island. I used my finest brush for the thin red lines on the lighthouse and seagulls and my broader brush for the ocean, waves and sky. I must admit I missed the challenge of painting that tiny house the other day on the miniscule mini-marshmallow.

Betty Crocker Easy Writers - On Marshmallows

Today was such a warm gorgeous day outside. I didn’t feel like heating up the chocolate curvature again so I decided to keep up with the painted designs versus the chocolate and fondant designs. I created something simple to share with neighbors to be devoured outside after dinner.  For the first time I used Betty Crocker Easy Writer Food Decorators.  I thought they were going to be PENS....that I could write with, however, they were more like paint brushes… quite thick paint brushes, actually. I liked them though and made adorable flowers. The brush was too thick to make any type of fine detail possible, so I decided to stick with simple large petals on the sides, tops and bottom of my treats.  The package says they can be used on “..cakes, cupcakes, even fruits and vegetables such as apples and mashed potatoes.” Perhaps I should write to Betty and let her know they are totally awesome on marshmallows, too!

Happy Fathers Day!

In honor of fathers day, I created these tasty little #1 Dad marshmallows. I used my regular food colorants versus the all natural colorants so that I could include more vibrant colors. I took advantage of the classic “fathers’ day tie” decor. I needed a steady hand to carefully draw the shirt collar and pocket lines straight. There is no chocolate curvature so the treat remains light and airy.

A Marshmallow of Magnitude

At a family get together today I was introduced to a new size of marshmallows. This particular marshmallow is a true roaster. It’s about three or four times the size of your standard marshmallow. I’ve never seen a marshmallow of this magnitude before… my sister claims she found them at the supermarket. I’ll definitely be checking on that to see about getting a bag or two or three.  This colossal sized marshmallow would be able to accommodate much more art than the standard marshmallow treats I normally utilize and much more chocolate coating would be used. I could also create some nice picture scenes with the colorants.  I am wondering if this is a seasonal item or a new up-and-coming marshmallow size.  Here is a picture of the gargantuan sized marshmallow next to a regular and mini-marshmallow.

Game on!

It’s Friday night! Who’s ready to roll? These full sized marshmallows each are ready to let it roll. I’ll be taking them with me to our game night and in the event we loose the dice these tasty treats could certainly act as a stand-in if gently taken off the marshmallow. I must confess, this is not the first time I have made these great gambling marshmallows. They are always a hit.  I molded the fondant into small squares and then I use a toothpick rather than a brush to paint on the black food coloring “dots”. When the marshmallow coating is almost dry I strategically added the dice. The sweet treat in the back looks like its bluffing...

The Little (really, really little) House

I still have my big bag of mini-marshmallows so decided to do a little undersized doodling today. I must admit the bag is much smaller today as I ate most of the ones I didn’t paint yesterday. This miniature delectable treat has a petite colonial house painted on it. I was using the natural colorants again, so the color choices were limiting…I wanted a blue colonial house (this one is red),  I would have put four windows across the top floor, and tried to add a little deck to the right hand side, however, there just was not enough space on this tiny edible canvas. I like that I was able to put a tree next to it (can you see the red apple dots?). I also put a chimney and puff of smoke….a fall scene; I guess… apple trees and chimney smoke may be out of season. I’ll have to get my regular food colorings and do some summer outdoor scenes with bright blue oceans and sailboats.

Mini-Marshmallow Beads

Today I felt like creating something totally different. Inspired by a colorful bracelet I saw yesterday while dining out (I ordered the portabella and mozzarella over a bed of greens).  I thought of making these really cute edible beads out of my mini-marshmallows. I carefully took the dyes and painted the mini-marshmallow with my super small brush. The edible inks didn’t dry as fast as I was hoping because I used natural colorants for the paint color such as beet juice and red cabbage. The colors are rich and the blue looks almost black. I only use them occasionally because they’re about $7.00 for an ounce of color. I’m curious if I could let the sweets sit for a few days and perhaps string them into my own edible marshmallow ‘bead’ bracelet. To keep with the crunchy natural feel of the bracelet I was thinking of I put some of the marshmallows into a mini bamboo bowl.

A Rose is a Rose....

Three lined chocoloate covered marshmallows with delicately blooming roses…the focus is phased out so the marshmallow with the first pink rose is highlighted and crisp. There are no thorns on these sweet treats……… Each pink petal was hand pressed out and then curved to the rose bud until it was in full bloom. The middle rose looks like its missing a green leaf…it’s either placed in the back or was omitted from the marshmallow in error. The sun has been shining and I think my next few floral marshmallows will be placed in the garden for their back drops.

The next few weeks will be some of the simpler marshmallow art pieces, and when summer is in full swing there will be some amazing artistic pieces coming.

What does the future hold?

These adorable little fortune cookies placed atop the marshmallows are so realistic - they even have fortunes in them. First I dyed the fondant to the orangey-brown cookie color, then rolled them out into small balls. I flattened the balls and created the fortune cookie. Just before folding the cookie I slipped a tiny fortune into them. An extra dollop of candy coating ensured that the fortune cookies would stay in place on the marshmallow. Next time I will make the fortunes themselves edible by rolling out white fondant to a paper thin consistency and will then use an edible-ink marker and write the fortune inscription.

Craaack! - "The future will bring many more artistic marshmallows to create"

Bride... awaiting her groom

Ok.. So were back to the bride again… still no groom…yet. But I have included some marshmallows with miniature three tier fondant cakes, roses and rose buds to surround the bride. This soon to be wed miniature treat (marshmallow with groom on its way) seems more in place to be around the mini cakes and flora than she did in an all black setting as in a previous post.  The rose buds on top are small and dainty. . I especially like the look of the fuller in-bloom white roses with pale green leaves.

Coffee Break

This treat provides a small half-heart handle creating a marshmallow coffee mug. Black food coloring is swirled on top and lightly rubbed along the inside circular rim of the ‘cup’. I piped the coating onto waxed parchment in the design of a half heart. When the design piece was fully cooled and set I then carefully removed the paper backing of the parchment. I added the handle piece to the marshmallow that was already draped in a slightly cooled curvature and the handle stayed in place firm.  A delicious treat to complement a real sip of joe.

I do.

This bride is made of all fondant with food coloring details for the facial features. Her head is slightly tiled upward…my next marshmallow should have a groom, taller than the bride and looking down into her eyes. Her white ‘silk’ dress is as smooth and silky as the flawless curvature on the marshmallow. She has an edible veil that is slightly flowing behind her. I have a difficult time sculpting hands on my figures so I concealed them behind her bouquet which consists of one small pink bead flower.



Happy Birthday...Congratulations.....or Best Wishes.....

No matter what the gift-giving occasion may be this delightful present atop the marshmallow would certainly make the receiver anxious to open. The present is made of pink fondant with white fondant ‘ribbon’.  The very center of the bow is a tiny rolled ball of white fondant. (Future posts will show tiny bows with greater detail.)

The gentle pink color of the gift goes nicely with the smooth crisp white of the covered marshmallow.

Adorable little ladybugs

Hand-molded fondant was used for the ladybugs and painted with the tiniest of brushes. A steady hand painted the spots with the darkest of food colorings. The leaves are cut with a tiny fondant puncher, and my knife carefully engraved the fine lines. The ladybugs are crawling over the marshmallow…or perhaps they are trying to take little bites of the soft sweet treat. The candy coating is perfectly draped over creating a smooth surface for the little creatures to sit. I like that the plate is in an outdoor setting…next time I will use a pale green paper liner.