How to Marble Fondant {For Cakes}

Learn how to marble fondant for cakes, cupcakes and cookies with food coloring. This quick and easy cake decorating tutorial is simple enough for beginners.

This is a very easy way to decorate cakes but still looks like you spent hours making it. You can get as creative as you like with the color combinations. For this cake, I went with earthy brown shades because I wanted to serve it on Thanksgiving and Fall events, along with this Chocolate Tree Cake (Fall or Thanksgiving) and Turkey Cake (Thanksgiving Cake).

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• How to marble fondant for cakes with food coloring?
• Tips and techniques
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More cake decorating tutorials
• Recipe

Key ingredients

• Fondant- I recommend making your own marshmallow fondant (MMF).
• Gel food coloring- Inexpensive and won't make your fondant sticky and hard to work with like the liquid kind.

Here is another cake that uses the same fondant technique but instead of Whopper and Oreos, I decorated with Hershey's Kisses.

Variations

• Pink marble shades- Use pink and white fondant and mix them together roughly and roll it out so that streaks of both colors are visible.
• Black and white design- Use black and white fondant mix them together roughly and roll it out so that streaks of both colors are visible.
• Rainbow or tie dye pattern- Use fondant in all the rainbow colors and mix them together roughly and roll it out so that streaks of all colors are visible.
• Gold effect- Use dark and light shades of brown fondant and mix them together roughly and roll it out so that streaks of both colors are visible. Then, use a paintbrush to go over some streaks with edible gold paint.
• Cut out shapes- To use as decorations on cupcakes and cakes.
• Create little sculptures- Like a dinosaur, bee, or pansies.
• Use this to Make cake toppers- Like I did with these Easy Bows or Easy Flowers.
• Decorate cookies- Such as Sports Cookies or Flower Cookies.
• Mix in a different extracts- To change the overall flavor profile.

How to marble fondant for cakes with food coloring?

1. Prepare light and dark shades of fondant- Using gel food coloring (Image 1).
2. Roll them both- Into long ropes (Image 2).
3. Place them side by side- And roll them together into a spiral pattern (Image 3).
4. Shape into a rough ball- Then knead it just a little to show streaks of both colors (Image 4).
5. Using a rolling pin- Roll out the ball of combined fondant (Image 5).
6. Drape directly over- Prepared frosted cake (Image 6).
7. Smooth and trim the edges- Then decorate cake as desired (Image 7 and 8).

Tips and techniques

• Dust powdered sugar- Before rolling the fondant out to prevent sticking.
• Use a pizza cutter- To make the cutting easier and smoother.
• Steam it- To make it a nice sheen and also get rid of any leftover powdered sugar.
• Use gel food coloring, not liquid- And check out this post on How to Color Fondant for more help.
• Wear gloves when mixing fondant colors- Because otherwise your hands will be stained with whatever colors you are using, especially if they are dark.
• Wrap in saran wrap- If you are not using it right away to keep it from drying out.
• I recommend using marshmallow fondant- Because it is easy to make and inexpensive.
• Let sit for a few hours or overnight- So that the colors can deepen.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Make ahead- This is an easy recipe to make a few days before needed. Just keep in saran wrap at room temperature.
• Room temperature- Wrap in saran wrap and use within 3-5 hours.
• Refrigerate- It keeps for longer in the fridge (up to 3 days), just keep in mind that the moisture in the fridge will make it a bit sticky.
• Freeze- This is not recommended, because the fondant will get sticky upon thawing.

More cake decorating tutorials

• How to Make A Naked Cake
• How to Make Homemade Cake Flour
• How to Make Box Cake Better (Taste Homemade)
• Easy Cake Decorating Ideas
• How to Make Pinata Cake (Robin Egg Cake)

Recipe