Participants of a cake-decorating workshop held at the Chilton County Extension Office on Tuesday discovered how sweet it is to customize cakes using a simple substance called fondant.

Janice Hall, Regional Extension Agent in Food Safety, Preparation and Preservation, showed about 10 participants how to make and work with fondant, a thick paste used in making cake icing, decoration and candy.

“I developed this as a hobby,” Hall said of decorating cakes with fondant. “I just got drawn into wanting to know how to do that.”

Hall used marshmallows and water to make a batch of fondant Tuesday.

“It’s really easy, and it tastes so much better than the store-bought stuff,” Hall said. “I really like working with fondant because you can do so much with it and be so creative with it.”

To make her fondant, Hall greased a bowl with shortening (which she said could be substituted for butter) to prevent sticking.

Next, she poured 16 ounces of mini marshmallows into the bowl and added 2 tablespoons of water and 2 teaspoons of flavoring.

Hall heated the bowl in the microwave for 1 minute and 25 seconds, which was just long enough to slightly melt the marshmallows.

“You don’t want the marshmallows to get completely melted,” Hall said.

Hall stirred the mixture with a greased utensil and poured in a 2-pound bag of confectioner’s sugar, stirring and kneading the mixture with her hands.

Hall sprinkled cornstarch onto a clean surface and rolled the fondant out with a rolling pin.

She added one drop of coloring to a handful of fondant nearly the size of a softball and showed participants how to blend in the color evenly.

Hall used cookie cutters and molds to make different shapes with the fondant, such as strands of pearls, polka dots and cupcakes.

She used fondant circle cutouts to make a rose and demonstrated how to get two pieces of fondant to stick together by dabbing water on one piece and pressing them together.

Hall said fondant could be frozen or stored at room temperature, if wrapped securely, for three to six months.

“All it is is sugar,” she said. “The more you wrap it, the better it will keep.”

Hall’s Cake Decorating Learn to Earn Workshop: Fun with Fondant took place at the Chilton County Extension Office from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.