Hi all! The cookie decorating bug has bitten me big time! I've been working with royal icing and it works well, although I need much more practice on flooding, and I can't get it as close as I'd like to the edge without it running off. I've seen pics on the internet of cookies with marshmallow fondant on top, they're so pretty, and it seems easier than the royal since you just cut an extra shape with your cookie cutter.
Does fondant taste better than royal icing? I've heard some people say it tastes terrible. What do you think? I'm all for having a pretty cookie, but taste matters more. Thanks!

It depends on what you use. If you're going to use Wilton fondant, then stick to royal icing.

I use marshmallow fondant on my sugar cookies. It tastes great and it helps the cookie stay moist.

Taste is personal preference! I use Satin Ice and everyone loves it. Wilton on the other hand...YUCK! I think you just have to try some of the different brands and see if there is a brand that you like.

definitely steer clear of the wilton fondant (although, some say they've changed their formula.......I'm still too scared to eat it!)

mmf and satin ice taste wonderful and give the cookie a "chewy" texture vs. royal which always makes the cookie seem more "crunchy"

The cookie bug has hit me too, I'm not too happy with the royal icing and was considering rolled buttercream (using butter not shortenining) what do you ladies think? Below is the link with the recipe
http://cookinginanapron.blogspot.com/2009/04/rolled-buttercream.html
I've spent all afternoon watching you tube tutorials, one of them was on using a brush to paint on the royal icing.

Ooh, I've tried cookie decorating, but I find the surface is so much smaller than cakes that it takes way more patience and skill sometimes! Big props to the pro cookie decorators!

I've done both royal and fondant, and I did find fondant a bit easier, less of a steady hand required. Taste wise, I actually kind of enjoy the crunch that royal gives, and with fondant, I make my own MMF so it tastes really good too. I'm not sure it would be the same with the prepackaged Wilton fondant, like the PPs are saying.

I've only used RI for my sugar cookies and they taste great (people tell me that they do). I agree that if RI isn't flavored right, its pretty gross. My cookies aren't crunchy. I just baked and decorated a batch on Tuesday and they are still soft and flavorful. I can't compare them to fondant because I haven't tried it on cookies yet. That's my project for Mother's Day so I guess I can give a fair comparison...according to my taste buds and those who try the cookies after that. I'm gonna use Satin Ice Fondant or MMF because I agree with all the posts that Wilton's fondant is pretty disgusting (sorry Wilton ).

Try Toba Garrett's Glace...delicious! Floods like royal, but does not get hard like RI does. Love it!

I love the look of royal icing but love the taste of fondant (I use satin ice) Both are fun to work with and I've even used them together (in my christmas cookies)

I personally like fondant better. I love how you can work so much quicker than with royal (no drying time), It also allows for more effects/designs that you can't do with royal. It taste fine on a cookie to me. Cookies are chewy so it goes with the texture of the cookie.

I decided not to try rolled buttercream after reading on it, most people said it was greasy.So i made a thick glace with icing sugar, cornsyrup, milk and a tiny bit of butter.It was good but a pain to put on,like royal icing. So I made some fondant with eggwhite and cornsyrup, icing sugar and vanilla. The fondant came out beautiful, snow white and tasted good too.Very quick and easy to make. Rolling and cutting was a breeze. So I think fondant is the way I"ll go and royal/ic for details and flowers.

I use fondant on my cookies, and find it tastes good and so much easier to work with.!

I've used both royal and fondant. I think what you use is merely a personal choice. Neither is wrong or right; better or worse. MMF, Choco-Pan and Fondarific brands of fondant taste great; Satin Ice and Wilton are inedible to me unless you mix them with modeling chocolate or chocolate clay, but that does tend to make your fondant a bit harder as it dries.

I like the looks of both. I add lemon extract to my royal icing to give it flavor and I've not had any complaints yet. I also add just a bit to my sugar cookies so the flavors work together. Fondant is a bit easier, as you said, because you just cut out the shapes with your cookie cutter, but royal gives a really nice appearance, too.

Either way you probably can't go wrong.

I second the vote for Toba Garrett's glacee icing -- doesn't get brittle as royal does, and tastes better than either fondant or royal, IMHO. I made Easter cookies and flavored the glacee icing with fiore di sicilia, which is sort of like a creamsicle -- orange and vanilla. They were a hit.

sweettooth, try this http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7434/marshmallow-rolled-buttercream-for-decorated-cookies.

It's kind of a mix between mmf and rolled buttercream. I tried the rbc and it tasted good but was way too greasy(although the greasy look dried up over night), so someone on another thread suggested this to me and I just loved it. It still tasted great, wasn't greasy, was easy to work with and didn't get hard like mmf. I even covered a cake with it, which would have been impossible to do with rbc.

Yeah, I had a few undecorated cookies left from another batch so that bunny was actually the first one I used it on. It's also on the yellow cake, so I was really surprised at how well it held up.

Thanks smokey smokerton, I will give it a try. I don' t like using shortening though, could I use butter instead?

I'm not sure about the butter, sweettooth, but if you decide to try it let me know how it comes out.

What ships better? Cookies decorated with Fondant or RI?

I think Satin Ice is the most vile, chemical-tasting stuff I've ever eaten, so I can't join the others in recommending it. I really love mixing fondant half and half with white modelling chocolate. Tastes divine, and like you say, much easier than flooding for some designs.

I use rolled fondant and royal icing- all depends on what effect I am looking for. I like both of them.
Royal icing requires drying time -2-3 days and rolled fondant does not.
Happy Baking and Decorating,
Chef Angie