I've never worked with fondant but thought about testing it out for a baby shower cake. My idea is to have a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I want to put baby blue polka dots and/or some type of design on the cake.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what fondant I should try for the first time and how to apply the shapes to the cake and get them to stick well?

Welcome to CC!!! What part of Alabama?

I think you would like SatinIce or Pettinice (brands) fondants. If where you are is anything like where I'm at, I buy online. Here's some of the places you could look at: SugarCraft, cakedeco, Into the Oven and Country Kitchens.
Have fun!!

Welcome to Cake Central. Any fondant will do. Wilton doesn't taste that great, but it is inexpensive and easy to use.

Other ready to use fondants taste better, Satin Ice and others

MMF-Marshmallow fondant is easy (be sure not to add all the powdered sugar.

There are other recipes that also work great.

the fondant circles will stick to the cake if the icing is still 'wet'. Otherwise, lightly brush the back of the fondant dots with a tiny bit of water. that will make it stick.

You could also use candy clay for this design.

First, welcome to cakecentral!

You can use whatever fondant you prefer. If you have a cake supply store near you or a bakery they may sell satin ice or pettenice, which I prefer. You can get Wilton fondant pretty much anywhere, like wal mart, michaels or Joanne fabrics.

The fondant would just stick to the chocolate icing on its own. You would want to make the shapes first and then apply the fondant.

Good luck!

I am sure I won't be the first person to tell you to stay far, far away from Wilton fondant. Run run away! Although you are just putting embellishments on the cake, there is a chance someone might eat them. BAAAD! Unless you are attending the shower and can remove the decorations before serving, which is what I did when I used it once.

If you are up to making it yourself (really not that hard) try the marshmallow fondant (MMF) or Rhonda's Ultimate MMF recipes from this site. The stuff actually tastes good. If you want to buy it, Satin Ice, PettinIce and FondX are the ones I see mentioned the most.

(hey while I was typing this others have already posted to the same effect...you all are FAST!)

Considering you've never worked with fondant, I'd recommend purchasing it at least once ONLY because if you make it, you won't know how it's supposed to turn out. Maybe even, yes, ignore my above advice and do buy the Wilton stuff for practice and to get a sense of how it's supposed to be.

HTH and good luck, once you get the hang of fondant it is sooo fun. The first cake I did w/it was a real struggle, in retrospect I think the fondant was too sticky but I had no idea that it wasn't supposed to be that way. After I figured out how "dry" it should be (like, it should never feel sticky in your hands), it has become a delight to work with.