I am trying to create mini snowflakes for a cupcakes but I am not sure which will hold up better...Royal Icing (the wilton recipe) or candy melts? I know that Royal Icing is very frafile but I'm sure teh candy melt once they are set will be fragile as well.

Anybody had any luck either way!?

I'd go with candy melts, that way if any break you can quickly remake them. If you do use royal, be sure to give them plenty of time to dry and make a ton of extras.

Go with the candy melts. They're much more likely to be eaten. Hard royal icing will probably be picked off and thrown away.

Theresa

I made some for a cake for this weekend I also use the Wilton Recipe for Royal Icing and add flavoring. Make on wax paper and let dry. Turn the board over and peel the wax paper off of the royal, less breakage. I don't use candy melts much (wish i could) , to humid where I live and never have good results. Kids like the crispy candy like royal icing on top of buttercream.

For piping royal onto waxed paper you can spray the paper with pam then wipe it off with a paper towel so there's a thin layer on there--the royal will still set up and you can more easily remove your work. Also adding gum arabic to the royal will strengthen it a lot.

My favorite is piping with candy melts or chocolate because they melt in your mouth! Like real snowflakes!

Okay silly question what if someone wanted to pipe snowflakes on the sides of a cake. How would I go about doing that?

Mark spots on the side of the cake with a toothpick where you would like to place them and with a #1 tip for very delicate snowflakes or #2 pipe your centers line (longest on your design) and then add the smaller angled ones to connect to the main lines. I like using a small parchment bag so it fits inside of my hand I feel you get more control. Make sure you sugar is sifted and no lumps when making the icing, using smaller tps can be frustrating. And keep a small brush and water so you can smooth any points you may get when piping/ opening your hand completly before pulling away from the ends of your snowflake design will help with pointed tips. Hope this helps.