It's a richer taste. I'd compare fondant to marshmallow, but marzipan is nuttier and delicious! Marzipan is made with ground almonds & it's pliable, can make shapes, etc. If you leave it for a few days, the figures also get dry/hard, which is good too. Food colouring is fine. I just used a teeny drop of the food paste colours and that's fine.
Marzipan is type of almond paste, is very sweet and is usually wrapped around fruitcake in the UK before putting fondant over it. It is used many times for figure modeling.
Traditionally served with tea in the UK, Battenberg cake is a light sponge cake wrapped with marzipan, prepared in a checkerboard pattern. It’s simple to make and is stunning when sliced.
I am just starting to do cake decorating and a recipe calls for marzipan. I can only find fondant at the craft and grocery stores. Do I have to use marzipan or can I just use fondant? What is the difference besides taste? Is there anywhere particular where I can purchase marzipan? Megan
Marzipan - Where Can I Buy It And Do I Need It? - CakeCentral.com
You can do two layers of fondant. The marzipan is really only to give you a nice smooth neat finish to ice, as fruit cakes tend to have a uneven surface, usually and traditionally with royal icing, but with fondant you can just do two layers. If you wanted you could cover with one layer of fondant and then royal icing is also an option.
Most of the colored marzipan I've seen has been painted but I think you treat marzipan a lot like fondant. You can knead in the americolor and if it gets too sticky, you can knead in more powdered sugar.