I have seen on some cakes it looks like people using real craft ribbon to wrap around cakes. I was wondering

1. How do you keep the ribbon in place?

2. Can ribbon only be used on fondant covered cakes? Would buttercream work?

Thank you for your time =)
and appreciate any help on this subject!!

the ribbon can be used on both fondant and bc, so I have seen. I do not know how to keep it in place as I have never tried.

here's a bump!

I've used ribbon around a buttercream cake. The cake was round, so I just wrapped it around the base of the cake and used a dot of royal icing where the ends meet in the back of the cake. You can also put dots of royal icing at intervals around the cake where you want the ribbon to stick if you're having problems getting it to lie flat. The dyes used in most craft ribbons are technically not food safe and can bleed into the icing, so I try to limit the use of them as much as possible and not put them on until the last minute.

You can use ribbon on either bc or fondant. One tip that I got from an instructor was to fold a piece of wax paper over the ribbon and run the ribbon through....it gives it a light waxing so the colour of the ribbon doesn't bleed. I usually use a piece of velcro on the ends to attach it around the cake (makes it easy for removal). However RI works well too hold it in place.

I appreciate all of your help on this.

I have used a large, pearl topped pin to pin the ribbon together and let the cake serving folks know how it was done.

I use fondant glue (a piece of fondant diluted to a paste with boiling water) and hold in place with a pin until dried. the ribbon is then peeled of for cutting/serving

I only do BC cakes, and I just use a dot of BC in the back to 'glue' the two ends together. If you wait until the icing crusts then apply the ribbon you'll not have any 'wet spots' showing thru the ribbon.

I used to have a problem getting the ribbon to lie flat against round cakes. Square cakes were no problem, but rounds were giving me fits. Finally figured it out ... the side of my cakes were not perfectly straight up and down, causing a gap at the top of the ribbon. When I started smoothing the icing using a bench scraper ... a perfect 90 degree angle that guarantees me a straight up and down side of a cake..... then the problem went away.

indydebi, thanks for that tip!! i had read on here about ironing wax paper onto the ribbon. That did not work for me....... next time I will try just waiting for the icing to crust over well.