Been doing cakes for years and years now, so i SHOULD know this..lol... is there any sort of trick to using ribbon on a buttercream iced cake??? It's for a wedding coming up... and the ribbon I got for the top layer of the cake has some glitter sparkly swirls on it.. I am afraid that if the glitter is loose, then it will fall on the cake.... does anyone have tips of what they do before they put the ribbon on the cake?? Someone posted that they put shortening on the back... is there any other suggestions??? thanks SO much ))))

I have not used ribbon on my cakes "yet" but I did read some posts about it. I did read about the shortening but that was to prevent grease stains on the ribbon showing through. If I saved what I read, I will pass it on to you. I found it helpful.....now to find it back!

lol.. okay thanks inspiredbymom i've used ribbon before in the past (so actually the shortening tip was a good tip!! just doesn't pertain to this ribbon).... hopefully you can find it.. i would greatly appreciate it!! thanks for lookin for me!

I would be hesitant using a ribbon that has the potential to shed glitter onto my cake.

yeah i know.. i was thinking the same thing!! that's why i was hoping for some ideas and thoughts... the bride loves it so i hate to dissapoint her..... i might just have to look for some other type of ribbon that is just as pretty!

If it were me I wouldn't do the glitter. I just did a cake in July where I soaked the ribbon in shortening and used a paper towel to remove the excess. It prevented the ribbon dye from bleeding onto the icing and it also soaked everything so the ribbon didn't look uneven or splotchy.

Could you find a ribbon in the same color and use edible glitter on it? I thought I saw somewhere that someone coated their fondant cake board with something to "seal it"...wonder if that would work as well? Sorry I am not much help, best of luck

thanks everyone for you thoughts! i actually spoke to the bride and she is totally fine with switching the ribbon...so i can breathe a sigh of relief now! lol... the wedding is actually september 17th... so off to find a different, pretty ribbon i go lol

I'm going to resurrect this thread as I just had a bride drop off a roll of very sparkly ribbon she wants on her fondant cake. Like you, blu_eyez, I had the same thoughts but this bride really loves this ribbon as well. I'm thinking of washing the ribbon to see if some of the glitter will come off and then maybe put a different ribbon behind it? Does anyone have any other suggestions for this predicament? Thanks!

I use packing tape on the back of ribbons that I put on buttercream. I suppose you could also put it on the front to hold the glitter, but I would be afraid it would look rather tacky and unprofessional. I would explain to the bride how the glitter could transfer and push for her to find another ribbon. Failing that an addendum to the contract that you are not responsible for glitter in the cake??