I have a wedding cake this weekend and I just got a call asking me to put a chocolate colored ribbon on the bottom of each tier. Is there a special kind of ribbon I need to get so that the icing doesn't soak into the ribbon? Also, I use butter in my icing, what is the whitest butter I can buy. The bride doesn't mind that I am using butter in the icing because she loves the taste of my icing, but I would like to get the whitest look that I can, so if anyone can tell me it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

If it's a crusting icing, you shouldn't have a problem with the ribbon. Use polyeurothane (i.e. "PolyU") ribbon, not polyester. I use the PolyU ribbon and the only grease spot I get is the dot in the back where I connect the two ends.

Even the ones where I weave the ribbon thru the basketweave (and I'm using icing straight from the decor bag that hasn't had a chance to crust yet) I dont' get the grease spot on the PolyU ribbon.

I find this ribbon in the craft section at Walmart.

I'm not sure about the ribbon... but to help with the icing color, try Wilton White-White (here is a link so you can see what it looks like)

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30B53A-475A-BAC0-5FBDEF5E8A8FCFF2&fid=0EC60A47-475A-BAC0-54338024A0B6A5A5

I use this all the time in my BC recipe when I need to get that yellowish butter color out of the icing. If I am using a lot of it, I will usually add a little bit of powdered sugar to thicken up the icing. (the white-white is a liquid)

Around here they sell it in all the craft stores (Michael's, etc) and in the cake shops.

HTH!

One of the best tips I've read here on CC is to cut strips of Press-n-Seal plastic wrap the same width as your ribbon and simply press it onto the backside of your ribbon (there is a sticky-side to the Press-n-Seal).

To help make a whiter BC, just add a tiny bit of violet food color. I haven't tried it myself, but it seems to be another popular tip here.

Challenge butter is pretty pale; CostCo's (Kirkland) is NOT very pale in color.

I use a lot of organza ribbon. (Or organdy??) Whatever it's called. It's the really sheer stuff. I have never had a grease spot with this and it looks really elegant. You can get it from Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I had a bride once who brought me the ribbon she was using on the bouquets and I knew instantly it was going to stain. I rubbed the entire ribbon with a really thin film of Crisco and purposly stained it, then put it on the cake.

Test the ribbon for colorfastness before putting it on the cake. Put a drop of icing on the end and let it set overnight. I once put red ribbon on a wedding cake the night before and it bled. The cake was pink from the ribbon halfway up the sides of the cake. It was a last minute dash to redecorate everything.

I have also heard the "violet cancels yellow" rule. But I have also read many cautions about starting with a teeny tiny amount of violet and going a little at a time. I have used the Wilton white-white before, but if you use a lot, it changes the consistency of your icing since it is more liquid than the paste colors.

Land o'lakes is very light, they do not add coloring to their butter, also alot of the European butters do not add color.