Is there a best practice method of attaching ribbon to fondant without leaving marks on the front side of the ribbon?

The cake (example attached) has different widths of ribbon and is done in a very modern design. Even if the orchids were done in gum paste, they are not in a position to hide any wet edible glue product that would hold the ribbon in place.

Providing the colour wont run out of the ribbon, a small amount of water on the fondant will stick the ribbon just fine. You can also use small dots of RI but I stick with the water method and that works just fine for me

how do I save a picture of your cake?? It is A-MAZING! I love it.

Thank you for the feedback and information.

We thought about using Royal Icing but were not sure if the dots might appear through the front of the ribbon.

The cake is going to be white with purple and lavender ribbons, accented with gumpaste orchids. I believe there will be as much bleed problem with the purple ribbon as the red one shown in the example. Do you know if ribbon, once wet even minimally (from wetting the fondant), could lose it's flat edge and straight lines.

I tried dying a light green ribbon aqua and it didn't work. It completely lost it's straight line, curled at the edges and was a wavy nightmare. So I tried to iron it which made it even worst ..... thank heavens it was just an experiment. Maybe it was the type of ribbon I was using or because it was totally wet.

I'll try a piece of the purple ribbon on a flat piece of fondant and see what it dries like.

I would have thought the problem with the ribbon was because it was totally wet. I have not had a problem like that with ribbon as it is only a small amount of water brushed onto the fondant where you want the ribbon to go.

Is it possible to use double stick tape or clear contact paper and remove before serving, and food safe? or just put it on a few areas on the ribbon,

Personally I wouldn't use double sided tape as I can't imagine that is food safe. Also if you are only going to put that it a few areas I think you will get ridges.

I used to try using water, or RI or glue on fabric ribbon and never really had 100% success Nowadays I use florists' ribbon - it looks satiny, and can be torn into any widths (it comes in rolls about 30mm wide). Also, its bloody cheap - about $5 for 100 yards/metres and comes in all colours. It would be perfect for the cake shown in the OP. I'd use sugar glue to hold it in place.

HTH.

yes the one's from a florist should be color fast

Evoir - what is sugar glue?

The sugar glue she's referring to can be fondant mixed with a little water or I assume royal icing. Don't use buttercream, the fat (butter or cristco) will bleed through.

janeoxo thank you for the ribbon information. Can you now give me an on-line supplier that I can order the ribbon from? I bought some from Michaels yesterday (expensive) and it's the ribbon I've had problems with before.

It's more like hair ribbon than craft/flower ribbon.

You can make your own sugarcraft glue by mixing a bit of your powdered gum (gum trag or CMC or cellogen etc) with water - it will form a thick, clear glue which you can use for things like ribbon attachment, or making gumpaste flowers/figures.

As Linda Olsen said, you can also dissolve some fondant or GP in water to make a sticky 'glue' also.

These tag or CMC are my favorites, I use them to attach gumpaste to the covered wire. Works marvelous.

Since they are clear, I was going to try them also on the ribbon.

Is ribbon food safe? Opal

The stuff I use is...but I guess it varies according to where you live, and if the dyes are soluble in oils or water.