I am doing an 18" X 18" cake this weekend and am really nervous about the border. My friend, who I'm doing the cake for, wants a fondant ribbon and bow for the bottom border. Does anyone have any tips or help suggestions for making something that long to wrap around the cake? I guess I could make it in a couple pieces.

A pasta machine would do the trick. You will still need a friend or two to help you hold it as it comes out.

hi, measure around the cake of course. roll out fondant or fondant/ candyclay mixture. use a roller cutter(set it up for about 2" cut or what ever width ribbon you want. roll this medium on powder sugar. then roll this lenght of ribbon on it self. lay on a small cake board or something small. use water for glue . brush little on bottom of cake . start in back of cake. attach ribbon and keep on going around cake. putting this roll of ribbon on a board helps it not to stretch and be out of shape as you work. when you get back to the back . overlap the ribbon and cut at an angle, or straight , with an x-acto knife . take out the cut peices and it should fit perfectly. you can dust the ribbon with pearl dust before you apply or after you apply. hth

I had this same worry when making my first wedding cake so I decied to make seams and incorporate it into the design by adding silver dragees attached with black icing. It's only slightly visible in the picture, but up close it looked great.

Once you make your ribbon, roll the ribbon up, brush a bit of water around the base of your cake and then start rolling your fondant ribbon around pressing lightly as you go. Even if you have to make two ribbons, just make sure that one seam is in the back of the cake with the other seam at the front or wherever you're planning a bow to go so you can cover the seam with it.
Good luck!

Thank you for all the tips. I don't have a pasta roller or anything so I'll be doing this by hand and putting it on a swiss cream cheese meringue. My friend wants the bow on the bottom border to make it look like it's wrapped around the cake...that's why I was trying to avoid seams. Thanks for the tip of rolling it up and then rolling it around the cake. It's so simple yet I would have never thought of that. Hmmm...maybe I'll do it in 2 pieces and hide the one seam behind the bow. Here's the design I have that we both came up with.

beautiful design. Yes, you can roll out two pieces. Roll it up though and use help of cake board. then where the 2 seams meet. Place your bow. good idea.

I'd go with 2 ribbons & make the ends meet @ the back of the cake and the front where the bow is. I don't roll my border ribbons with the pasta machine because it's so long & hard to handle. Just roll a long snake, roll to widen, roll to lengthen. Dust with powdered sugar/ cornstarch as you roll so it doesn't stick. You can feel with your hand if the ribbon is the same thickness. Make sure to measure the length you need 1st and mark that length on your counter top. I use a ribbon cutter and roll bandage style. Place the ribbon roll on the cake board (cake on turn table). Brush border with sm amt of water. Slowly unroll ribbon onto cake as you turn your cake.

I've done ribbons in one long piece. The hardest part is finding a surface around here long enough.
Before you roll it up, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on it so it doesn't stick together.

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3091605/width/200/height/400[/IMG]Do you put the ribbon on freshly made? Do you let it stiffen a little? Do you add gum paste for more stability? I made a chevron ribbon and found it even more difficult to apply, would I want to let it refrigerate, air dry somewhat it tears easily in the dips and valleys if I tried to apply freshly made.

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3091603/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

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Originally Posted by Coob 
e.

ooooooooohhhhh so cute.