Next month I will be making a four tied square wedding cake, 8, 10, 12, 14. Plus two dummy cakes 8, 10. The bride does not want fondant so it will be Indydebs buttercream (I already learned my lesson using real butter buttercream on a hot June Saturday 
). This wedding is completely indoors.
Here the design.The design calls for a bow wrapped around the top tier of each 8 cake with the bow being placed in front of the 8 square at a corner, it can rest on the top of the 10 tier, and there are 2 long streamers flowing from the bow down the front of the stacked cakes. The tops of the 8 cakes will have fresh flowers. I hope I explained that well enough.
Here is my questionShould the bow and streamers be fondant or real ribbon? I was planning on fondant but now Im not sure if the weight of the bow and streamers would crush/sink into the buttercream, especially the edges. The bride doesnt care either way. I was planning to refrigerate the cake because it will have jam as a filling and Im also concerned what will happen if I put the fondant on a chilled cake (especially if it is really humid out).
Any prior experiences or comments are appreciated.
I did a cake two summers ago with a fondant bow in the middle of the tier. It was an outside wedding and was extremely hot! I had a terrible time keeping the bow on the cake (fondant covered cake.) I don't mind real ribbon bows on cakes but keep in mind that the ribbon will absorb the grease from the buttercream.
hmm...that's a tough call. Am I understanding right that the bows will be at the top of each tier? It might be tricky getting any bow to adhere to the buttercream if that's the case. And, if you used fondant bows, there's a chance that the color might run if it absorbs some of the moisture from the bc.
I'm not much help, but I'm curious to know what someone else thinks about this. There has to be a great trick to make this work.
I say real ribbon. I hate the look of long fondant ribbons trailing down a cake. I've never seen one that did not look like the kitchen staff was fighting and a couple lasagna noodles flew out and slapped onto the side of the cake.
I think fondant is too indelicate and heavy to be used in this way. Even if it's propped up here and there on tissue to dry with a gentle curve, it still looks like lasagna noodles. Go with the real ribbon.
Real ribbon...the bride has already stated she doesn't want fondant so I think it would be better to use the real ribbon.
Cat
Loucinda - that is exactly where I need to place the bows. Apparently the weight of the bow did not sink into the BC. How did you do the curves of the streamers? I'm afraid if I dry it before hand the shape won't be right.
Andysprite - I didn't even think about the color running. They will be lilac bows on white BC.
I guess I'll have to see if I can find some ribbon. I'm thinking that may be the easiest option. Thanks for the suggestions!
Another tip if you decide to use real ribbon and you are worried about grease spots on it where it touches the buttercream on the cake. Pregrease the whole ribbon. Take a small amount of crisco between your fingers and pull the ribbon through your fingers. This will look better on some ribbon than others, but the darkening of the ribbon is then consistent. You can also test the ribbon before you do the whole cake.
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