Is Putting Ribbon As A Border As Easy As It Looks?
Decorating By mom2spunkynbug Updated 26 Jan 2007 , 12:39am by mom2spunkynbug
I would like to put ribbon around the bottom of a cake - as a border - for an upcoming cake I'm doing...
Is it as easy as it looks? Or are there "tricks" to doing it? Or just wrap the ribbon around & I'm good to go?! 
you beat me to this. I would also love to know.
I've never done it myself but from what *I* understand, you might want to line the ribbon with waxed paper or parchment so the grease from your buttercream doesn't stain the ribbon. If you are putting this on a fondant covered cake, this wouldn't be an issue.
I have also heard of people using a long stick pin to secure the ends of the ribbon. You just need to make your client aware that there are pins in the cake on the ribbon. I hope someone else who has actually done this can elp you more.
Oh, I just read suz's suggestion with using BC or RI. Seems so much safer!
I've only put ribbon on fondant cakes, and yes it is really easy, you just wrap it around the cake and secure the ends at the back with some double sided tape, or a little royal icing. you can even wet the ribbon and then run it between finger and thumb to remove any excess and wrap it around a fondant cake, when the ribbon dries it will stick to the fondant and you don't have to worry about it moving, this allows you to put ribbons around the cake at different levels if that's your thing.
I'm sorry I can't help with buttercream, but I think you'd probably need to put something between the icing and the ribbon or the shortening would mark the ribbon.
I highly recommend using crisco to rub evenly over your ribbon, front and back. What I do is get a dab of crisco on my fingers and run the ribbon through my fingers. This will prevent any grease spots from appearing since it's already greased evenly. The crisco will make your ribbon adhere to itself and you will not need any tape or icing. It makes your cake look really pretty and there are so many ribbon options out there!
I love ribbon as a border. On fondant, it's as easy as that. I just put a bit of tape hidden on the back to hold the ends together and voila.
I've only used it once on a "crisco-cream" cake (my only one not imbc) and it showed grease spots through it but not too bad.
I like the idea of pregreasing the ribbon, but wonder does it change the color of the ribbon?
I've also heard of cutting waxed paper to put between the ribbon and the cake but haven't tried that.
Thank you everyone for your feedback!! 
And HOMECOOK...I love your signature quote! 
Heh,
thanks...I use that description to explain why wedding cakes cost "so much".
I bet even an ice cream cone at McD's costs $2.00. Most restaurants will happily charge $4.99-$10.00 per slice for dessert cakes, so I hardly feel bad charging what I do for custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, you-choose-the-flavor, you-choose-the filling, custom-decorated, hand piped, color matched to your wedding, delivered, set up, AND delicious wedding cakes.
People's eyes get big when you mention you recently paid $7.99 or $9.99 for a piece of chocolate cake at whatever local restaurant. I bet even at Dennys they're more than $3.50. It really puts it into perspective for them.
and that's all I have to say, about that. LOL
I have had some trouble with ribbon before. Maybe it was just me, but this is what I would suggest.
If you are using buttercream, make sure that the sides of your cake are completely vertical. I had a problem with this once, and the ribbon would be tighter at the bottom than at the top because the sides of my cake were not a perfect 90 degrees even if they were smooth. You end up with ribbon that is not flush on the cake, and it doesn't look good.
I also don't recommend using sheer ribbon on buttercream- stick with solid, opaque ribbon. Once a sheer ribbon is tight on a buttercream cake (even a crusted buttercream cake), the buttercream can start pushing through the weave of the ribbon and the cake won't look as crisp/professional. It is also a pain to adhere the ribbon using buttercream/royal as the glue when the ribbon is shear.
HOMECOOK - You are so right! You put things in perspective!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%