I am stumped here. I want to make the 2 ribbons going across the cake from the bow, as pictured below. I have a buttercream cake and made the bow from gumpaste. So, I will frost the cake on Friday and add the decorations early on Saturday for a late morning delivery ( bow, gift tag and gum paste)  twin babies and dots).  The cake needs to be refrigerated Cream cheese buttercream frosting.

Do I make the ribbon strips on Saturday morning and apply then, so that they are soft enough to bend over the cake?  Or do I do it Friday and put it in the fridge? Would it be dry if I did it Saturday morning or am I risking finger prints?

Also, I assume it would be fine in gum paste, instead of making fondant and trying to match the color.Yes?

Appreciate the help.  Stumped.

Thanks.

AHi :-) personally I wouldn't suggest making the strips out of gumpaste and certainly not in advance, it drys rock hard and you wouldn't be able to manipulate the shape after that. It's best to make it out of fondant and apply when you decorate the cake and leave it to set.

Thank you. I'll try to match the color. However, I plan to add the decorations in the morning about 3 hrs. before delivery- ugh- its an early delivery.  Bad idea for adding the fondant then?

And, since you're online, can I pick your brain about steaming the fondant and gum paste? The gumpaste has dried dull, my bow is so pretty, I'd like to steam it. I've done fondant before and like how it turns out.  Wondering when to do this or bad idea too? 1 day ahead? Thanks

AVery pretty bow!! Hmmm, can you not add the decorations earlier? You definitely want enough time for them to set and dry,It's better to be safe than sorry. About steaming, I've tried steaming my gumpaste and wasn't all that impressed- but I have read about other people steaming their flowers and other decorations and being pleased with how it turned out. I really can't advise you on this it would have to be a personal decision of what you would want. Good luck I hope everything goes well for you.

Thanks. The cake has a cream cheese frosting, so needs to be refrigerated. Nothing like making things difficult for myself. It's cold enough here that I can take it out of the refrig 1st thing in the am.  Just gotta figure out when to add that darn ribbon.  I put a test piece on fondant in the refrigerator to see how it responds.  It it's ok, and doesn't sweat ,then oh I don't know. Frosting tomorrow morning but fondant won't dry, if I put it in the fridge. Still stumped. 

AA lot of people have covered their cakes in fondant and added the decorations and refrigerated it, it has been fine. The bow is gumpaste right? So add that as the last thing because I don't think gumpaste handles very well in the fridge. If your applying your decorations with a good "glue" it should be fine, then set off for delivery.

Great. So let me toss this out- my thinking.  I am frosting tomorrow am. I make the 2 long ribbons that need to lay on the buttercream cake out of fondant and lay them on the cake and put it all in the fridge. Think it will set?  I do plan to add the bow and babies on delivery morning.  Adding 2 of these for twins .

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AI'm so sorry- miscommunication, I thought the cake was going to be covered in fondant not buttercream- silly me, doh!!! I think you can add your decorations and ribbon strips on the morning of delivery and let it rest for three hours like you suggested. Personally I've never done fondant on BC and don't want to advise you wrong, but I have read on here people have done it all the time and it been fine. I really hope everything turns out well for you, and your pieces are soo pretty!

You are awesome.  Thank you for tossing this around with me! I'm excited to make this for their baby shower. I really appreciate it.

AYou are too sweet :-) good luck and best wishes to you!

I refrigerate whole decorated cakes all the time, BUT I box and seal the edges.  Refrigerator humidity is not your friend. 

I remember being taught that, now. And if I recall, it needs to stay sealed until delivery or can it be opened before if you need to add anything else?

So, it worked out great! I applied the gum paste ribbons to the cream cheese buttercream frosted cake the day before.  They dried quickly without cracking.   I even gave them a shot of steam a little later, just to be sure.  Then I put the cake in box, covered the cake with parchment paper and plastic wrap to get mostly sealed and put int he refrig. I was afraid it might stick to the gumpaste if it sweat.  The next day it was perfect and I added the remaining decorations. I had done a test strip of fondant in the refrig. the day before and it stayed a bit tacky, so I went with gumpaste for safety.

Here is my cake below.  Thank you everyone for the input and great suggestions.

I'm glad it worked out for you.  The cake is really cute. 

Just so you know, I don't wrap my cakes in plastic or parchment.  Just seal the box edges with painters tape.  When I take it out of the fridge I leave it boxed up for a couple of hours, depending on the size of the cake.  I let the cardboard absorb any condensation that might occur.  Good Job!

Jeanne

AThank you. I wanted to seal it with blue tape I made a pretty tall cake this time. It looked like the lid would touch the gum paste , so I lowered it most of the way, attached the sides with little clips and them had to come up with a way to seal cake in as best I could. I used 2 fill cakes instead of torting 1 and even though I shaved it down, it was pretty tall. I only had bakery boxes I'll be sure to have corrugated boxes on hand in the proper size. Thankfully it worked out. For my other size cakes, I'll do the painters tape method you do . Thank you