Faux Bundt Cake
Made from Newspaper
This project was featured on ThriftyFun.com.
On a message board I frequent, someone posted that they had made some faux "chocolate" bunnies using newspaper pulp pressed into candy molds. Once they were painted chocolate brown, they looked so real....hard to believe they were once newspaper. I had to expand on this idea. I've been wanting a fake cake for a cake planter that was given to us for our wedding. I rarely bake cakes or pies, so it just sits there in the cabinet collecting dust and ignored. I didn't want to get rid of it, so I figured I'd better find a way to use it.
I have a running joke in our house about how many bundt pans I have. I have always owned one, although I rarely make bundt cakes. For our wedding, we received two more. Over the years, I've given them away, but I kept one, just in case.
We also have a lot of newspaper, though I can use it in the garden and in the compost pile during the summer, not much use for it in the winter, so the Faux Bundt Cake was born. Following are step by step instructions on how I made my first one. It still looks good to this day.
Instructions
- Shred up newspaper using scissors or a paper shredder.
- Soak newspaper in warm water for about an hour.
- Put small amount of wet newspaper in blender with a cup or two of water. If it doesn't mix like a shake add more water. Blend for about 30 seconds.
- Pour pulp into a metal strainer. Press until pulp is very dry but still sticks together in your hand. Set aside and repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have enough pulp for your project. (Extra pulp and paper can be placed in a compost pile, providing you have not added glue or salt yet).
- Add several tablespoons of salt to help prevent the paper from spoiling.
- Add several tablespoons of white glue to help it all hold together.
- Mix together by hand wearing a disposable glove to protect hands. This works much better than a spoon.
- Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray or coat with petroleum jelly to help prevent sticking.
- Press pulp to sides of pan forming a thicker layer near the edge.
- Let dry by setting the pan in front of a fan.
- After several days, or even weeks in my case, take your hands and gently press the sides of the pan all around until the
paper mold pops out. If it doesn't, it probably needs to dry longer. It should be a pale grey color and the salt may have risen to
the top in the drying process. If the sides are thick enough, you can even sand the edges as needed.
- Prime, paint, and apply matte sealer as needed. A spray paint works great to get in between the nooks and crannies, but a small brush will do the same if you have the patience for it.
- I sprinkled the cake with baby powder to make it look like powdered sugar.
After several years, this piece still looks like new. It has not molded or started to smell funny at all.