Fake Cupcakes!

No, you can't eat them. No, they do not contain anything edible. Why then?, you ask...let me explain
I had a dream that cupcakes were hanging from my ceiling (I know, I have very strange dreams) and decided I wanted to make it come true. The problem was...real cupcakes wouldn't last long and would be very gross and heavy. So I decided to make lightweight, fake ones.
Looking on the Internet for instructions was a pain in the butt because everyone had their "secret recipe" they weren't willing to share.
After a long and diligent search, I finally gleaned enough info to start...
so I am going to share all the instructions FOR FREE and to anyone who wants to see them!
You may republish this, you may sell fake cupcakes to your hearts desire, but I do not suggest eating them...
And what else can they be used for? They make great card holders! Just put a card with something along the lines of "Happy Birthday to one SWEET girl" or something cheesy like that. They make wonderful ornaments too, since they are incredibly lightweight. They can hold photos or business cards too...if you own a bakery or know someone who does, they can also be used in window displays. These do NOT contain any food ingredients, so they wont attract pests or animals, mold, rot, or deteriorate. They will last virtually forever.
Now isn't it refreshing to see artistic directions with no strings attached? I'd love too see your pics and hear your ideas too!

Step 1 Supplies

You will need:

a small can of expansion foam (ask for it at your hardware store)
cupcake papers
newspaper
rubber gloves (you WILL want these!)
old clothes (I doubt they will look the same at the end if you're anything like me...)
muffin tin
mini muffin tin and papers (optional)
plastic bags
acrylic paint
sculpey or other polymer clay (optional)
fine glitter (optional)
a container of LIGHTWEIGHT spackle (a little goes a long ways..)
an electric mixer
a spoon
a bowl
pastry bag with star tip (big star tip!)
water-based varnish (optional)
paintbrushes
wire (at least 22 gauge...20 would be about perfect)

Now that you've gone to the hardware store...you're ready to start!

Comments

[milleyboo07]

i made cupcakes! yay. hope you guys enjoy. the sprinkles i just used beads from Joannes crafts. let me know what you think! :)

[goatgirly]

those look awesom from a distance. In the last shot you can tell they are beads but, stil FAABULOUS!

[MzPanda]

looks so yumi! the beads look real. how did u make the frosting?

[princeza1]

these look amazing! where did you get the cupcake papers big enough to fit the cupcake??

[shortone]

so how big did they turn out? They look great! :)

[tinker234]

wow got a friend who would love these

[kamoopsipooh]

Every Christmas, I do crafts with my kids and make sure one of those crafts are at least ornaments. This one was quite a process as we made the majority of the decorations for the cupcakes. After trial and error (regarding humidity here) with the expansion foams, my daughter and I were finally able to make some cupcakes to put on the tree. I just can't thank you enough for sharing your "secret." MUCH MAHALOS! Thought I'd share with you how they turned out.

[lakenbrooks]

These are great instructions, and my cupcakes turned out beautifully! I thought I would tell you the story of my trip to the hardware store in order to get supplies for the cupcakes:
myself-"Sir, would you tell me where the expansion foam and drywall spackle are?"
employee-(looking a little impressed) "they are on this aisle..so, what kind of expansion foam do you need?"
myself-"Um, well, I'm not quite sure.."
employee-"Well, what are you doing to be doing with it?"
myself'-"Oh, I'm making fake cupcakes!"
employee-(impressed look fades and is replaced by a look of slight horror)

[TheMrs]

I have looked high and low for instructions to make these!! I can't thank you enough! Each year, my kids and I make the ornaments for our Christmas tree. After New Year's, I allow them to each keep one and we toss the rest (yes, I am a lazy Mom hehe). This year, however I think we may decide to keep them all! Again, thank you!! We are making these as I type!

[shortone]

That's why I posted this-instructions for this technique are quite elusive ;) I'm glad you like it so much, and Merry Christmas!

[portwood1]

Ok, so I am making my first "batch"....everything went great until it came time to ice the cupcakes! I mixed the ACRYLIC paint with the spackle and it became really really runny! =( What am I doing wrong? Is it because the paint is "water based?" Do they make "Non-water based" acrylic paint? Thank you! Angie

[shortone]

No, you should have used acrylic just like you did. It's strange that the spackle got very runny...how long did you mix it for? If you mixed it for a long time that may have been the problem, I suppose?

[anaturals]

You need to use either artist paints in a tube or go to the hardware with your own container and get the tints which are super concentrated since they are used to time paints.

[elewicki cacciola]

HI there! I have made 2 batches of these using the exact expansion foam shown in the pics. I didnt paint and frost yet, but after 3 days of just the cakes sitting, the bottoms look like air has been sucked right out of them and they are shaped differently. Do you think paining right away somehow seals the cupcakes so they dont do that? I wanted to make these for a crafts fair in November, but I dont know how to solve this problem. Any help would be wonderful. I am attaching a picture. I did do them in tins and left the in the tins overnight. The first day they were great. By day 3, they looked like this.

[shortone]

The bottoms of mine looked like that at first, but as soon as I started weighing them down with enough washers they worked just fine. Try using more weight in the bottom and leave them in the cupcake tins until they are COMPLETELY dry-it may take up to 5 days or so!

[anaturals]

Using a cheap white wrapper and when the foam has finished doing its thing (according to a plumber friend up to 48 hours depending on humidity) then put on the final one. I suggest you use a spray mounting glue and do a quick dusting only into the inside of the liner then place ck squarely in the middle and then carefully press the liner onto the first white one.

[zpm1]

Had same problem here, anyone has any recommendations??

[kamoopsipooh]

Mine deflated, pretty much sucked in with Great Stuff, looked much worse than your picture here. The only other expansion foam available in my area (boo to Great Stuff) is the Hilti brand. It's not a one-time use can and the shape holds. The downside is it cost over $7 in my area, but it works, and you still get a lot out of it and you don't have to use it all at once. Also, so the cups don't float up as it expands and cures, rather than weighing them down with a washer or penny, I used Rubber Cement. Twist or gently pull off. You can always rub off the rubber cement residue. You can probably find cheaper expansion foam that works just as well. Just thought I'd let you know.

[hguenther]

I had the same problem! And my cupcakes kept popping themselves out of the tins and expanding so much that they looked like steamed pork buns instead of cupcakes. Have you heard anything regarding a solution to this??

[anaturals]

get some museum wax from the hardware and use a pan just for fakes. coat the bottom of the pan with the was and press in the liner. You have to leave them in the pan for at least 12 hours is you want to keep a good cupcake shape. I got lots of CC pans at the $.99 store and use them only for fakes.

[MzPanda]

These are so awsome! I had one question and am a lil confused... When ur using the great stuff (foam) when your making the frosting, do u brake open the can? or do u squeeze it out from the can tube onto the bowl then mix paint into it? also how long does it take to dry and do u make the cupcakes the same time as the frosting? ^_^ hope to here from u.

I want to make big ones!

[shortone]

The foam is just used for the base of the cupcakes; I sprayed it right out the top into the cupcake papers. The FROSTING is spackle-I take that out of the container and mix paint into it.

To make big ones, you'll need to come up with some sort of giant papers that are more rigid than the smaller size. Not sure how to do that though...

I believe the expansion foam (cupcake base) takes about 1-2 days, as does the spackle. so about 4 days total.

[MzPanda]

Thanku, yes i made the big cupcakes already! ill post to show it to u,

Im still a lil confused , so what is spackle? can i find it at the hardware store with the expansion foam?

I thought u had made the frosting with the expansion foam lol i was about to open the can lol

[shortone]

cool!

OK, DO NOT MAKE THE FROSTING OUT OF THE FOAM.
spackle is something that is used to fill in nail holes in a wall before painting. I don't know what it is called over there, but I'm sure you have something similar. You should definitely be able to find it at the hardware store. It is generally white and comes in a tub and has a rather odd texture, difficult to explain...but when it's been mixed up and piped, it looks just like frosting. good luck!

[sprinkles29]

Hey I am getting ready to make these cupcakes what isanother thing I could use to make the cupcake part even if u don't see it to make heavyer:-)

[shortone]

You could make the cupcake part out of plaster of paris, though I think you get a much more realistic look with the foam. You can add weights, such as rocks or washers from the hardware store, to ballast the cupcakes.

[natbh88rw]

hi I am sooooo pleased i have found your recipe and can not wait to make them. can I ask what spacklel is. Not heard of this in england - is it some kind of powder ? For the giant papers could you not use Large Cake cases and attach fluted soft cardboard inside. Once the foam is inserted you would not see it?

[shortone]

spackle is a sort of paste that is used on walls to cover cracks or nail-holes...not sure what it's called in England, but I'm sure there's some sort of equivalent. It's a very similar texture to frosting after you mix it up a bit.

hmmm, you'd have to be careful and make sure your cardboard was strong and didn't have any holes, or you'll NEVER get it out of your cake cases! expansion foam is extremely sticky!

[Wynd]

I love these! I will be trying to make them super small to make into charms for earrings, necklaces, etc =D Thank you for sharing!

[shortone]

You might try polymer clay for that, you can get a lot more detail on a small scale. :)

[QuiteCuteIdeas]

I keep having the same problems as everyone else with the cupcake sinking in. I was thinking of putting a thin layer of plaster of on the bottom. Letting it dry and then putting the expansion foam on the top of that and seeing how it comes out.
Will keep everyone posted on how it works. P.S how do people make the large cupcakes. I saw someone say a lamp shade, but is there anything else others have used?

[kamoopsipooh]

I used rubber cement to anchor the cups down and tried gluing a round piece of poster board on the inside bottom of the cup. I got a nice flat bottom, but day 2, the cup "sucked" in. The whole cake deflated. I'm in Hawaii and the humidity is higher than most. Anyone figure this out yet?

I'm just gonna use the plaster for the whole cake part for card or picture holders.

[vstarr1]

How long do these take to dry?

[MelsBrushes]

Here's one of them in case the link below doesn't work.. :)

[The Bella Rush Photography]

Wow! These are extraordinairy! What did you use for the frosting?! looks so real! Actually, what was your entire process if you don't mind me asking! Both you ladies did a phenominal job!

[ninjacow258]

ooohh so pretty! Looks very wedding-y to me ;)

[shortone]

They look absolutely fantastic! :D

[MelsBrushes]

All thanks to you. So *big hug* sent your way. I'm going to make aload of mini christmassy ones to go on the tree. Chocolate ones, with white icing and fake holly berries and glitter on top!

[Shaungrl]

Never thought of making small ones. Thanks for the instructions, now I need to make the 'real' size. LOL

I made HUGE ones, for the city where I work, using pleated lampshades as the 'paper'. If you use newspaper/some kind of filler for the larger version you can save LOTS of expand foam, which starts getting expensive quickly in large quanities. Add the foam in layers and allow to dry between layers. Also brown silicone works WONDERS as chocolate icing. And a red Christmas ornament makes for a yummy cherry; if you plop it in before the foam drys, it sticks. Hint: hanger side down into the foam.
Cheers.

[sunshiine]

So cute! I found this on the z list! Thanks for sharing! Have a splendorous day!
Sunshiine