How To Make a Faux Cake

11 Materials
$35
1 Day
Easy
  • This project is perfect for someone who is planning a photoshoot and maybe doesn’t want to spring for the expensive three-tiered cake. Maybe you are planning a wedding, outdoor tablescape photo, or birthday photo shoot. This project is not only affordable, it is pretty easy for the most inexperienced DIY-er to do. Check out more DIY's on my blog. Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Worx Tools. All opinions are my own.

I learned this technique last year when I was scrambling to find a baker for a fall outdoor tablescape photo shoot I was doing. So I decided to create my own faux beautiful cake instead! I am so excited to show you how this one turned out.

Gather all of your materials.


You can choose to substitute brands or craft supplies when necessary.

Step Your Cake Rounds


I purchase a set of 4 Styrofoam rounds off of Amazon, but you can pick these up at any craft store. You can also choose any size or shape for your cake rounds, there are so many options.

Step Applying the Joint Compound


Use the All Purpose Joint compound and apply to the styrofoam forms with a spackling knife.

Step Let Compound Dry


Allow your cakes to completely dry. I only needed three cakes for this project, so I will just save one for a rainy day! *Side Note: If you find holes or areas that need repairing, apply another layer of joint compound and let it dry before painting. You will see a slight color change between wet and dry areas. I allow to dry overnight.

Step Gather Paint Sprayer Materials


I am so excited that I have the new Maker X dremel style tool to use to airbrush this faux cake. 

Step Prep to Paint


Prep to Paint. This 20V cordless air brush attachment from Worx will be perfect for airbrushing the cake rounds to create a candy corn look. You want to fill up the air brush paint container with your desired colored paint. Be sure to clean out paint in between color changes. We used white, orange, and yellow acrylic paint. *Side Note: If you do not have a paint sprayer simply apply the paint with a brush. 

We painted one tier yellow and one tier orange.

The bottom tier white.

Painting Your Cakes Your Desired Color


We wanted to decorate this faux cake for Halloween to look like a piece of candy corn. So each tier was a different color. *Side Note: Even if you want to leave your cake white, I would recommend applying 1-2 coats of white paint. Just to give it a brighter, cleaner looking finish. The joint compound does dry white, but it is very dull.Also if you want to do a naked cake then I recommend painting your ake with a tan or brown paint before you spackle. You will lightly coat the cake with spackling, not full coverage.

Step Glue Your Cakes Together


Use the Styrofoam Glue to glue your cake forms together. Make sure they are centered when you place each tier. I prefer to do this after spackling the cake it is easier to do each cake separately in my opinion. *Side Note: You could do before you paint totally your preference.

Step Time to Decorate the cake!


We used candy corn, fall florals, and some acorns we found at the park.

Glue Candy To Cake


Just dab a bit of hot glue on the bottom of the candy. 

Press the candy on to the cake for just a few seconds each. We decided to just go along the top two tiers of the cake. 

Just continue adding candy or decor around your entire cake tiers.

Add in the florals


We used a toothpick to make some small holes at the top of the cake for the florals to be inserted into. 

Adding in Fall Touches


At this point we wanted to add a few florals and acorns to the top and side of the cake to balance it out. 

Thats a Wrap!


This was such a fun project and an affordable way to stage your table for any season. 

Resources for this project:
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Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Peggy Peggy on Nov 12, 2020

    Have you tried mixing the paint into the spackle

  • Cary Sims Cary Sims on Sep 19, 2022

    What is the spackling used for?

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2 of 19 comments
  • I remember in the 90's when "fake" cake and pastries were made so beautifully just for decor!

  • Jaye Jaye on Nov 01, 2023

    Oh my goodness! I didn’t know that I needed a Worx Air Brush. So cute and handy to have in my toolbox 😉. Fabulous idea for faux cake. Looks like a fun project. My only concern is that I would eat a half bag of candy corn as finishing the decorating. As I type this I am thinking how I will use some chocolate kisses for one cake and jelly beans for another cake. Girl! You got me thinking about so many possibilities. Thank you for sharing.

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