What do you get when you combine lampshade and bread or in Japanese, pan? You get Pampshade, a unique light source made from real bread. As appetizing and tasty as it may look, it is unfortunately inedible.
Handcrafted in Japan, this quirky home essential comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes (or should I say bread types). They are available in pain à la coupe, croissant, champignon, toast, baguette, batard, boule and petit boule. All made from staple ingredients of bread and cake flour, yeast, and salt. Then formed with the basic steps in bread making: mixing, kneading, proofing, and baking.
Once baked, the bread is cooled then hollowed out just until it glows when hit with light. Then it is treated with an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal coating to prevent it from decaying or decomposing. The coating also gives it a sheen or appetizing look. Then it’s allowed to rest or dry out before the LED lights, power cord, or battery box are placed inside to create the Pampshade.
Yukito Morita came up with this unique project after her time working in the bakery and she was deeply affected by the significant food waste with unsold bread getting discarded. Today, she collects unwanted loaves from bakeries so she can turn them into this unique masterpiece.
Morita bakes most of the bread she uses to make Pampshade and does not discard the doughy centers. Instead, she packages them into Nakami Rusk, boxes of rustic croutons flavored with Sweet Pistachio & Butter and Black Pepper Parmesan.
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Images courtesy of Pampshade