I had heard about Icing Smiles, Inc. through another cake blog I follow. I read their mission of providing custom celebration cakes to families impacted by critical illness of a child and I knew I had to get involved. I volunteered to be a baker in July of this year.

On September 12th, I got my first request: a 9th birthday cake for a little boy named Sheldon living with an unidentified mitochondrial disorder. I was told Sheldon loves snow and construction; in particular, he loves snowblowers, construction hats and goggles.

I was also told they needed a special gluten-, soy-, dairy- and nut-free cake for Sheldon. This would prove to be the biggest challenge I’d taken on.

I had 2 weeks to design and create the perfect cake for Sheldon and his family.  But that was the easy part. The biggest challenge was coming up with a recipe that didn’t have butter or margarine (which contains soy proteins). It took a lot of trial and error. My husband was the perfect guinea pig. But in the end, I had a recipe I was satisfied with.

Sheldon’s birthday isn’t just a celebration for him; it’s a day of joy and celebration for his entire family. With all of the support and love that they give one-another, I felt like I needed to incorporate them all into this cake. I decided that a winter scene would be just perfect.

It took a week and a half to complete everything, but in the end, it was worth every second.  The cake turned out perfectly.

snow cake, snow blower, fondant figurines

Sheldon with his Icing Smile! 

Here’s what Sheldon’s mom had to say:

“This cake was perfect for Sheldon! So much detail! I don’t know how you managed to figure out how to get in all the necessary components – snow blower, snow, hard hat, goggles… The snow blower is great! AND it was delicious! Thank you!”

No Comments Yet.

leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.