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.
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!”
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