Meet Cristina Cinquino

Behind the Sugar: Blog Edition

Meet Cristina Cinquino of PrimaCristina Theme Cakes in Chalfont, PA.

“Cakers put so much passion into every cake; I always hope to deliver a slice of happiness,” Cristina said when asked what she enjoyed the most about volunteering. She heard about Icing Smiles when she took a Wilton Cake Decorating class and her Instructor would tell stories about being a Sugar Angel. “I wrote the name down and looked up Icing Smiles when I got home. It’s such a great concept! I thought that it sounded like such a wonderful organization.”

Cristina’s passion for helping children with critical illnesses drove her to often times donate to organizations in need. However, she hadn’t had the opportunity to directly impact a family until she signed up for Icing Smiles. The thought of being able to do something she loved and putting a smile on a child’s face who could use a bit of extra happiness in his or her life made her feel like she could make a small but meaningful difference. She received that opportunity not long ago when she was contacted to design a cake for 9 year old Antonio.

Little Antonio was diagnosed with brain cancer the day after Thanksgiving at the age of 7. He had surgery, but as a result, he lost the ability to move his left side. He has undergone therapy and oncotherapy to help get his body moving again and also completed six weeks of radiation. Cristina wanted to do everything she could to make Antonio’s birthday celebration as wonderful as possible.

When asked how she came up with such an exciting design for Antonio Cristina said, “He at first wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake and changed his mind a week before the party. His mom asked if it would be ok to change the theme to Hot Wheels – of course I wanted accommodate his request. I racked my brain for an exciting Hot Wheels idea….um…duh a GIANT hot wheels race car!”

“I’ll never forget how when he [Antonio] first saw the cake. He grabbed it and quickly pulled his hand away and said, ‘I’m sorry, I thought it was a toy…I didn’t realize it was a cake’. Cristina said, “I was forever touched when he told me that he would save me a piece of cake. Despite what he may have been through and the fact that he’s so young, he was thoughtful enough to offer to save me a piece of cake.”

Pictures from the 1967 Camaro

When asked how she constructed a cake like this, Cristina said, “One of the 1st professional cakes I ever did, and my 1st big challenge, was to construct a 1967 Camaro. I studied for months to prepare for that car. Most helpful was Mike McCarey’s Classic Car class on Craftsy. For that car, I used blue prints to be sure the scale and details were correct. I used much of what I learned from that experience to do this car, but, what was much easier was that this was a fantasy car and I didn’t have to be exact in replicating any specific details.”

For Antonio’s cake, she researched race car designs with universal characteristics that make a formula 1 car identifiable…the large tires, the cockpit, the front wing, etc. To build the car, she used a half sheet pan cut in half and stacked. She figured out that using the cake scraps made into a cakepop like mixture helped build up the shape and form curves. This proved to be way easier than carving. After she got the general shape, she coated the cake in chocolate ganache to form a sturdy shell before covering in fondant. The tires are 2 honey buns wrapped in fondant and the front wings are rice krispy treats.

Thank you Cristina for bringing a BIG smile to Antonio’s face! We are so excited to have you as a Sugar Angel and look forward to seeing more “smiles” in the future. To view more of her wonderful creations visit her Facebook page.