Here’s to a Winter Wonderland in May, from a talented nurse AND baker!

Some days, nothing seems to go right. Even our Sugar Angels have days like those, but they don’t let it stop them from baking up smiles for the kids we serve!

No one knows this better than Sugar Angel Amber. When she had the opportunity to make a Winter Wonderland themed Dream Cake for Amalia’s fourth birthday, she had a grand plan for everything she wanted to do to make a spectacular cake. We’ll take you step by step through her process.

When Amber first started on the cake, everything seemed to go wrong. The first step in her grand plan was to create a fondant scarf to wrap up the entire cake for that extra wintry feel. It’s something she had never done before, but no challenge is too big for this self-taught baker. It had to be perfect — nothing less than the best will do for her cakes! It took three tries, but she finally got the perfect texture and thickness to give the cozy look she was going for.

Next up was the white chocolate ganache. What was usually a simple task became immensely difficult. Her day job as a pediatric nurse left her little time for sleep, but she powered through to ensure that the ganache was up to her strict standards. After multiple attempts, she was finally able to get the silky, shiny ganache with the very last of her white chocolate.

Now that the ganache was just right, she began to work on the drips on the cake. Finally… something went right! The drips came out perfect. She confidently proceeded to fill the cake with the ganache, when a blow out struck. The cap had come off of the bottle she was using to fill the cake and her perfect white ganache was everywhere. But Amber would not let another setback deter her: she immediately grabbed everything she could to maneuver the ganache and icing to ensure the cake looked just as beautiful as it was tasty.

All of Amber’s hard work paid off, through all the splashes and spills, redos and try-overs. She was able to produce an amazing dream cake for a very deserving girl. It’s situations like these that make Icing Smiles so proud to have such a strong network of talented, determined Sugar Angels spreading joy with their gifts.

Looking to join us in Baking a Difference, even if you’re not a baker? See our Volunteer page for more info.

Cakes + Smiles,

Megan Glynn

Icing Smiles Blog Writer