Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for families

We’re here to spread some cheer! Our cake celebrations are for kids facing tough medical challenges. If your little one has a condition that’s progressive, degenerative, or malignant and is within two years of their most recent treatment, or if they’ve been require frequent or extended hospitalizations, we’ve got a slice of sweetness waiting for them. Let’s make their journey a little brighter with a touch of sugary magic!

We’re not a bakery – in fact, we don’t even have an oven to bake up the sweetness. But fear not, we’ve got an army of awesome volunteers, aka our Sugar Angels, sprinkled all over the U.S., ready to whip up the cake of your dreams. Once we’ve got your eligibility squared away, it’s game on! We’ll team you up with a local Sugar Angel to bring the cake magic right to your doorstep. Let the baking adventure begin!

The earlier you request your cake wishes, the better chance we have to snag you the perfect baker and give them all the time they need to whip up a showstopper. We’ve even received cake requests a whole year in advance – yup, that’s the kind of excitement we’re talking about! Just submit your application whenever you’re ready to party, but don’t forget our golden rule: all paperwork magic must be submitted and approved by at least four weeks before your big day. Your cake superhero won’t be scheduled until your eligibility has been approved.

If a medical child is terminal or hospitalized on their birthday, we allow an exception and only require one-week notice from our families. Please note that this option is not available for sibling cakes.

A medical child may receive one Dream Cake and multiple Fun Cakes through our program. They may receive one cake per calendar year (January-December).

Siblings are limited to two cakes through our program: one fun cake and one dream cake. They may only receive one cake per calendar year (January-December). The sibling cakes must be used within the medical child’s eligibility period.

You can submit your applications at any time, for any children. We do need one application per child, submitted every year that you would like to receive a cake.

Cue the confetti! Any reason is a good reason for a cake extravaganza! Whether it’s a birthday bash or some other awesome milestone, be it medical or just a “just because” moment, we’re all in for spreading joy and sweetness to you and your little superstar. Let’s turn any day into a cake-worthy celebration!

We serve cakes throughout the year with the exception of these specific holiday dates:

2024: Jan: 1, 2 (New Years), Feb: 13, 14, 15 (Valentine’s Day), March: 31 (Easter), May 11, 12 (Mother’s Day), May 25, 26, 27 (Memorial Day), July 3, 4, 5 (Independence Day), Nov: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, Dec. 1 (Thanksgiving), Dec: 23, 24, 25, 26, 31 (Christmas/New Years)

2025: Jan: 1, 2 (New Years’), Feb: 13, 14, 15 (Valentine’s Day), April: 20 (Easter), May: 10, 11 (Mother’s Day), May: 24, 25, 26 (Memorial Day), July: 3, 4, 5 (Independence Day), Nov: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 (Thanksgiving), Dec: 23, 24, 25, 26, 31 (Christmas/New Years’)

2026: Jan: 1, 2 (New Years’), Feb: 13, 14, 15 (Valentine’s Day), April 5 (Easter), May: 9, 10 (Mother’s Day), May: 23, 24, 25 (Memorial Day), July: 3, 4, 5 (Independence Day), Nov: 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 (Thanksgiving), Dec: 23, 24, 25, 26, 31 (Christmas/New Years’)

Yes, we provide memorial cakes for families who have experienced the loss of a qualified medical child within the last two years. We appreciate you trusting Icing Smiles and our Sugar Angels with honoring your child.

Our communication with families is handled mostly through email and texts for several reasons. This allows us to have a record of our correspondence with you, which is especially important when we ask for the details of your request so that we may share this information with your child’s baker.

We understand that the care and treatment of your child take priority, and we want to make it as easy as possible for your family to work with us to provide your child with an Icing Smiles cake. If you feel that you will be unable to respond in a timely manner, you may appoint a liaison to communicate with us on your behalf. The liaison can be anyone you choose who is willing to respond to communication in order to facilitate arrangements for your child’s cake.

We ask that all our families plan to pick up the cake. We will remind you and the baker to make arrangements 2 weeks prior to the event date. 

We state standards to ensure product quality. Our families are the next best resource for quality control. Your honest feedback is essential to ensure we provide the best cakes possible.  

A link to a Feedback Form will be provided in the thank you note that we send to you after the event date. We cannot guarantee the quality of either the design or taste of any cake. Our volunteer bakers dedicate an incredible amount of time and energy to your cake, and we hope you will be able to sense the amount of love poured into it. 

Cakes are generally designed and sized according to industry-accepted portions. Below are links to a few different servings and cutting guides for differently sized and shaped cakes, and a brief video that shows how to cut a round cake to achieve the appropriate number of servings.

Click here for a cutting guide for various sized cakes.

Click here for a video on how to portion a celebration cake.

As of March 2024, we require that the application be completed by a parent or legal guardian. 

We serve children between the ages of 1 and 18 (one cake during the 18th year, well in advance of the 19th birthday). Event date must be within 6 months of turning 18.

After the medical child has turned 18, the siblings are no longer eligible as well. 

Icing Smiles does offer dietary restrictions when the child receiving the cake has a dietary need.

If your little one has a special dietary need, we’ve got you covered with some seriously cool specialized cakes. Our application will dive into the nitty-gritty of the allergy situation, and we’ll do our cakey best to make it all work. However, as the recipient of the donation, you accept liability and assume all responsibility associated with the consumption of the donated cake.

*Dietary restrictions can only be accommodated for the person receiving the cake.

*As of 9/1/24 we will no longer consider diabetes alone as a qualifying condition.  The reason for this change is the challenge of finding volunteers who can accommodate the dietary restrictions related to this condition.   

In order for a child to be considered a medically eligible recipient, an Icing Smiles Medical Eligibility Form (MEF) must be completed. If a child has already received a dream cake as a sibling, they would not be eligible to receive another dream cake as a medically eligible child.