This special cake was going to a lovely little girl named Carissa, who was turning 4 years old. When Carissa was born, she lost 2/3 of her digestive system, which can make mealtimes a challenge. But Carissa’s spunk doesn’t let her get down for too long!

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Carissa loved visiting the aquarium with her family and she enjoys watching Finding Nemo and Finding Nemo the Musical on repeat!

That’s how the idea for this Finding Nemo cake was born. Sue created the “reef” out of cake and fondant, and even Crush (the sea turtle) is cake! Nemo and Dory are made out of modeling paste, and Crush’s shell, flippers and head were created out of modeling chocolate and fondant mixed together. As a finishing touch, Sue hand-painted the turtle with gel food coloring. Not only was all this baking involved, but there was a bit construction to do too! Sue built the cake stand structure out of threaded rod, wood and aluminum foil tape.

Sue is just one example of how our Sugar Angels go the extra mile to put a smile on your children’s faces. We hope that Carissa had a very happy 4^th birthday!

With Smiles + Cake,

Kaitlyn Depoister

Icing Smiles Blog Writer

In August of 2018, Israel Graves was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia after a trip to the pediatrician about an odd bruise and instantly his world was turned upside down.

Since his diagnosis, the journey through chemotherapy and hospital visits have been difficult for both Israel and his mother, Cara, as a single parent. But they have both worked hard to bolster his fight and strive through every obstacle.

Israel has not had much to look forward to this past year, and celebrating his birthday was not looking like it would be any different to the year he has had so far. However, turning thirteen is a milestone all on its own– and Israel was more than deserving of a genuine moment of surprise and celebration! So, Israel was given two unexpected but exciting surprises for his birthday, that was sure to make anyone smile.

His first surprise was being able to celebrate his birthday at home rather than having to spend it at the hospital. The second was receiving an incredible birthday cake from one of our marvelous Sugar Angels, Jackie at Edible Art Charlotte. As Cara shared, “Receiving this gift from Icing Smiles and its volunteer bakers was figuratively and literally ‘the icing on the cake!’”. Cara worked secretly, delaying their departure from the hospital so Israel could come home to his incredible birthday cake just at the right moment as a surprise. The cake is decorated in a Fortnite theme, a popular online game, and is the perfect representation of celebrating a moment to the fullest, as players can choose personalized dances for celebrating after winning each battle. So, like the Fortnite characters after winning every battle, Israel got his moment to celebrate. You can hear more about Israel’s journey and support him here.

This post written with love and smiles by Icing Smiles blogger Candyce Palmer.