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

After her surgery, she stopped breathing several times, had significant blood loss and required a blood transfusion. During her surgery, doctors discovered that she had a low white blood cell count, and further testing showed an imbalance translocation with chromosomes 19 and 5. After being in the NICU for a month, Arizona was diagnosed with Cri Du Chat Syndrome, which is a very rare chromosomal disorder. She has had to endure eye surgery at the age of 4 and spine surgery at 7. She also does spinal lengthening procedures every 3 months.

Doctors told Sherri that Arizona would not live past one year old. They were told that Arizona would not be able to function in life, that she would not be able to walk or talk. But this strong young lady has continuously beaten the odds! Although a little unbalanced, she can walk some on her own. She has some vocabulary and also signs, exceeding all expectations of her doctors. She constantly fights to persevere on a daily basis. She loves and lives life to the fullest and is so happy!

To celebrate Arizona’s spinal surgery completion, Sugar Angel Martha, of Roxana’s Cakes, created the perfect two-tiered, light pink and blue, winter wonderland cake with huge snowflakes. When Arizona saw her cake she had a smile that lit up the entire room. She was so excited to have a cake made especially for her. This is why sugar angels do what they do!

With Smiles,

Chasity Brown

Icing Smiles Blog Writer