I had the honor of delivering my first cake for a family as a member of the Icing Smiles organization. Icing Smiles is an organization that provides custom celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the critical illness of a child. To learn more about them click here.
I was SOOOO excited when I got the e-mail from my cake coordinator, Rose, that I was being asked to make a custom cake for a little girl named Jillian. I had submitted my name to Icing Smiles but wasn't sure I would be called to make a custom cake because I'm not a professional baker... I was connected to Joy, Jilly's mom, and we exchanged e-mails about idea's of what she would like for her cake. Jilly is a huge Shrek fan and they call Jilly "princess" so we came up with a Shrek castle cake for her 4th birthday. Jilly's had heart issues since her birth and has been in and out of the hospital over her short life. She's never been home (away from the hospital) to celebrate her birthday so this year we made it a special one with a special cake. Jilly's older brother has also missed out on a few birthdays, most recently this year, and Joy wrote into Icing smiles requesting a cake for her son to help make him feel special. It is important for him to know how much the family appreciates him and he deserves special recognition for being a great big brother to Jilly. His cake is being delivered tomorrow by another baker. I can't wait to see pictures of it.
For Jilly's cake I incorporated hearts where ever I could think of them. I made the top two layers of the castle in a heart shape, added heart windows, and added heart shingles to the torants. Below you will find some pictures of the cake coming together.
Almost done...
Ready to be moved to the car...
Jilly was checking me out... She was a little rambunctious today and didn't want to look at the camera... I feel honored to have made her 4th Birthday cake and had a chance to meet Jilly and her amazing mom! Heart Hugs!
