Madeleine's Birthday Cake

*UPDATE October 4, 2011*
Madeleine's battle with cancer ended on September 27, 2011. Click here to watch local TV coverage.

For Madeleine's very special 9th birthday, I enlisted the help of some of my best cake friends - Diana, Christina, Ellen, and Kyla, and together we made her a cake to remember. Diana and Christina hand-made the figurines in West Texas and overnighted them to me. Kyla and Ellen came to my house and worked with me from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., nonstep except when we took a short break to eat a Papa Murphy's pizza at lunch time! Ellen wielded the airbrush, and Kyla worked her magic on that magnificent pineapple, the Krabby Patty, and Squidward's house. Me? Well, uh, I supervised. No, I'm kidding, I worked all day long too, making flowers, starfish, seaweed, bubbles, the Krusty Krab, and, well....supervising.

Madeleine and her family were so surprised, and she loved her cake! The first thing she said when she saw it was, "Where's Patrick?" He was up so high, she couldn't see him from her wheelchair! But she knew he had to be there somewhere. She is right on top of things!

For those of you who would like to read more about her progress, here is her Caring Bridge page.

I know you're probably wondering how many that served - the answer is about 15! Only the 8" round tier that says "Madeleine" is real cake. The pineapple on top is a rice krispy treat, and everything else is styrafoam dummies. Jennifer Bartos at the All In One Bake Shop very generously donated all the fondant and styrafoam for this project, and I am extremely grateful to her for that! This was truly a collaborative effort of Texas cakers!

Madeleine's Gift

*UPDATE October 4, 2011*
Madeleine's battle with cancer ended on September 27, 2011. Click here to watch local TV coverage.

*UPDATE September 8, 2011*
Madeleine is gravely ill and hospice has advised her family to be at her side. More information can be found on her Facebook page, Prayers for Chingy.
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I'm going to take a break from blogging about sugar, cookies, and cakes for this post, and talk about a very special little girl.

I'd like you to meet my neighbor, Madeleine. Madeleine is 8 years old, she will be 9 in October. Up until this summer, Madeleine was a normal, happy, active girl who loved Spongebob and riding her bike. Then one day in July, she came inside after riding her bike, and collapsed. Doctors found multiple tumors in her brain. She was diagnosed with Stage IV Glioblastoma.

Madeleine has had brain surgery to remove the two largest tumors, but there are many which are inoperable due to their location. The surgery left her in a wheelchair, unable to move her legs or left arm. She is currently undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.



Madeleine's prognosis is bleak, but her spirits are high. Her life spirit shines brightly despite her grave illness.



Her parents are not able to work, in order to care for her and spend as much time as possible with her. They are faced with numerous unexpected medical expenses.

If you participate in a prayer list, please add Madeleine Frady to your prayers. And if you are able, please consider giving a donation to her family to help them in this terrible time of need. Madeleine's web site with donation information is http://www.madeleinesgift.org/.

Ok, I lied, I'm not taking a complete break from talking about sugar art. This wouldn't be a complete CakeBoss post without some kind of sugar art! I made SpongeBob cookies for Madeleine tonight. I hope they bring a smile to her sweet face.

Marshmallow fondant

CakeBoss shows you how to make easy homemade fondant out of marshmallows and powdered sugar!

Check it out!

CakeBoss coral tutorial

We've just released a new tutorial on how to create realistic-looking coral for ocean or aquarium themed cakes. Check it out!

Mix or Scratch?

CakeBoss weighs in on the mix vs. scratch debate.

CakeBoss Mix Or Scratch Article

CakeBoss 2010 Released!

We are very proud to announce the release of the all new and improved CakeBoss 2010!

The new program was redesigned from the ground up, with easier installation, and many new features and enhancements, including:

Multiple photos attached to orders
Ability to schedule and record multiple payments
New reports like 'Shopping List' which lets you select a date range, and prints out all ingredients and supplies you need for orders in that time frame.
Master 'Material' list to let you enter all your materials like boxes, boards, dowels.
Master 'Ingredient' list with ingredient converter for common baking ingredients. So you enter into CakeBoss that your 5-lb bag of sugar is $4.29, and CakeBoss "knows" how much 1 cup, or 1 ounce, or 1 tbsp costs you.
Expense Book - let you account for ALL expenses, not just the cost of an order. Run reports to break down expenses by category.

Check out these screen shots, and come on over to CakeBoss.com to take the full video tour!


Dashboard shows upcoming orders, and pending and overdue payments.


Pre-loaded with over 100 common baking ingredients. Just enter the size package you buy (metric or imperial) and the price you pay

Anniversary Cake

My husband and I celebrated our 15th anniversary last week, and to commemorate the occasion, I re-made my wedding cake. You see, my wedding cake was bad. Not just "dated" in that 1994 way, but really, really bad. So ugly I was embarrassed to display it.

So, I made it again, only this time I made what I "thought" I was getting. There were rules: It had to be a 6", 8", 10", and it had to be on Wilton crystal-look pillars, just like the original. It had to be all buttercream, it had to have ruffle swags, and it had to have pink buttercream roses.


This is not my dream wedding cake NOW - of course styles have changed and my tastes are much different. But I think the 1994 me would have been pleased with it.





Ok, so I opened the door, what would be my ideal wedding cake now? Argh, I would probably go insane trying to choose just one design, but I do love this Blue Hydrangea cake by Jennifer Dontz. Of course mine would be in pink. Always pink! :)