In the end, we didn’t make a cake today, because I realized too late that I had no icing in the house. If you watched “Cake Boss” on TLC (or “Ace of Cakes” on the Food Network — cakes are apparently “in”), you would know that you need to “dirty ice” your cake with buttercream before laying the fondant over it. Annabelle didn’t want to go back to Safeway, so instead she practiced cutting shapes with some leftover fondant from the other night.

The other night, she and I whipped up our first (but clearly not last) fondant cake, in honor of my father in law’s 70th birthday.

I approached this endeavor the way I approach most things I haven’t done before: with great fear.

But the fondant was so easy (I highly recommend buying the top-of-the-line fondant — it’ll be a dollar more per container, well worth it according to the woman at the baking supply store — ours is ABC Cake Supplies in Phoenix) I tackled another never-attempted project this weekend: assembling a small cardboard storage box from IKEA.

OK, you’ve got to start somewhere. And for me, it was with a large amount of bright green fondant. Don’t forget the cornstarch and a good rolling pin. Annabelle was absolutely thrilled; we have firm plans for the next cake, which will happen when we are no longer sick. Even Ray — who has been known at times to scoff at my craft projects — admitted it was pretty cool, and requested a New York coffee cake. Sans the fondant.

The best part: My father in law actually liked it! At least he said so, and both girls beamed. (Sophie actually fell asleep before the cake cooled enough to decorate, but she was in on the planning.) Now, I’m not sure I saw my father in law take a bite of cake, but to be honest, neither did I. Under the fondant, Betty Crocker was just a little too involved for my taste. Have you ever smelled her “buttercream” icing? Gross.

But hey, this is art. As for me, I’m going to keep working on my “Never Done Before, To Do” list.

Note: I had every intention of successfully posting a photo of the girls and their grandpa and the cake — but let’s just say my trip to the Genius Bar at the Apple store didn’t leave me a genius. Tomorrow, I promise. And on my “Never Done Before, To Do” list: master computer.