Bakerella, Hi! I’m in the middle of reading the Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum (I know, who “reads” a cookbook, I’m a dork). You would LOVE it! (assuming you don’t already!) The detail she goes into about the science of cakes and baking is phenomenal, not to mention extremely helpful. She gets into layering, decorating, and fondant too! There are great tips about cooling between steps to firm things up and everything… I find that you can fix anything with buttercream followed by a stint in the fridge. Fries look great and your sister was super ambitious too!!!