CAPITOLA, Calif. – Marina Sousa’s star-studded career – this Food Network champion has designed cakes for Oprah, Raquel Welch, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston – may have been foreshadowed by her fifth-grade science project.

“We had to make a volcano; I made mine out of cake, complete with buttercream eruptions,” she says with a laugh, ganache-brown eyes dancing.

That story wouldn’t surprise foodies across America who have watched Sousa’s stunning, gravity-defying creations win a dozen Food Network cake competitions – including the first one televised, in 2004, and the Miley Cyrus “Sweet 16” birthday challenge.