bake - September 2016 - 70

The Latin Flavor Inﬂuence
Latin-inspired ﬂavors are sweeping the American cake deco-

milhojas for customers who buy them for special occasions.

rating world, as cake decorators look to add new twists to

Owner Gustavo Miranda, who started the bakery in 2008, pre-

traditional cakes and desserts. No longer are Hispanic bakeries

viously lived in Los Angeles and brought the milhojas recipe

being shopped by Hispanic customers almost exclusively. In

with him from Los Angeles. The fruit and the ﬂaky layers of

increasing numbers, Hispanic cakes and Hispanic ﬂavors are

dough make a unique ﬂavor. The bakery uses strawberries,

being embraced by the mainstream public.

peaches, kiwifruit, pineapples and grapes, "and we do a jelly
glaze on the top to make it special."

Of note, egg-rich custards and thick caramels, including ﬂan,
tres leches and dulce de leche have never been too far outside

Other bakeries across the country offer individual slices of mil-

the culinary world, but regional delicacies and new interpreta-

hojas, showing that it is becoming popular as an everyday item.

tions of old favorites are trending upward, according to the
latest decorating trends in America.

Ignacio travels a lot for business and, when she goes to other
cities she always makes sure to take photos of what others

For many years, milhojas cakes have been regarded as a pas-

in the bakery business are doing. This routine helps her keep

try delicacy only to be enjoyed on special occasions. Like its

pace with trends in the bakery she runs with her husband, Juan

French counterpart, the Napoleon, milhojas is produced with

Maravilla, who is the head baker. "Cakes are very good business

ﬂaky layers of pastry, ﬁlled with pastry cream and topped with

for us, and we are always looking for innovations," she says. "It's

fresh fruit slices.

important to know what is going on in the rest of the world."

But what is happening now, as customers become more

Success Stories

familiar with unique pastries, milhojas is moving into the

Owners Eduardo Colón and Denisse Torres started central

mainstream and approaching tres leches cakes as one of the

Florida retailer Melao Bakery in Kissimmee, Florida, in 2008,

most popular Hispanic desserts. "We make milhojas cakes all

after having run a bakery in their former home of Puerto Rico.

year-round, sometimes every day," says Alma Ignacio, owner

They grew up in Vega Baja, in northern Puerto Rico where

of Maravilla's Bakery in Salem, Oregon. "We top them with

beautiful beaches are surrounded by sugar cane ﬁelds. In

ﬁve kinds of fruit: kiwifruit, strawberry, pineapple, peach and

Puerto Rico, melao means sugar cane.

grapes. We bake it from scratch. They call it milhojas because
of the ﬂaky layers."

Once they arrived in Florida, they started the bakery with
seven employees. Today, there are more than 50 on staff. The

At Miranda's Bakery in Woodburn, Oregon, full sheets and half

city of Kissimmee honored Melao Bakery as the ﬁrst Hispanic

sheets are very popular. The bakery makes the giant full sheet

business to win its annual "Small Business of the Year" award.

70 < SEP 2016 | bakemag.com
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