bake - November 2017 - 40

that's the case, then Pastelería Azteca is all sorts of
spicy. Bakeries like Azteca are often run by one entire
family. Azteca is different though - while owner
Alfredo Sanchez does number some family among his
employees, including his daughter, his team boasts a
number of Latino nationalities, and it's this variety of
different people with different backgrounds working
together that truly makes Azteca shine.
Everything in the shop, whether from the bakery or the
ice cream parlor, is made from scratch using BakeMark
products, and is inspired by various employees' favorite
ﬂavors from home. They have over 60 different ﬂavors
of ice cream alone, many of which are unique to their
various countries of origin. Fruits and ﬂavors from
Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico are served alongside
pastries inspired by the Danish and French.
Traditional offerings like rebanada and tres leches cakes
are given different toppings to shake things up. They
even have a peanut, pork rind and vegetable-based
snack drizzled in hot sauce called Cacahuates Japones,
said to originate from Japan. Sanchez himself is from
Mexico, and has lived in the United States for 20 years.
He now owns 16 stores, including nine bakeries and
seven ice cream parlors. Three of those locations actually serve both baked goods and ice cream, and two are
currently under construction and set to open this year
in Austin, Texas.
The popular pan de Guatemala with parmesan cheese
"It's really a blend of cultures here," Sanchez says.

sits alongside a plain, American-style cuerno roll,

"We have people here from Guatemala and people

which in turn sits next to its Central American cousin,

from El Salvador, and they bring in what they've seen

the top-selling sweet cuerno. Azteca's version of a

in their country, so it is a real combination of creative

classic Danish is made with more butter but no streusel

inﬂuences in our kitchens." That combination has not

topping, and with strawberry, cream cheese and lemon.

gone unnoticed by Azteca's customers, who know the

Items decorated and catered to children are placed on

pastelería for its myriad abilities. "We have people who

the lowest shelves of the cases so the kids can see them

come in from different cultures," Sanchez says, "and

better, Sanchez says, and featured among them are mini

they bring in pictures of things and ask, 'Can you make

donuts and conchas.

something like this that I can buy?' Even from Mexico,
it's so big, and so different - each state has its own

It's their cakes and ﬂans that are the real bread-and-

ﬂavors. If you go from the south of Mexico to the north,

butter for the store though, elaborate works of frosting

it's completely different. And we've got people from all

and gelatin art for all occasions. The most popular

over there, so we combine them and their talents."

are the tres leches cakes, which come in three ﬂavors:
regular, mocha and caramel. One entire case is dedi-

A mere glance at the ﬁrst of Azteca's bakery cases

cated to whole wheat versions of their top sellers, and

near the entrance illustrates its multicultural inﬂuences.

does just as well as the other confections, Sanchez says.

40 < NOV 2017 | bakemag.com

JOHN UNREIN

Pastelería Azteca

It's often said that diversity is the spice of life, and if

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bake - November 2017

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