Take a bowl full of vision, add a dash of talent, mix in a bag of family support and a touch of a whole lotta work. Bake at 350 degrees. Remove from oven a beautiful dream come true.
Cashier Ricky Garza, left, cookie decorator Cierra Landin, owner Danielle S. Ramirez, and baker Nora Landin pose for a photo in the new bakery Dani's Cakes-N-More which recently opened at 603. N. Lamesa Hwy.(HERALD Photo)
Twenty-three-year-old Danielle S. Ramirez never dreamed of becoming a small business owner and baker. Then she baked a cake and awakened a talent and sparking a dream.
“I guess it was an accident,” Ramirez said. “I made a cake for a friend and I received lots of compliments. From there it was like 'Wow I can actually do this.' I've had great support from family, especially from my husband and parents. And my grandpa. They've been a huge support. They said 'Why don't you try it (start a business)?'
“After that I met Nora Landin (local resident and long-time baker). She said 'Do you need help opening a bakery?'And I was like 'Let's do it.' So we put my dream together in just a couple of months.”
Although the doors have been opened for only a few weeks, Ramirez said business is sky rocketing.
“It hit me faster than I thought,”she said. “I figured it would be a slow, small process, but business jumped that Wednesday after we opened. It was like boom and it hit me. Wow, this is really happening.”
Landin, a six-year bakery employee for the former Gale's Sweet Shoppe, said she was also surprised at the amount of business the shop has attracted in such a short time.
“It didn't expect it to happen that fast. Not on the third day,” she said.
Yet, Landin said she's ready for the challenge.
“I'm a baker. I was born a baker,” she said. “I love it. Business has been going good for a week and a half. I'm 53 years old. I have a lot of miles on me but I'm not going to give up.
“I've never accomplished my dream (of opening my own bakery), but she (Ramirez) gave me a chance. They accepted me as a family member and that makes my job easier.”
When the doors open at 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday — at 8 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays — the race is on to keep up with the demand for warm, freshly baked empanadas and hot breads, the women said.
“Empanadas are the number one item,” Landin said. “We find it hard to keep up with. We don't fry them. They're baked, which is what a lot of customers like.”
“At 6:30 a.m. we get hit,” Ramirez added. “All our empanadas are gone.”
The bakery offers a variety of sweets and services.
“We have coffee, we sell cheesecakes by the slice, lava cakes, old-fashioned root beer floats and cokes,” Ramirez said. “We have cookies of all varieties, dipped strawberries. You can special order cakes for birthdays, weddings, Quinceañeras.”
“I feel like our wedding cakes are reasonable,” she continued. “I've been in that situation where I've wanted a beautiful wedding cake and did not want to have to pay an arm and leg for it. I know a lot of young adults don't have $500 to blow on a wedding cake.”
But it's her breads that the young Mrs. Ramirez takes the most pride in.
“We've experimented with them a lot,” she said. We've receive lots of compliments on our banana breads. Most everything we make is from scratch. I won't lie, our cinnamon rolls are bought from Cisco but everything else is made from scratch. It's just our hard work.”
Ramirez said her talent was handed down in her family.
“My great-grandmother Tommie Mendoza did a lot of cooking,” she said. “I learned by watching my grandmother, Linda Ramirez. I think I got my inspiration from my grandmothers.”
And she is quick to point out her family's contribution.
“My husband, Michael, works full-time — he's a pumper — and he put this together for me,” she said. “In about a month he restored this building for me. He'll come out here and bake cookies. He'll get the job done.”
And he's not the only one who lends a hand.
“My mom (Maria Salazar) helps with the empanadas,” she said. “My dad, (Jesse Salazar) is great. He'll greet you when you come and my grandparents will come in for coffee.
“It's a great support system. I know my without my parent's support and my husband's I probably wouldn't be here.”
And a special customer helps to grease her creative juices.
“It's always good when you have a grandpa (Jesse Mendoza) who says 'Hey. make me a cake today.'” she said with a smile. “Even before I opened. It was always 'Mija, make me cookies or make me a cake or something sweet.' That's is kind of where I got the courage to try different things. I didn't want to just make him the same thing over and over.”
But her most demanding critics and fans are her young children: six-year-old Aaron, the big boy; 4-year-old Haley, the budding cookie and cake decorator; and soon-to-be 2-year-old Jesslynn, the baby.
“I love baking,” she said. “It's a sacrifice being away from my kids but I know they are being well taken care of. They're my world. Hopefully this will succeed and if it does this will be for my kids.”
Dani's Cakes-N-More is located at 603 N. Lamesa Hwy. Business hours are 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. The phone number is 213-7370. Visit HYPERLINK "http://www.daniscakesmore.com/"www.daniscakesmore.com on the Web or e-mail
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