Nilda Veras has a lot of secrets. Secrets she won’t tell you about even if you pry.
She’s originally from Puerto Rico but came to Anchorage several years ago to be closer to her sister. And, when she moved here, she brought the secrets to baking Latino pastries. I met with her this week to learn how to make a tres leche cake. She taught me the basics, but wouldn’t tell me everything she puts in her cakes. She was afraid other people would copy her recipe.
Inside her shop in midtown Nilda effortlessly moved between two mixers, one beating egg yolks, the other egg whites. The table jerked back and fourth to the beat of the mixers. Nilda told me that for several years she sold pastries to people at her church, then, after a lot of encouragement, she opened her own shop this month. She said she’s the only Latino bakery in Anchorage.
“Since I was a child I always liked baking,” Nilda said.
She told me that Latino pastries often use passion fruits. Guava syrup’s dripped over quesito de guayaba, which is a pastry that’s similar to danish. Pineapple’s stuffed inside a massive white sabor Latino pineapple filled cake. Portion’s here are generous, you can easily share a pastry between two, or three people.
I asked Nilda what made her store special.
“It’s just something I love, I have passion,” she said, “it’s the flavor, we add the secret, and we make it special.”
Nilda’s Party Creations
4240 Old Seward Hwy. #21
907-332-0025
www.nildaspartycreations.com
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