About This Chica and This Blog

My name is Eliana and I welcome you to my blog – the musings of this curvy body, brown skin, curly haired Latina baker.  Up and running since January 2009, A Chica Bakes has helped me navigate through life both in and out of my kitchen.  And with a healthy dose of cakes, cookies and ice cream, I hope it does the same for you.

Coming from a family of country farmers in the Dominican Republic I grew up in a household full of good food.  However following my mother cook is not the easiest of tasks.  She is the queen of adding “a little bit of this” and “a little bit of that”, which made learning the ins-and-outs of cooking pretty difficult. And let’s not even get into baking, which my mom stays away from since her oven is used exclusively for storage. It wasn’t until I had my own kitchen that I found solace in baking, where you have to follow a recipe and are told what to do each step of the way. And so, this blog is an exploration of my baking (and some cooking) adventures sprinkled with a little bit of life and Latin Flair, because everything I do, I do as a proud Latina.

I hope my little corner of the Internet brings you lots of delicious pleasure.

With my many kitchen hits (and misses), I’m living the sweet life in my small Brooklyn kitchen with my chief taste testers – my husband, Barney, and pooch, Kingston.

My camera: Canon Rebel XSi (Note – my photography skills are a work in progress.  With the help of patience and a good dose of natural light, I have taken some decent pics.)

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My favorite thing to bake: cookies (and anything with coconut).

My favorite dessert:  this changes almost everyday, but right now, these are my favorites.

Clockwise from Top Left – Marbled Loaf, Strawberry Ice  Cream, Coconut Kisses and Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake

Cookbooks I’m into at the moment:  Flour, Modern Baker

The one kitchen tool I can’t life without: my rubber spatula and my pink Kitchen Aid mixer.

What I can use more of:  oven mitts, cuz I must have like 735 burn marks…I mean battle wounds.

My proudest blogging moment:  Meeting and Interviewing Latina Chef Daisy Martinez