Alexa Flores, 17, lives in Aransas Pass but attends high school in Rockport where she will graduate in May. In January she launched a home-based business, Alexa Marie (her middle name) Baking, using social media to raise awareness of her sumptuous products that she will deliver or arrange for pick-up. Her customer base stretches as far as Victoria where she has many relatives. It’s also where she _rst found inspiration to start baking as a young girl. (Aransas Pass Progress)
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Churro cheesecake is one of Alexa’s specialties. So are red velvet cookies, Cortadillo cake bites and giant chocolate chip cookies nearly 5-inches around, among others.( Courtesy: Alexa Flores )
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Small Business Corner: Alexa Marie Baking, Aransas Pass
Regular trips to see relatives in Victoria spurred a young Alexa Marie Flores to take up baking. Each time her family made the journey north, there was the requisite stop at the Rosita Bakery, 206 W. Water St. Not much to look at from the outside, the legendary business still serves a predominantly Latino clientele, most with direct lineage to their Mexican heritage. The aromas, the looks and the tastes of cultural favorites created lasting memories for Alexa, enough that one day she decided she could do that, too.
At just 17, the Aransas Pass resident a_ends Rockport High School, graduating with the Class of 2024 in May. Last month, she established Alexa Marie Baking from a kitchen at home, every week churning out sumptuous treats like churro cheesecake (the most expensive item she sells at $18.00), Cortadillo cake and many other goods that she explained reflect her Mexican roots, acknowledging you don’t have to be Hispanic to enjoy them.
Using social media, creating a Facebook page (h_ps:// www.facebook.com/groups/ 3715050838777649), Flores has already succeeded in a_racting many customers by filling a void for the type of baked goods she produces, serving a majority Latino clientele, or those curious to taste things they’ve heard of, but found difficult to acquire locally.
“With Valentine’s Day it’s going to be crazy!” she exclaimed in a recent interview with the newspaper, demand peaking in her second month in business.
“I’ve always loved baking,” Flores remarked, recollecting she was around 11 years-old when she really became absorbed in it. She was self-taught, ge_ing no help like others may have by watching YouTube tutorials. She did lean on recipes that had been her mother’s favorites, all with a Mexican influence.
Flores’ parents came from Mexico and Spain, so she credits them both for having had a significant influence on the direction she’s taken, most of the baked goods she makes being directly representative of her upbringing.
At Rosita’s, there might be long lines as customers came in for one of their best-known specialties, Pan Dulce, also known as Conchas, a Mexican sweet bread made with a streusellike topping. They’re made with yeast, which takes time for the dough to rise, so the lines of patient customers refl ected the high demand the owners knew would result.
Before school, or after class, Flores is busy whipping up ingredients, much of which she buys from H.E.B., including lots of eggs and cream cheese, using Amazon to order packing and other materials online. She has freely reached out to friends and family to serve as “taste testers”, seeking their input for quality control and to ask for suggestions on how to constantly improve her baked goods.
Those fortunate enough to sample Alexa Marie Baking have received free samples, the caveat being if they liked what they ate, the next time they want more they must pay for the privilege.
“I want your honest opinion,” she’d ask those who sampled her products, and Flores always seemed satisfied with the responses.
“Banana bread,” Flores listed as another of her favorites, laughing, explaining that she never liked raw bananas. It was something in the texture of the fruit that she couldn’t get used to. But ripened significantly, just before they went bad, that was when they were an ideal ingredient.
“Pan de Polvo” is another favorite Flores bake, a traditional Mexican wedding cookie.
“They’re cheap,” she said, meaning the ingredients are not expensive at all, and they are hugely popular. Recipes vary, but these include flour, sugar, ground cinnamon, baking powder, and shortening. Alexa’s version of the cookies is sold for about $2.50 a dozen.
“It’s all me,” Flores said, no others helping her in the kitchen to fill orders on a regular basis.
After graduation, Flores is headed to San Antonio, planning to study radiology at University of the Incarnate Word. Raised Catholic, she is a regular a ndant of services held at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Aransas Pass.
“I thank God for everything that I have,” remarked Flores, who maintains a 4.0 grade point average her senior year.
“You never know what God will hold for you,” she added.
Time management is still something Alexa admi d she needs to work on, what with her studies, and her small business that she expects to grow and develop even when she starts college in the fall.
With a commi d boyfriend, the pair often spend time together outdoors. Alexa is passionate about nature, and while her love interest is fishing, she’s focused on the flora and fauna. That, too, she gives credit to the Lord.
“God is the very center of everything I do,” Flores said. “A lot of people don’t like to hear that.”
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