From a distance a large sign on East 149th Street in the Bronx flashes the word “Bakery,” but it may as well say “Cakes.” The window display features the two-or three-tier unicorn horn cakes, adorned with roses and bows, which are currently a big hit for sweet sixteens; they are also cake designer Rosanna Silva’s specialty.

Twenty-year-old Silva is a cake designer and cashier at Capri Cake’s Bakery six days a week, from early in the afternoon until the shop closes at nine. During the week, she spends her mornings in classes pursuing a degree in accounting, but as soon as she’s done she heads to the bakery to serve customers at the front counter and complete cake design orders. Decorating cakes started as a hobby, and now she decorates cakes to support herself while in school.

She pulls out her most recent unicorn cake for a customer, a mom who wants a similar one for her daughter’s birthday. Rosanna takes about fifteen minutes discussing the cake’s color, the number of tiers, the aspects of the sample the mother likes and does not like. Silva will repeat the conversation with customers throughout the evening until she takes a break for a quick bite.

“It’s busy, my days are long with school and the bakery. I usually try and eat a meal before coming in for work,” Rosanna said. When she has time to eat before work, she will make a salad or eat a classic Dominican dish, a mix of chicken, rice, and beans at the home she shares with her parents.

But she missed the chance today, so she took a hefty pre-cut slice of the bakery’s dulce de leche with white frosting and oozing caramel filling.

“I love eating a slice of cake every once in awhile, but I end up eating them here in the bakery more than I would like to for dinner. I try to eat at home more, or at least bring something from home. Sometimes, I just want to eat something healthy, like some vegetables, you know?”

If she does end up with cake for dinner, her preference is always dulce de leche.

“There’s something about it that tastes familiar, that reminds me of my family, and the Dominican meals and desserts we have grown up eating,” she said. “Maybe that’s why I can eat it over and over again, even when I don’t really want to. Sometimes it feels repetitive, but mostly it just feels comfortable.”

“Sometimes a slice of cake becomes my dinner, and it can get so busy I only have time for a couple bites.”

Sure enough, a few bites into her slice Rosanna’s evening meal is interrupted by a customer Rosanna carefully packs her half eaten slice of cake away and talks the woman through the process of picking flavor, color, and design.  

“I like being able to design a lot of different types of cakes. And to take someone’s idea and turn it into something that will help them celebrate a special occasion. I mostly end up doing birthday cakes, or anniversary cakes, but I do wedding cakes too,” said Silva.

In between designing cakes for all these events, Rosanna pursues her education. Although she enjoys cake design, for her it is a means to an end..

Rosanna spends most of her day in the bakery kitchen, designing cakes for families around the neighborhood, and the rest of her time out in the front of the bakery taking orders and manning the cash register. After work, she needs to spend her time studying the accounting books for her bachelor’s degree, and is often too tired to make a meal for herself.

“That’s when I usually take a second break, after work, and I finish what’s left over of that slice of cake,” Rosanna smiles pointing back at the half-eaten slice of dulce de leche hiding on the other side of the counter.

Tags: bakery, cake