Balbisiana, the pastry shop that very soon you will hear about (and you will want to try)

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Paula Babiano (Sotogrande, Cádiz, March 17, 1984) is good at challenges.

A matter of practice or skill, he succeeds in almost everything he sets out to do.

After a pandemic in which he had to reinvent himself and a somewhat precarious start,

at street level in Madrid.

"I am satisfied that people enjoy what I do."

This lawyer reinvented as a pastry chef is the soul of Balbisiana, a cake company (until now) at home that has become a phenomenon through social networks.

His

, his truffles and his roscones already have a large group of followers.

"

" she says, still surprised.

At number 55 Velázquez street there are nerves. Family and friends have come for the big day. "They are like crazy, filming and taking photos. My parents are freaking out." They have been months of a lot of work and stress; the Covid put her against the ropes, but she held the stake. "The bulk of our clients, 70%, were from the hospitality industry and, from one day to the next, it was closed." After a weekend of giving his head and analyzing the options, he decided to gather the team and continue: "We don't close. We try to find new products, go to individuals and get ahead by reinventing ourselves." Thus came the kits to make cupcakes at home.

.

The echo of the networks was his great ally; did not stop for a day.

Balbisiana cakes.

Since then, the business has not stopped growing.

"At the moment we serve 50% to hospitality and 50% to individuals."

Hence, you have decided to open your first physical space.

"We had soaring online sales."

They have had to move back to another workshop.

"From Móstoles to Opañel. We couldn't fit the sacks of flour anymore."

.

Christmas is a special time for Paula because it is when she was messing around with her grandfather, partly the 'culprit' that she left a promising career in law for her dream.

laughs. He would have liked to study Business and train in pastry. "I suppose I would have made fewer mistakes and avoided the occasional upset."

From his years preparing the examinations for the property register

- five years studying from 8 to 23 hours every day, with 30 minutes to eat - he

that has helped him in the most complicated moments. "It's the good part." She takes care of those little details that (always) make a difference.

The day she said goodbye to Cuatrecasas, a law firm where she spent four years after giving up the opposition, she did so surrounded by cakes. "I stopped by all the plants, they were potential customers," he remembers with a laugh. That goodbye left behind a brilliant career as a lawyer - and the corresponding family disgust - to begin her adventure as an entrepreneur in a small workshop. "What I liked was making cakes."

. "I slept two hours a day because I was leaving very early on the subway." Friends and acquaintances covered the first tests. "When I left my job at the office, I was only billing 500 euros a month in cakes."

In these three years, the Balbisiana brand has made a place among the most exquisite sweet tooth and

. Tamara Falcó, Eugenia Osborne and Karlie Kloss are some of the well-known faces who have fallen for their creations. Collaborations with other brands have become common.

The showcases of Velázquez's 'flagship' look full of sweet snacks.

"We wanted to divide them into three parts. The first is the pastries, with the croissants and the 'pain au chocolat'; in others the truffles, in which we have added four new flavors; and, finally, the cakes," he explains .

In the latter they have incorporated flavors and a new version, the minibalbisianas, with a perfect size to try various types with a good coffee.

The novelties include white chocolate and pistachio and praline.

Although

.

Cookie cake with chocolate.

Browsing the Balbisiana website is a real temptation.

More than 150 references that make teeth very long.

The sponge cakes have also been successfully incorporated into the menu.

"We also prepare Christmas boxes, with champagne and assorted sweets," he adds.

Botany and Charlotte take the title to the most original cakes.

Until not long ago, he worked in a coworking space, where he shared premises with other companies.

.

In those not-so-distant beginnings, she rented her house with Airbnb to pay for computer equipment and "lived off favors at friends' houses."

It was so clear to him that he risked everything.

Despite the initial family opposition, financial difficulties and everything else, the balance is "very positive."

His grandfather, he says, would be delighted with the adventure.

As is

once sin in Balbisiana.

Balbisiana.

Velázquez, 55. Hours from L to D, from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm.

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