When Belen Bailey first immigrated to the U.S. from Peru more than 20 years ago, she had a hard time finding authentic South American cuisine like her grandmother and mother used to make. Bailey began making alfajores and other Peruvian pastries at home to share with neighbors, friends and co-workers.
"When I was a high school teacher, I started bringing desserts to school for the other teachers," said Bailey. "I started with (alfajores) for my co-workers. Once they try it, they love it. I was the cookie dealer at school."
Demand for her sweets grew fast, and it wasn't long before she began selling them.
"I started getting some orders from local restaurants, and this is how all these sweet adventures started," said Bailey. "And then I had a food truck. Every day, I posted on social media, you know, today I am going to be at this Farmer's Market, different places here in Houston. It was very fun. That was the beginning of Sweets by Belen."
The business started doing so well that Bailey opened her own storefront, Sweets by Belen, in the Gulfton area in 2016. Many of her recipes have been passed down from her mother and grandmother.
"I opened Sweets by Belen to pay homage to my mom and my grandmother, for all the sacrifices they have made for my siblings and me," said Bailey. "In my mind, I couldn't fail. It had to work. So far, we have been in this corner for eight years. The community has embraced us and we really love it."
Bailey says her Peruvian-Latin menu includes a wide variety of sweets, including the bestselling strawberry mango chantilly cake, ten flavors of tres leches cakes, cheesecakes, sandwich cookies, fruit tarts and more.
"We put our own Latin twist to all the desserts that we make here at the store," said Bailey. "Macarons are not Peruvian, but the flavors - passionfruit, coconut, guava - we put our own Peruvian twist on this French dessert."
To learn more about Sweets by Belen and check out the menu, visit sweetsbybelenboutique.com.