Chicago — When describing the Puerto Rican cakes available at Borinken Cakes, owner Rachel Diaz refrained from using the word “wet.”
“I was describing to people that these were very wet cakes and some people were like ‘Iow’,” Diaz joked.
Located in Chicago’s Garfield Ridge and Logan Square neighborhoods, Borinken Cakes specializes in cupcake versions of bizcocho mojadito, a dessert similar to pound cake, but drenched in brandy syrup that is common on the island of Puerto Rico.
“The flavor is a lot like ‘big bun,'” Diaz said. “You get a little hint of liquor, but you don’t have the alcohol and you get a little bit of warm undertones in it.”
Diaz, 33, came to Chicago as a young Puerto Rican designer to live with her current husband in 2007, and knows only Spanish.
“I basically learned all my English watching on the Food Network, which is kind of embarrassing, but I’ve always loved the food,” Diaz said.
Wanting to make bizcocho mojadito for her son’s birthday, Diaz reached out to her aunt, who was a professional baker in Puerto Rico. After mastering the cake, requests from family and friends kept the bread busy, which eventually led to the opening of Borinken Cakes.
“After that, it was history. We just started growing and growing,” Diaz said.
Diaz started the bakery with her sister, Jachira, and her mother, Raquel. Raquel was a nurse in Puerto Rico before she had to move to the United States after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.
“She always says she has gone from injecting patients to injecting cupcakes,” Diaz said.
Besides bizcocho mojadito, flavors for cupcakes include Nutella, Guava Dream, Coquito, coconut, pia colada, and dulce de leche, with new varieties added frequently. Cakes are placed in a colorful paper cup that helps hold the delicious desserts together.
“The way you eat it is with a spoon because if you peel it, it will crumble because it just falls apart,” Diaz said. “It’s so tender and delicious that it just melts in your mouth.”
Diaz is grateful for bringing indigenous Puerto Ricans back to their memories of the island while introducing Chicagoans to something they may not have experienced before. She said some people cry even when they taste her cakes.
“It was a rewarding experience,” Diaz said. “Bringing my culture and what we love about Puerto Rico to the Chicago community and how they’ve accepted and loved it as much as we do, it just feels great.”
In addition to cakes, Borinken Cakes also offers other Puerto Rican pastries such as quesitos and pastelillitos.
For more information about Borenken cakes, visit borinkencakes.com.
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