The taqueria Southlakebrhas been buzzing about now has a way to satisfy your sweet tooth: Tia Tina’sbrBakery. Arman Khan, owner of Hermano’s Taqueria inside the Texaco on White’sbrChapel, wanted to offer Mexican-inspired treats to his customers.
So, Khan expanded thebrbusiness to include a bakery that puts its own twist on traditional items—thinkbrsopapilla cake, coffee macarons, dulce de leche cookies and even a green Dragonbrmacaron. Situated next door to the taqueria (yes, right inside the Texacobrstation), is Tia Tina’s Bakery, a mini bakery that exudes charm, friendlinessbrand plenty of authentic Mexican baked goods.
Cristina Martinez is headbrbaker, and one thing is for sure: She is committed to baking up the freshest,brpurest treats. Fake food? She won’t have it in the bakery.
“My pastries are madebrwith real ingredients. No preservatives, no chemicals, just ingredients you canbrread and know what they are,” says Martinez. “This is my way of fighting thebrfake-food trend. Taste my cakes and taste a box cake, and you can taste thebrdifference.”
Martinez has abrdeep-rooted passion for great food. She remembers sitting on the kitchenbrcounter as a child, feet dangling off the edge, and listening as her fatherbrtalked to her while he cooked. “The whole family would come over and nearlybrtrample each other to get to the food,” she remembers. “I thought to myself,br‘This is what I want to do.’ I want to get to people’s soul and make them runbrto get the flavors.”
You’ll definitely pick upbryour pace to get a taste of the goodies behind the glass counter at Tia Tina’s.brAfter polishing off a lunch of chicken tacos from Hermano’s, we sure did. Thebrbakery’s offerings rotate every few days, so there’s always something new tobrexperience. The most popular items include the triple chocolate cake (chocolatebrcake, creamy chocolate frosting and chocolate ganache), sopapilla cake, cookie,brmacaron and the tres leches cake.
We had the chance tobrsample a variety of treats including the chocolate peanut butter cake (it wasbrlusciously moist and bursting with peanut butter flavor) and Mexican pink cakebr(a subtly sweet treat with pink frosting and festive sprinkles on top).
Our group couldn’t getbrenough of the Mexican wedding cookies and the Dragon macaron, a green-huedbrcookie that’s perfectly sweet—and perfectly irresistible. If you’re looking tobradd a swanky touch to your next Dragon tailgate, this is the way to go.
As for the head baker?brHer personal favorite is the coffee macaron. It’s a chocolate shell with coffeebrsprinkled on top and chocolate coffee cream in the middle.
Tia Tina’s is alsobrlooking at offering some seasonal treats such as pumpkin pie, pecan pie andbrpumpkin-spice items, so stop by to see what delights Martinez has behind thebrcounter.
No matter what you end upbrtaking home or back to the office, Martinez hopes to bring customers some of thebrjoy she remembers from her childhood kitchen. “I want everyone to know we arebrhere, we care about the community, and we strive to become a Southlake staple,”brshe says.