GASTRONOMÍA
PAULA BABIANO - INTERVIEW
THE “SWEETEST” GIRL
THE MOST SOUGHT-AFTER CAKES IN MADRID ARE THE WORK OF A YOUNG WOMAN FROM SOTOGRANDE: PAULA BABIANO. Her passion for sweet things and her entrepreneurial character led her to leave her role as a lawyer at Cuatrecasas in order to set up Balbisiana. This is a website for online sales that has mushroomed within the space of a few months to become the great benchmark for people with a sweet tooth in Madrid. In the marvellous garden of her family home in Sotogrande, Paula welcomed us with the naturalness and closeness inherent to the locals of Sotogrande, with piping bag and busy at work. Between meringues, fruits and chocolates that taste heavenly, we interviewed the sweet confectionery maker. A pleasure, in every sense of the world...
WHERE DOES THIS “GOURMAND” PASSION COME FROM? I inherited it from my grandfather. He loved making sweet stuff. Every Christmas we would make pestiños (type of Christmas pastry), doughnuts and all kinds of cakes. I have great memories of those days. The truth is that since then I have always been really close to confectionery. When I was studying for the state exams, for example, my way of relaxing and switching off from the books was by making cakes...
YOUR CAKES ARE THE MOST SOUGHTAFTER IN MADRID, HOW DID BALBISIANA COME ABOUT? It was a coincidence. I was invited to a party at the home of some friends and I took a cake I had made. Among the guests were the owners of a very important restaurant group in Madrid,
and when they tried it, they liked it so much they asked me to make it for their business. I began a little out of curiosity. For a while, I combined it with my work at the law office. Those were exhausting months, but the result was worth it.
WHAT IS THE SECRET OF YOUR SUCCESS? Word of mouth has been the key to all of this without a doubt. Generally, people missed eating homemade cakes, made with natural ingredients and with real flavours. If you add to this the fact that you don´t have to make the cakes and that they are delivered to your home, then I think you can see the secret to the success of Balbisiana (laughs).
WHEN YOU BEGAN, DID YOU IMAGINE THINGS WOULD GO SO WELL? LA REVISTA DE SOTOGRANDE
I was very scared, bear in mind that, when I took the step, I left behind nine years devoted to Law, five working for state exams and four working in an office like that of Cuatrecasas which is very difficult to get into and even harder to stay in. I began completely from scratch, with a website created by me using a template that cost me one hundred Euros. Now, when I look back, I think: what madness, thank goodness it worked!
IN A FAMILY OF LAWYERS, HOW DID THEY TAKE THE NEWS THAT YOU WERE LEAVING THE WORLD OF LAW BEHIND FOR THE PASTRY BAG? Imagine...it was difficult. But, ultimately, I saved face to put it like that. I joined Babiano Abogados, opening an office in Madrid. It was a good idea in order not to completely cut off my ties with my career. I am currently working on some subjects because I really like it a lot too, and
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