Although Gloria’s Cake Shop and Cafe (2531 W. National Ave.) opened in 2015, Gloria Pereda-Sepulveda DeAngelo has been making cakes for many years. Behind the counter, she greets customers with her warm smile and a sparkle in her eyes. Behind that inviting face is a story. She is Mexican American; her parents lived in the U.S. until she was 2 years old but had difficulty finding work and moved back to Mexico. When her father found restaurant work, DeAngelo and her siblings grew up helping in the business. After the death of her 2-year-old and collapse of her marriage, an uncle from the U.S. invited her to come back to live with him. A supportive cousin took her to the English as a Second Language/English Language Learners Program at MATC, where she studied cooking.
Before she graduated from culinary school, a friend asked DeAngelo to bake an elaborate quinceañera cake for a 15-year-old girl having her customary coming-of-age party. There had not been a baking program at MATC and she had focused on restaurant jobs and cooking. But she took on the challenge, scraped together money for a KitchenAid mixer and made the cake at home. It was a success. Then she went to El Rey with her culinary certificate in hand and was hired for the grocery store’s bakery. She worked 60 to 70 hour weeks making cakes.
When she remarried and had a daughter, she decided to create a small, licensed bakery in her basement to be closer to her family. The business grew and DeAngelo eventually opened a cake shop on Fifth Street and Lincoln Avenue. One day a man with a gun entered the shop and she was assaulted in front of her young child. She went back to selling her cakes to El Rey, which eventually bought out her cake business. Then she was hired by MATC’s culinary school, which had by then a complete baking program. DeAngelo happily taught the art of cake baking and decorating for 14 years.
Friend and restaurateur Juan José Melendez of Cocina Real had encouraged Gloria to open her own shop. DeAngelo admitted that she missed interacting with customers. The building he suggested had been abandoned and needed much refurbishing. She worked with Melendez for a year to create a space with brand-new kitchen equipment and a welcoming environment. Thus, Gloria’s Cake Shop and Cafe was born.
DeAngelo’s love is being creative. Her bakery case displays beautifully decorated bakery including tres leches (three milk) cakes; diablo cakes with chocolate cake and dark chocolate frosting; Butterfinger tortes; German chocolate cakes; strawberry shortcake cakes; carrot cake; and éclair cakes. In addition, she also offers RumChata and Rompope cakes made with liqueurs of the same names. DeAngelo prides herself on using only the best ingredients.
The bakery case also beckons with many individual servings of treats, such as delicious cake and flan slices; tiramisu parfaits; rose decorated éclairs; banana coffee cake; rum balls; mountain peaks (chocolate cake peaks dipped in chocolate and Butterfinger crumbs); cannolis; cherry empanadas; and her popular churros. Gloria’s Cake Shop and Cafe also has artistic gelatins—clear gelatin domes with realistic flowers created within—and seasonally decorated cookies. Deciding what to choose is a customer’s happy problem.
DeAngelo does many special orders as well. She specializes in “dream cakes by design” and has created such specialties as an extraordinary replica of the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower; motorcycle cakes for Harley-Davidson; a shuttle cake (“with smoke”) for astronaut James Lovell’s Milwaukee visit; Day of the Dead breads for the Milwaukee Art Museum; and even a sewing machine cake with working parts. She also creates many one-of-a-kind cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, showers, weddings and for any other occasion a customer presents, as well as personalized cookies for party favors with edible photos. In addition, DeAngelo does catering for Bartolotta’s and makes lovely gift boxes filled with a variety of mini desserts for individual customers or businesses.
Gloria’s Cake Shop and Cafe also contains a half-dozen tables and chairs for serving customers from her tasty lunch menu of Mexican-style Paninis or tortas planchadas (with your choice of chipotle-marinated chicken, slow-roasted pork or marinated ham). The menu also includes a whole-wheat tortilla with salad or potato wedge sides, quesadillas and sandwiches as well as meat- and veggie-filled croissants. Beverage choices are plentiful with an array of coffee drinks, espresso, tea, hot chocolate, champurrada (a thick, warm drink of chocolate, pecan or coconut), horchata (the wonderful cinnamon-kissed sweet rice milk drink) and Mexican and other sodas.
DeAngelo still enjoys teaching and provides internships for MATC baking school students. Stop in sometime Tuesday-Saturday between 7 a.m.-7 p.m. or 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday, sample her delectable treats and say hello to her. She’d love to meet you!
For more information, call 414-585-0522 or visit gloriascakeshop.businesscatalyst.com.
