Owner, operator, and head baker, Angelica Maldonado, started her sweet journey to baking at a young age. Her mother, a self-taught baker, introduced her to the joy of making desserts that produce just that in every person who tastes them. “What is your secret?” they would always ask her, and her response was simply, “love.” This special ingredient is what makes us think of home, and a simple cookie, cupcake or slice of cake can become more than just dessert. HomeGrown Baking hopes to uphold these values and bring that taste of home directly to yours. Although this blog is a website for fictitious business, stay tuned, as it is sure to become much more than that in the future.

I started helping my mother at the age of 6 or 7 years old. It began with helping her measure ingredients, and as I got older and got more access to the more “grown up” appliances, started also keeping track of the baking by checking for doneness and keeping time. I would always find a way to sneak a little taste of the batter when she was not looking *don’t try that at home*. Sometimes she just gave in and let me lick the whisk before she washed it. As I got older and began doing more on my own, I began to experiment with more flavor combinations, fruit fillings, buttercream frosting and fondant. I learned a lot referencing the started to develop my own recipes. I also started my own journey of trial and error learning to bake other desserts like cookies, brownies, and even healthy fruit and oat bars that are satisfying and guilt-free alternatives.

I always encouraged my mother to push further and open a bakery to share this with the public, but she wanted to dedicate time to us at home, so she chose to make that sacrifice for us. I still learn a lot from my mother and all the wisdom in cooking and baking she has gained over the years. I hope to honor my mother and all she taught me through HomeGrown Baking. I am excited to share the love and bring you a little piece of home.

Check out the About Us page for more background on how we got started

Hey there! Thank you for coming to the HomeGrown baking blog and letting me be a tiny part of your special moments where treats are needed. Let’s be real – any moment can be made special when there are treats involved. Anyway, I want to share a little more about my personal background. I am a baker, but also a painter, artist, and overall a very creative person. I love music of all kinds, and work the best when theres a nice long playlist on shuffle in the background. I am also an SDSU Class of 2013 graduate! I baked the most during my college years, giving baked goods often as birthday and christmas gifts, as that was cheaper than buying gifts because at that time, money was tight. I used to be a picky little kid, and I learned to be more adventurous with food, which helped a lot with baking. Baking was always a hobby, but the more I was able to share it with people, the more I realized how rare it is to find a bakery that can make high quality products and keep the homemade essence to it. This is what people liked about my baking. And what HomeGrown Baking guarantees to bring to you! High Quality at a fair price. And a light sugar rush, maybe.