Baking has been part of Saraí Almanza’s life for as long as she can remember. Raised in a Mexican-American household in suburban Jackson, Almanza would often find herself in the kitchen helping her mom with various tasks, like cutting out edible images for cakes or mixing colors for decoration.
When she wasn’t at home, she’d spend much of her free time at the family business: a Mexican-style bakery in Madison County serving pan dulces (traditional Mexican sweet breads) and other sweet treats from the family’s homeland.
“I was always incorporated unwillingly (at first), but I turned out to like it,” Almanza told the Mississippi Free Press, describing how baking gradually evolved from a chore to a hobby. She began absorbing the recipes used at the bakery almost without knowing it, she explained, and soon she was preparing elaborate cakes and pastries unassisted.
Almanza may have been resistant to baking initially, but she’s come to love the mix of creativity and precision the art form demands. At 25 years old, she’s preparing to take over the family business, aiming to further her parents’ legacy and put her recent degree in business administration from Holmes Community College to use.
The family now runs two separate stores in Rankin and Madison counties, each with its own distinct features and customer bases, and Almanza plans to continue planting roots in those communities when she fully takes charge. By bringing in new patrons, she hopes to honor her heritage and share a piece of her culture with the greater Jackson area.
“We love to take the route of saying, ‘Oh, well this is our Mexican tradition,’” Almanza said, describing the family’s approach to educating new customers. “We teach them a little bit about the pieces, and we try to find American comparisons to it, and that helps a lot.”
A Labor of Love
The Almanza family bakeries have their own distinct styles and energies, but both locations have the same core mission: serving a wide array of cakes and Mexican sweet breads and preparing them daily using in-house recipes.
At Princess Cakes, the family’s flagship shop in Ridgeland, Mississippi, customers can find traditional pastries like conchas or puerquitos, as well as snacks, beverages, and basic household items typical of a convenience store. The bakery also has a cluster of booths where patrons can sit and order daily lunch specials, like Honduran baleadas (flour tortillas stuffed with refried beans and other items, similar to a quesadilla) and traditional pastelitos.
This “one-stop-shop” approach is a staple of Hispanic culture, Almanza explained, giving customers a range of options under one roof.
“It’s the best way … to cover all the needs of a consumer,” she said, noting that the wide variety of offerings help set her bakery apart from other businesses in the area. “There’s a lot of bakeries and there’s a lot of cake shops, but they’re minimized to (a) few options. Our options are super wide.”
In 2025, the Almanzas opened a second bakery in Pearl, Mississippi, aiming to expand their footprint to Rankin County and cater to existing clients south of Jackson. El Pan Dulce Bakery is smaller than the family’s inaugural store, but its location on Highway 80 is better suited for customers traveling from Latino-heavy communities in Forest and Morton, Mississippi, Almanza explained.
Its proximity to other retail establishments is also ideal for attracting first-time customers, many of whom wander inside after visiting the area’s other shops and restaurants.
“It has good foot traffic now,” Almanza said. “The location helps for people to be curious, and that has been really good with educating American consumers on Hispanic desserts and what a Hispanic store can be.”
Family Inspiring Family
Saraí Almanza, whom the Jackson Free Press spotlighted in its 2020 Amazing Teens issue, divides her time evenly between both locations, doing everything from working the cash register and training new employees to managing and delivering food orders. The family sells some of its products wholesale to smaller Latino businesses in the area, and Almanza often helps coordinate those purchases and makes the deliveries personally.
Her dedication and work ethic has caught the attention of her younger sister, Allisson, who highlighted Almanza’s leadership since assuming a larger role in business operations.
“You could say I’ve been inspired, because she’s really hardworking,” Allisson told the Mississippi Free Press, noting how she spent much of last summer learning from Saraí at the family’s Pearl location. “She’s done a lot (since becoming more involved), and I want to follow in her footsteps.”
When it comes to the baked goods themselves, the Almanzas rely on various family recipes that have been tweaked and perfected over time. Almanza also draws inspiration from social media, where popular Mexican bakeries are constantly promoting their offerings and sharing twists on traditional recipes.
“Everything goes viral now,” Almanza said, explaining how her recent pastry inventions are largely driven by cravings and personal taste. “Sometimes we end up making stuff, and we’re like, ‘Oh, well, I’m sure we probably only want to pick this ourselves.’ But then we’ll put it out, and customers enjoy it. So that’s fun to see, too.”
By building and innovating on family recipes in Mississippi, Almanza aims to keep Mexican baking traditions alive and ensure they resonate with a new customer base. Few things are as gratifying as seeing a first-time patron visit the bakery and return days later with several friends in tow, she said.
“It’s great to know that they come back,” she concluded. “It’s really sentimental to feel, in my opinion.”
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