The Perez family first moved to Brambleton in 2004, before their youngest, Jaime, was even born. Parents Jaime and Blanca, and their then-infant Vanessa settled into a townhome to start their new life as part of this community. In 2010, the family, with 7-year-old Vanessa and 5-year-old Jaime, moved to a single-family home in Brambleton, which had the younger Jaime excited about the possibilities of a big backyard!
Fast-forward ten years and the Perez family continues to live their best lives but with two teenagers in the middle of 2020’s quarantine, what was there to do? “We were bored since we were stuck in the house, so we started to bake bread. My brother needed driving hours so that he could get his license, so we said, what if we sold our bread? If we bake and deliver; we can make some money to put towards college funds while collecting additional driving hours for my brother. When we were thinking of a name, the first one that came to mind was Bread by Blanca. It just felt right. Mom tried to convince us to find another name, but she’s the one who taught us to bake so we decided to stick with it,” said Vanessa and Jaime.
With their plan ready to go, the two siblings started baking bread and delivering it themselves to local residents. They curated a back-to-basics approach that set them apart by sticking to classic ingredients. As Vanessa rightly says, “When you look at a loaf of bread bought at the grocery store, the list of ingredients contains more than just flour, water, yeast, sugar and butter.” She took over as the primary baker and allowed her brother Jaime to be the head of delivery to maximize his driving practice.
Now, the two have their business so well managed that oftentimes their bread is still warm from the oven upon delivery. This doesn’t mean that they are a pair of one-trick ponies, however. They now offer ten styles of baked goods, including donuts and seasonal specials, but Vanessa shared that there are definitely crowd favorites.
“… the two most popular items are the Milk Bread and the Conchas. Conchas are traditional Mexican sweet bread, and if you have never had one, you are definitely missing out and should put in an order today. We also rotate between our seasonal products. Right now we’re offering chocolate covered strawberries and truffles dusted in Mexican cocoa for Valentine’s Day.”
For the Perez family, baking has become both a business and a family bonding activity. You can find Bread By Blanca and place an order on Instagram (@BreadByBlanca) or Facebook (fb.com/BreadByBlanca), and delivery is free for Brambleton residents!
If not in the kitchen baking, they are also fans of the bike trails and all of Brambleton’s spots in the Town Center like Peet’s Coffee & Tea, the home of weekly coffee runs for the kids and their dad, and AhSo for curbside pickups when date night needs to happen at home. Luckily, the family enjoys their time together, with their father, Jaime, joking that he’s been living in an office for 20 years, so working from home allows him to enjoy the whole house.
If you haven’t ordered from BreadbyBlanca, we certainly encourage you to support a fellow Brambletonian. Times like this bond us together as neighbors. And for Brambleton, it’s simply elevated a natural and realized camaraderie throughout our community. It’s obvious everywhere we look!
