ESCAEN

From lawyer to baker

Silvia González was born in Bilbao, grew up in León and practised law for years. Then a sponge cake changed her life.

Lemon curd cheesecake with toasted meringue in front of a graffiti wall of hearts

  1. The first sponge cake

    During six months of maternity leave, Silvia did something she had never done before: she baked a sponge cake. That pregnancy made her a mother and a baker at the same time.

  2. Hofmann and Espaisucre

    She trained in French and American pastry at the Hofmann and Espaisucre schools in Barcelona.

  3. 2013

    Sil’s Cakes is born

    She opened Sil’s Cakes in Barcelona, first on Carrer de Santaló in Sant Gervasi. It was the city’s first cookie shop.

  4. A corner in Gràcia

    The shop moved to the corner of Torrent de l’Olla and Tordera in Gràcia, and became a neighbourhood favourite.

  5. Castelldefels

    Today Sil’s Cakes is at Carrer de l’Onze de Setembre 14 in Castelldefels, where Silvia keeps baking, making cakes to order and teaching courses.

American pastry is so much more than cupcakes

Since 2013 Silvia has been showing that American baking goes far beyond brightly coloured, sugar-loaded cupcakes. There are countless specialities, and countless versions of every recipe.

Her recipes are made for local tastes: less sugar, less decoration, American techniques and timeless classics. All handmade, baked every day, with no preservatives.

And the brownie? Gooey inside. Never dry.

The book

In 2021 Silvia published Pastelería americana. Sil’s Cakes with Col&Col: more than 90 recipes for cookies, rolls, bars, pies, scones, cheesecakes, brownies and layer cakes, the same ones she baked in her own kitchen.

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