Avocado Creme Brûlée
+ a Q&A with Paola Velez, author of Bodega Bakes!
Zoë’s Baking Academy this month will be my Banana Pudding! I wanted to share this just in case any of you would like to get started on it. Look for my full post on it next week + a YouTube Live next weekend, Saturday March 8, 2025 at 1 p.m. CST. See you there!
What To Bake This Weekend
It’s finally warming up here in Minnesota and in the spirit of spring I’m baking up my bright Lemon Curd Pound Cake.
Looking for something simple + lovely? Tres Leches Cake is packed with richness and flavor. I added yet another milk to the mix and dusted with cinnamon.
These Coconut Oatmeal Rum Raisin Cookies are a family favorite and the 5-star reviews tell me many of you love them as well!
If you’ve recently made one of my recipes, please be sure to leave a rating and review!
Paola’s smile fills the room. I met her at a Cherry Bombe event in NYC and although she’s petite, her joy is enormous. Her baking is the same, it is uniquely Paola, full of fun, color, and bold flavors. Her new book, Bodega Bakes, tells the story of her life in NYC, growing up in the bustling world of restaurants and the corner stores that built her culinary journey (read her interview below to get the full picture). The flavors she plays with are unlike any I’ve seen before and I am all in for it. I flipped through the pages of her book and couldn’t wait to make her Carrot Buttermilk Pie, Guava & Cheese Cookies, Dulce de Leche Donas (brioche doughnuts), and the Avacado Creme Brûlée
Paola is giving away a copy of Bodega Bakes to THREE lucky winners (open to everyone). Details below.
I started with the creme brûlée because I had perfectly ripe avocados on hand and the combination of flavors was so intriguing. It makes total sense that this silky fruit (avocados have a seed, making them a fruit, despite their subtle sweetness) would be a perfectly luxurious custard. The flavor is not overpowering, but the gorgeous texture is spectacular. Paola has generously shared the recipe with my “Extras” subscribers and you’ll find it at the bottom of this post.
Q&A: Paola Velez | Chef, Author, and Media Personality
Q: What inspired you to write Bodega Bakes? For those who haven't been to a Bodega, paint us a picture.
At first, I'll admit—I wasn’t totally on board with writing a cookbook. My book agent can tell you, it took me almost two years to even want to try writing a cookbook proposal. But once I finally had the motivation, I wanted to share everything I’ve learned throughout my journey as a savory chef who crossed over to the sweet side of the kitchen.
This book is a love letter to NYC and the bodegas I grew up in and around—but more importantly, it’s my ode to every weird, quirky, slightly kooky person who’s ever felt like they didn’t quite fit in.
I hope Bodega Bakes makes its way off your coffee table and into the hands of the folks who feel lonely, who battle anxiety and depression like I do. And I hope that with every recipe, they feel a little less alone. Butter, sugar, and flour won’t cure the whirlwind we feel inside, but I’ll be right there alongside you, baking through our shared storm.
If you’ve never been to a bodega, picture a tiny but essential neighborhood spot where you can grab a bacon, egg, and cheese, a loose cigarette (not me though, I can barely climb a flight of stairs without losing my breath), and a single roll of toilet paper at 2 a.m. The shelves are packed with everything you didn’t know you needed, and there’s probably a bodega cat, who I jokingly call the manager.
It’s not just a store—it’s NYC's last third space, a community hub, and a little slice of organized chaos where everyone is equal and belongs.
Q: Who or what inspired you to get into food?
I grew up in restaurants in NYC. I talk about it in Bodega Bakes, but TL;DR—my family owned nine restaurants, many of them in Manhattan. Mary Ann’s was basically a NY institution that lived out its course.
My mom was an accountant by day and a host by night, so I practically lived in the restaurants. I owe a lot of my openness and open heart to spending time in so many different neighborhoods—Tribeca, St. Marks, the Upper East Side, the West Side, Chelsea.
I would sit in a booth, doing my homework while watching the kitchen, completely mesmerized. I fell in love with the back of house at a young age.
I officially started working in restaurants at 14, but by 2008, at 17 years old, I had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life—right in the middle of a recession. I chose to follow what had always felt like home. I enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu, graduated in 2009, and from there, I dove headfirst into the industry. I haven’t looked back since.
Last year, I celebrated 20 years of working in kitchens. This year, I’m celebrating how this industry continues to shape me—now and for years to come.
Q: What is your most memorable food experience? Good or bad!
One of my most memorable food experiences has to be when I worked at Jacques Torres Chocolate in my early twenties. I used to make chocolate-covered Oreos for Jacques Pépin. Yes, that Jacques Pépin. Here I was, a young cook in a world-class chocolate shop, making what was essentially a leveled-up childhood snack for one of the greatest chefs of all time. The irony wasn’t lost on me. But he loved them, and honestly, who wouldn’t? It was one of those moments that reminded me that even the most legendary chefs still appreciate the simple joy of a good cookie covered in chocolate.
Q: What's your favorite piece of kitchen equipment and why?
I really love my Japanese can opener. It’s simple, efficient, and built to last. There’s something so satisfying about how smoothly it glides through a can—I even travel with it everywhere I go if I know I’ll be cooking. While it’s my favorite tool, I know it’s not the most accessible option for everyone. But I believe there's a tool out there for everyone, so if you cannot use this can opener, I hope that one that you love finds you as well.
Q: What are you working on next?
Right now, I’m focused on a few exciting things—growing my Steal This Recipe Substack, bringing more people into the world of Bodega Bakes (affil. link), and of course, continuing to develop the menu at Providencia, where we’re blending Dominican, Salvadoran, and Taiwanese flavors in a way that just makes sense.
Q: What's your most used cookbook?
Honestly, my own. I’ve been baking through Bodega Bakes to catch any typos or little things I’d tweak now that it’s out in the world—because no matter how many times you proofread, there’s always that one thing you miss. But more than that, I keep coming back to it, growing from the recipes, and using them as a foundation to create even more. The book isn’t just a finished project—it’s something I’m still learning from, evolving with, and occasionally side-eyeing like, “Did I really write that?” Some recipes feel like old friends, while others remind me how much my style keeps changing. It’s a constant conversation between where I was when I wrote it and where I am now—kind of like reading your old tweets, but with way more butter.
Q: What is your favorite bakery?
Bread Alley in Washington DC, Friends & Family in LA, Kasama in Chicago, Fan Fan Doughnuts in NYC and all of Pullman Market in San Antonio, Texas.
Giveaway!
Three of you will win a copy of Paola’s book, Bodega Bakes! Just leave a comment below or like this post (click the heart at the top of this post) for a chance to win. North American addresses only.
Avocado Creme Brulee
From Paola: Avocado is a fruit! Should I say that again? Avocado. Is. A. Fruit. Now that I have your attention, here's one more hot take: Everyone should have at least one avocado dessert in their arsenal. Crème brûlée and avocado sound like an odd pairing, but trust me. Consider making this for a dinner party when you care about impressing your guests—they'll be as satisfied as they are surprised.