Amelia Fonseca de Nuñez

Both Amelia Fonseca de Nuñez, of Carolina, Puerto Rico, and her sister developed an interest in "labores manuales" while growing up in Santurce, a working class suburb of San Juan. In Amelia's case she concentrated on cake baking and decorating, making special confections for friends and family from her early 20's. In Puerto Rico many young women attend local classes in their communities for various domestic crafts, and Amelia refined her decorative techniques in this way. She has continued to make cakes primarily for family celebrations and local events, getting business through word of mouth. Her specialty is pastillaje, handmade edible sugar paste decorations fashioned into flowers and shapes. She prefers to decorate cakes with "pasta laminada," a handmade edible sugar paste with a shiny finish that is worked into many different shapes by hand, like clay.