Moira and Belén are Casa Manjar.
Crises are times of opportunity. And the confinement was for some enterprising minds and those who knew how to take good advantage of those times of reflection and desire to meet again. It was the case of Belén Barnechea and Moira Laporta. Two friends, Peruvian and Chilean, who met in Madrid in 2017 and who, during quarantine, they rediscovered their connection to cooking. "We realized that we had an untapped treasure." Bethlehem explains: family recipes.
Each one began to cook at home, the recipes that they enjoyed the most and that they believed could be new in Spain. As soon as they could, they got together and began to think about a project that they saw with the same clarity: Delicacy House.
“Casa Manjar is a home bakery founded by two South American friends who are looking bring its traditions and the sweets of its countries closer to Spain”, they count. “We like to think that we bring happiness to those family gatherings with our desserts.
The select and very sweet menu of Casa Manjar.
They launched the project, through Instagram, in mid-May, "in uncertain, difficult and rare times but with great enthusiasm and a lot of love", and soon they managed to get the taste of their homemade desserts to precipitate word of mouth beyond their friends. .
“In the beginning, everything was very homemade, we cooked it together, then we packed it and from there we went to make the deliveries. Little by little that has changed and we have managed to develop a team of people, small, but following what we want to sell, a family brand.
The two pastry friends came from other professional worlds: Belén worked in advertising and communication, first in New York and then in Madrid. And Moira was dedicated to design, also first in New York and then in Madrid (where she launched the MOI & SASS bag brand). Their friendship arose through mutual friends and later they realized that their parents already knew each other because they had lived in the same building in Peru.
In addition to that common family past, They are united by their passion for hospitality and family gatherings in which “sweet is king”. “In our houses, we eat both lunch and dinner, so we have always been surrounded by desserts,” says Belén. “In South America sweets are the key to happiness and the center around which family gatherings are organized. Our families and friends love to receive people at home, so bringing a good dessert will always make you look good”.
In one of those telephone conversations, they realized that they were losing “that habit of receiving people at home, of transmitting love to loved ones around a table” and they based Casa Manjar on that idea, recovering their family dessert recipes.
In his letter: brownies, carrot or chocolate cake, that is, desserts that are already “world classics”. But they have also wanted to differentiate themselves with typical sweets from their countries, Peru and Chile, with recipes such as “the alfajores with white manjar, the lemon foot (made with lime) and the biscuits (lemon, banana… so important in our breakfasts or snacks)”.
Lemon cake with freshly squeezed lime.
Casa Manjar's menu will grow, new desserts, other sweets from their countries, their family recipe books and their international tastes. In September, they will add chocolate truffles, cinnamon balls, three milks and suspiro a la limeña to the menu. and insist, “all homemade”. "Our added value as a brand is that we take care of all the details, from the ingredients to the dispatch of the desserts," they continue. And that homemade essence is seen in details: from the cut of the brownies baked without symmetry or their packaging. “No recipe is random and this kind of detail will also grow alongside new ideas that we would like to incorporate.”
Casa Manjar desserts can be ordered by private message on his Instagram (@casamanjarmadrid) or through your email. All is on request 24 hours in advance and, at the moment, they only work in Madrid.
Peruvian brownies and alfajores.