Panaderia Moreliana

A few weeks ago TC and I were out and about doing errands. It was a Friday if I can recall. I thought I'd check out this bakery down in the Castle Park area...

In the 80's, this used to be Alice Cakeland, a Filipino bakery, but has since been replaced with this humble Mexican panaderia...

Moreliana is a panaderia named after Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacan in Mexico (located in the southwestern region). The city is named after Jose Maria Morelas, one of the main heroes in the Mexican War of Independence. As you can see, above the window, the bakery advertises itself as a traditional bakery from Michoacan.

The small parking lot is on a steep incline and quite small.  It seemed empty that day we went. More on that in a tiny bit.

Regarding their specialties - later on, I looked up "bolovanes", which is usually spelled "volovanes"; they are puff pastry shells filled with meat. I believe it is derived from the French  "vol-au-vent". I am determined to try one of those next time since I didn't recall seeing anything resembling the the volovan.. "Empanadas" are pretty much self explanatory, "cuernitos" means "little horns" and "birotitos" is a type of French bread roll, similar to a "bolillo".

Unfortunately, the day that TC and I visited, there was this sign on the door saying they were closed until the 15th of September. And guess what day it was? September 6th! D'oh!!!

So we would have to wait until after the 15th...

Which we did! This past Friday, TC were finally able to come here when they were open.

I wanted to pick up a few things for us to sample that weekend.

It smells so good inside here. They had a lot of different sweet breads, cookies, and other types of pastries that I'd never seen before from other panaderias. Trays and tongs are located at the front counter. You grab one of each and make your selections.

It was so hard making a decision. They had cookies called "polvorones", pig shaped cookies, filled baskets ("canastas"), and various types of crescent shaped pastries.

Behind the counter is the iconic image of the Virgen de Guadalupe (Virgin of Guadalupe), a beloved symbol for Catholic Mexicans.

These puff pastry sticks drizzled with cajeta looked pretty good, so I got one of these.

The top tray held empanadas filled with cheese and croissants. There is a version with pumpkin, or"calabasa" that they were out of that day.The bottom trays held these gigantic wedding cookie-type balls, another type of filled pastry (which I later found out were called "coyotas"), and "orejas" (which means "ears"; they are like palmiers).

All of this was only $3.10! The cheese filled pastry was only forty cents!

Here they are at home...

This pastry ring was so soft! We loved it. It reminded me of my mom's homemade donuts that she used to make when we were kids.

Another sugar dusted pastry was the "taquito de queso". We loved the cream cheese filling. This didn't last long that night.

Here was that big wedding cookie which was just like a Russian tea cake or a snowball cookie but without the nuts.

This was one of the pastries chosen by TC. It looked like a croissant but was not made of puff pastry. It was soft to the touch. We really liked this style of pan dulce, rather than the hard flavorless ones we've tried in the past. This was such a treat.

Of the six pastries/breads that I bought, this was the "dud". It was made of wheat and topped with seeds and oats. It was kind of hard too.

I wasn't sure if I'd like the cajeta, since it's caramelized goat milk, but this was really good! The drizzle didn't taste "goaty".

My second visit was today after church. Again, I got a half dozen items (actually seven, but one was a "double", the round filled pastry). The cost for all seven was $4.05! Try buying seven items for that price at those frou frou bakeries.

I saw this the last time and got it this time, the "coyota de piloncillo" (pastry filled with unrefined brown sugar). I liked the rustic look.

Sorry for the lack of a cross section shot, but the filling was a deeply caramelized goo that was so delicious! I totally want this again!

Update - Here's the filling!

This stick was a type of cookie, according to the lady working there.

Empanada de cajeta:

A type of sugared crescent:

Another taquito de queso:

The folks here are friendly, greeting me in Spanish both times I went ("Buenos tardes" and "Buenos dias"). They are usually in the back and only go to the front when they see that you are ready to pay. The first time I went there, there was a young man who was waiting for a birthday cake order.

I was also able to use my rusty Spanish skills when thanking the lady and wishing her a good day ("Muchas gracias senora y tenga un buen dia!") which made her smile.

Who else went to Moreliana?
It was Kirk's post from back in 2009 that made me want to go here.  It took me nearly four years to do it and I'm glad I went!

Panaderia Moreliana
275 Quintard St.
Chula Vista, CA 91911
(619) 426-9682

They do not have a website.

More trips to Moreliana are in order. As with many bakeries, they rotate their items. I'd asked the lady when they'd have their empanadas de calabasa again and she told me later this week. I definitely want more of those coyotas de piloncillo, bolovanes, and perhaps a few more unfamiliar items. The folks living in this neighborhood are so lucky to have this hidden gem of a bakery there.