The Sweet Touch of Success

With Subtle Tropical Flavors and Whimsical Designs, Alva Cabrera’s Cookies Spread Joy One Bite at a Time

Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Alva Cabrera’s father turned their backyard into a verdant wonderland, complete with vegetable gardens and a wide variety of fruit trees. Passion fruit, zapote, soursop, starfruit, coconut, mango, guava, papaya and lime, these tropical flavors came to define her childhood.

Now as the owner of Alva’s Sweet Touch, a personalized cookie business, she celebrates these sweet memories. Hints of passion fruit, lemon, coconut and pineapple elevate her dough and result in buttery, flavorful and sophisticated sugar cookies.

In 2003, Alva left her home country and moved to Providence, where she married her husband, Gustavo, and started a family. As a mother, breast cancer survivor and beloved nanny, her life has always been full to the brim. It wasn’t until the pandemic forced her to slow down that she found herself with free time.

The seed for her business was planted just a month prior to the pandemic in February 2020 while she was helping to plan her niece’s baby shower. “I wanted to buy customized sugar cookies for the party, but when I tasted the samples the cookies were hard and bland. I thought, ‘I can do better!’” Alva recalls.

She set about learning how to decorate cookies, thanks to YouTube tutorials. As she practiced design techniques and experimented with different recipes, she donated samples to her church community, as well as to family and friends. The compliments poured in, as did inquiries asking whether she took orders.

When she was furloughed from her nannying job that March, the timing seemed perfect to start a side hustle. During the day, she assisted her sons, Adolfo (15) and Andy (8), with their remote learning, while at night she perfected her dough and royal icing recipes, practiced her designs and ordered packaging supplies.

“Often I’d look up at the clock and it would be 2 am,” Alva says with a laugh, “but I found the process of decorating cookies so calming and meditative I didn’t even notice the hours slipping away!”

Even in the midst of the lockdown, customers turned to her cookies to send sweet messages of joy to loved ones, such as birthday cookies to out-of-state grandchildren and cookie care packages to essential workers. Alva enlisted the help of her sister-in- law, Manuela Cabrera, to help her prepare the dough and act as a partner as she began to grow her business. But there’s no denying it was a difficult first year.

“Business was very slow, which was to be expected. During the pandemic, no one was throwing parties or hosting gatherings,” Alva explains. “I had invested time and money in supplies, a logo, personalized boxes and a website, and I was seeing so little in return. But the initial investments were worth it, and now I have everything I need and I’m ready to grow!”

Through social media, word of mouth and local press features, new customers are discovering Alva’s whimsical, sweet creations. Designs range from vibrant tulip blooms celebrating spring’s arrival to intricate snowflakes for the winter holidays. Sparkling hearts for Valentine’s Day, bright beach balls and sunglasses for a summer birthday and apples paired with school mascots for teacher appreciation day ... name the occasion and Alva will create show-stopping, intricately designed cookies to help sweeten the celebration.

“I am really proud of the fact that almost everyone who orders my cookies becomes a return customer,” Alva says, such as the realtor who orders a box of Alva’s cookies to gift each client who closes on a house. The thoughtful package contains cookies decorated as keys, little houses, a “sold” sign, a mailbox and the realtor’s logo.

To see a little home brought to life as a cookie, complete with a window box full of flowers, is to appreciate that Alva has a talent for creativity and an eye for detail.

“I have so much fun working on every order,” she says. “And if I can’t find the right mold, I’ll make it myself.” She recently had a birthday order for a seamstress. When she couldn’t find cute molds for a sewing machine, scissors and spool, she made her own. She designed custom surfboard cookies for a pool party this past summer, and rounded out the order with beach balls, bathing suits and surf shorts. “I never say no to a customer’s idea,” says Alva, even if it means crafting her own molds and painstakingly cutting out each cookie with a tiny knife.

Now that the world is opening back up, Alva is excited to grow her business. She has created new products such as DIY cookie decorating boxes for parties, breakable chocolate hearts filled with candy and personalized notes, and custom dessert tables, which include personalized cookies, cake pops, chocolate-covered pretzels and cakes, all on theme and matching the colors of the party decorations.

While Alva’s Sweet Touch was launched as a side business—a creative outlet to the fulltime work Alva does caring for children—her dream is to eventually open a small shop where people can sample her various desserts and place personalized orders. She’d love to have a space within the shop to host parties, while offering a full menu of customized decorations and desserts.

This dream speaks to Alva’s incredible talent for hosting, which she does often for her large extended family. She’s planned and hosted nearly all of her relatives’ weddings, birthdays, baby showers, engagement celebrations and more. It is in her nature to celebrate and uplift the people in her life, and her infectious smile and joyful presence make all feel welcome.

It is this same positivity that customers enjoy when working with Alva to create their custom order. “My greatest hope is that, when a customer gifts my cookies, their loved one feels the care I put into each order,” she says with a smile. “Personalized gifts are a way of sending an especially joy-filled message.”

To place an order, visit AlvaSweetTouch.com and follow along on Instagram @alvasweettouch to see her latest designs.