Flowers are a wonderful gift, but Jamaliyyih Perez offers something just as pretty that’s tasty, too. Her jumbo cupcakes with buttercream frosting are decorated to resemble gorgeous blossoms, such as roses, hydrangeas, sunflowers, tulips, peonies and chrysanthemums.
Presented as bouquets wrapped with pastel tissue paper and cellophane, they are simply breathtaking.
“Baking has always been a passion since I was a little girl in El Salvador,” says Perez, who now lives in Arlington with her mother, sister and 16-year-old daughter. “We were really poor and didn’t even have an oven, only a stovetop burner, but I still figured out how to make my father a birthday cake.”
At 14, she applied to pastry school, but was turned down because she was too young. “After I came to the States [in 2007], I started buying baking supplies with every paycheck.”
When her mother lost her janitorial job during the pandemic, Perez launched Jam Sweet Bouquets (JAM being the first three letters of her first name) to supplement the income from her own day job as a nanny.
Made with the highest quality ingredients, her cupcakes are available in vanilla bean, chocolate, red velvet and lemon poppyseed, all topped with classic vanilla buttercream. She sells them as individual treats (about $8 apiece) or in bouquets (prices vary). Orders must be placed well in advance, as she generally offers her baked goods only on weekends. For availability, follow her on Instagram @jamsweetbouquets.