Dolcettina started as a hobby doing cakes for relatives and friends, then it evolved in a part time home based business and in two years time it was my full time job, making orders of hundreds of figolli in Easter time, dozens of kilos of almond macaroons for Saint Mary Feast in August and loads of mince pies and Christmas cakes for the festive season. What makes us stand out from others, is the fact that our creations are all done with superior quality products and baked attentively as if a housewife is doing a cake for her family and that is what makes it ‘home made’. To add, all our products are decorated with passion and skill and packed in a professional way and the combination of these aspects is what makes our products outstanding.
Who am I?
I am Althea Cassar, founder and baker of Dolcettina. Was born on the 2nd February 1991 and grew up with my sister, mother and father. From my early years, i would love to go to my father’s confectionery and spend days watching him create gateaux, tarts and all the delicacies that were popular in that time. My knowledge, study and hands on experiences made it possible for me to start my part time business in 2014 together with my husbands help and with his continuous support and eagerness to watch me fulfill my dream, it was possible for me to be my full time job in 2016 and finally after a lot of hard work and sacrifices, opening our Dolcettina Shop in 2021.
Where does the name ‘Dolcettina’ come from?
Well the term ‘Dolce’ in the Italian language means sweet but truly the name deprived from my fathers confectionery name ‘Dolcezza’. Being his daughter I wanted a name for my own but still decanting from his name.
What makes it so satisfying?
People making good recommendations, calling you to thank you and to applaud your cake are all very satisfying, but above all the most satisfying is to almost feel as part of the family, when you start by doing a babyshower cake to a new customer, then they call you to advise the gender of the baby and to do the baptism cake, then the first birthday cake and so on… you will know that when its that time of year, that customer, that by now you will call her your friend will give you a call to do her sons/daughters cake year after year.
Where do you get your recipes from?
Well, I think it’s a combination of three major means. The first is my grandmother Salvina, being born in the war and growing up in a big family, they had to be very creative to put a meal on the table and as time went by her passion for baking grew from preparing trifles to baking ‘qaghaq tal-gunglien’ to making her famous ‘qastanija’ to sell in my father’s shop as honey rings. We still do honey rings together in Christmas time with her delicious old recipe. I also kept following some recipes that my father used in his confectionary. The most famous of all are the almond macaroons, which are a hit! Made with only pure almonds makes them exquisite every time. The sweet pastry we use is also my father’s. The third mean, is my own. I love to explore new things and combine different ingredients and different cooking techniques to evolve my own treats. Taking recipes from books and alter and improve them to make them my own. I proudly say that I have managed to do this very well in my famous Christmas fruit cake, Easter ‘figolli’ and our famous chocolate fudge.
Is there a cake or an episode you will remember?
I almost remember all of my creations as they are like my third and fourth babies after my two gorgeous daughters Eva and Ivy. Every new invention or trend is always a challenging experience but there is an episode i remember for sure. It was a Saturday early afternoon and I received a call from a panicked bridesmaid on the bachelorette day advising that they had ordered a cake from somewhere else but it was not up to their expectations. They told me that they found my card and wanted me to help out by doing a cake for that evening. I accepted the challenge and started baking immediately as in few hours they were going to pick it up. I finished the finishing touches with them waiting at the door and they were thrilled to see it ready. Today they are good clients and made a lot of cakes for them.
Nowadays my aim at Dolcettina, is to meet different people, share our story and what ever we produce is made with passion and with genuine ingredients. Every person is an inspiration for our baking or decorating and our aim is to make your coffee break, birthday or that particular occasion a bit more remarkable one and one to treasure for your life.
Read more about the cafeteria project and how we evolved from an empty garage to a warm, welcoming café & cake shop — whihc space was built step by step through hard work, dedication, and passion. What once was a simple, unused place has been transformed into a fully operating café & cake shop, shaped by long hours, persistence, and a vision to create something special for every customer.
