Economics sophomore Debra Wawi has acquired a substantial social media following for her famous Tres Leches cakes sold through her new business, Debra’s Delights.
Wawi is the daughter of Dubraska Wawi, a contestant on MasterChef Latino who owns her catering service, Dubraska’s Delights. Due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, Wawi spent hours in the kitchen with her mom, helping fill orders and developing her cooking skills. Her mom saw her love for cooking and suggested she bring it back with her to Aggieland.
“What inspired me was my mom,” Wawi said. “I’m always in the kitchen with her. [During] quarantine, she taught me to cook some staple dishes that she always had orders for. I was helping her in the kitchen, and she asked, ‘Why don’t you start selling in College Station?’”
Per her mom’s suggestion, she said she took to Twitter to gauge interest in creating a new branch of her mom’s company in College Station. Wawi began selling her desserts in August with a mission to “spread joy through the love of food.”
“I asked people on Twitter if they would buy if I started selling, and I received very positive feedback,” Wawi said. “When I got back to College Station, I started selling Tres Leches to test the waters.”
Wawi said the link to order can be found on either of her social media accounts, making the process convenient and straightforward.
”At first, I took orders through social media DMs like Instagram or Twitter, but since I got more orders than expected, I created a Google form that I send out on Twitter every week so [that] I can keep track of orders,” Wawi said.
The Google form showcases various topping choices like shredded chocolate, strawberries, bananas, cajeta, chocolate syrup and an “other” option. Customers can request additional toppings.
Environmental chemistry sophomore Emma Trussel chose strawberries, chocolate syrup and cajeta as her toppings when she ordered a Tres Leches. She said she and her boyfriend had trouble waiting until after dinner to eat it.
“Once we started eating it, we could not stop,” Trussell said. “I could tell she put a lot of love and effort into making it.”
Agricultural economics sophomore Marco Galgo said he had high hopes for Wawi’s Tres Leches cake after moving away from his home in the Rio Grande Valley.
“There are two things I really miss about the valley,” Galgo said. “The first is my favorite taqueria and the second is my favorite bakery. The bakery specialized in various Mexican cakes, one being Tres Leches, so when I saw Debra post something claiming she has the best Tres Leches, I reached out to her.”
The cake impressed Galgo who said it was very moist and wasn’t too sweet or too savory.
“Debra’s Tres Leches definitely competed with the one from back home,” Galgo said. “It had a perfect consistency. She did a fantastic job [and] I really loved it.”
Wawi said she is blown away by all the support she’s received from her large following of dedicated customers for her growing business, and the reviews posted on her Twitter speak for themselves.
“I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback and a lot of orders,” said Wawi. “It amazed me actually. I’m very grateful.”
Customers can find the order form to purchase customizable Tres Leches cakes on Wawi’s Twitter under the handle @debrasdelights and Instagram at @debrawawi.