Bread News

Dallas bakery is offering this special colorful bread for very limited time

So pretty on the eye, and with a buttery, buttery flavor.

Photo courtesy of Signature

Special breads for certain holidays are a tradition, but this is a new one available to Dallas shoppers for the first, and very limited, time.

The bread is from Signature Baking Company, a Dallas bakery at 9000 Diplomacy Row that has been a supplier of bread, buns, and rolls for restaurants and entertainment venues since it was founded in 1978.

After COVID-19, Signature did what a number of food supply companies who used to be behind-the-scenes did: In March, they began offering to the public home delivery of their breads, such as white, wheat, sourdough, and rye. (They do home delivery on Thursdays, if you order at signaturebaking.com by 2 pm on Wednesday.)

Their selection includes not just breads but also a wide variety of rolls and buns — their jalapeño-cheese buns are a big favorite — plus cinnamon-swirl bread, with or without raisins, and a pumpkin cinnamon swirl bread, too.

But these two new limited-edition breads are something special. They include:

Fruit Cake Bread
Rainbow Bread

The Fruit Cake Bread is a fluffy brioche-style loaf studded discreetly with green and red cherries, dried pineapple, dried orange peel, and raisins — all of the dried fruit you might expect in a fruitcake, but instead suspended in a soft, delicate, slightly sweet bread.

If you love the flavors of fruitcake — and who in their right mind doesn't — but find the texture to be too dense, then this Fruit Cake Bread is right up your alley. It's $7.99.

The Rainbow Bread is a rich, buttery brioche loaf that's been tinted with the colors of the rainbow. The loaf is a good 6-1/2 inches tall, we are talking tall for a slice of bread, with stunning swirl of color. It's $9.99 a loaf but it's a huge loaf.

Both breads are shaped like sandwich loaves and come sliced, so you can use them for unusual sandwiches, toast, French toast, and all the uses you might find for a sandwich-size slice of bread.

Signature was founded by Oscar DeSouza, a third-generation baker; DeSouza's son, OJ, is president of the company and the person responsible for using modern techniques to usher the company into the future.

OJ says that the breads come from recipes that were made exclusively for their family holidays.

"I've enjoyed watching my Dad bake the Fruit Cake Bread every year for 30 years," he says. "The Rainbow Loaf was a new creation was inspired by our 3-year old niece, Bernadette, who loves bright colors. We just wanted to offer something fun."

Ordering
There are only two opportunities to get the bread:

Order by Tuesday, December 22 by 2 pm for delivery on Wednesday, December 23
Order on Tuesday, December 29 by 2 pm for delivery on Wednesday, December 30

That's for the Fruit Cake Bread, which will only be available through December 30.

The Rainbow Sandwich Loaf will be available through the end of January. Delivery is $4.99 per order.

holidays

Global tastes

New food truck in Carrollton puts a Venezuelan spin on empanadas

The central Venezuelan variation of empanadas is fried whole before being sliced open to hold additional fillings and toppings.

Photo courtesy of Empanada Factory.

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A unique new food truck serving authentic Venezuelan empanadas has parked in Carrollton. Called Empanada Factory, the trailer joins a pod of quick-service food trucks at 3490 Rosemeade Pkwy., at Marsh Ln.

The new initiative comes from Gloria Romero and her husband, Samuel Gómez. Originally from central Venezuela, the couple brings a regional variation to the local food scene known as empanadas operadas ("operated empanadas"). Unlike traditional empanadas, these are fried whole first and then sliced open to add additional fillings and toppings — the "surgery" that gives the dish its name.

Made with cornmeal dough rather than wheat flour, they are significantly larger than standard empanadas, holding up to 4 ounces of filling compared to the typical 1.5 ounces in traditional empanadas.

At Empanada Factory, customers can choose from six fillings: queso blanco, jamonada (cooked ham in cubes), chicken, shredded beef, cazón (dogfish), or a seafood mix. Base empanadas range from $4 to $6, with $1 add-on toppings including black beans, cheese, plantains, chorizo, sausage, melted Gouda, and avocado.

Beyond empanadas, the menu features $12 arepa bowls — crafted from arepa dough and served with a choice of one protein and three toppings — as well as quesillo venezolano ($4), a traditional Venezuelan dessert similar to flan but with a firmer texture.

The Arepa Bowl, featuring a crispy arepa dough base filled with shredded beef, black beans, avocado, and house sauces.Photo courtesy of Empanada Factory

Drink options include lattes, drip coffee, Venezuelan sodas, and fresh fruit shakes (served frappé or on the rocks) in flavors like mango, passion fruit, blackberry, and Caribbean native fruit guanábana (soursop).

After selling out during their first two weeks, Romero and Gómez feel confident in their new home.

“Carrollton is very established in Latin culture, and the location is accessible to everybody,” Romero says. “People know the area, so they know where to find us.”

Romero and Gómez describe themselves as "eternal entrepreneurs" who have owned several businesses, including Redy POS — an all-in-one ordering platform designed for food trucks and quick-service restaurants. In addition to sharing their cultural heritage, Empanada Factory serves as a real-world test kitchen and showcase for their software, which streamlines ordering and fulfillment to keep wait times minimal. Several neighboring food trucks in the area are already Redy POS clients, they say.

Alongside a streamlined ordering system, the owners emphasize that product quality remains their primary focus.

"What you see on social media is what you actually get; we focus heavily on maintaining the quality of our food, making sure it looks and tastes just as it is displayed in our photos," Romero says.

To deliver on that standard while maintaining fast service, the couple chose to start small with a food truck model and limited weekend-only hours (8 am-2 pm). Pre-ordering is available via their website, and they offer direct, home delivery within a 10-mile radius with no third-party app markup.

carrollton food truck