Photo by Joshua McCoy/Daily News Anka Jokic of Bowling Green prepares a dessert Friday afternoon at her bakery, which has been open for almost a year.

Anka Jokic was busy during Easter season, but she loved every minute of it.

&#8220I feel really good; I really like it,” she said.

You won’t find a cake mix box at Anka’s Bakery – everything is made from scratch.

&#8220We break a lot of eggs.”

Anka’s egg-breaking earned one of her common Bosnian delicacies a special name from Natcher Elementary students – heaven cake, a cake in which chocolate and yellow cake collide with white and chocolate frosting to make it a tasty treat.

&#8220Last year, my son’s teacher had a birthday,” Jokic said. &#8220As a secret, the students asked me to make them a cake. They called it heaven cake. The name stuck.”

Customers are drawn in by the sweet array of eateries available at Anka’s at 2730 Scottsville Road.

Belma Sirovina, a senior at Greenwood High School, and recent Warren Central High School graduate Azra Izmirlic waited Friday for their large order of sweets with plans to commemorate a recent wedding, they said.

Traditional Croatian and Bosnian treats like bajadera, baklava and sampita are scattered among more well-known desserts like spumoni, tiramasu and cheesecake, but you never know what you will find at Anka’s.

&#8220Everyday when I make something different I feel really excited,” Jokic said.

Customers have to keep coming back to see what’s new, she said.

Jokic also makes specialty desserts for weddings, her favorite being rafaelo, milky coconut balls popular among customers who want something different.

One customer ordered 300 rafaelos and put them in two-inch decorated boxes for a wedding in Louisville, Jokic said.

But there is one cake she calls &#8220trouble.” It’s her sampita cake, a tall, yellow cake smothered in egg whites that’s complicated to make, but coveted by her Bosnian customers because of the childhood nostalgia the cake brings.

&#8220I have a lot of Bosnian customers who come in and ask me about (trouble cake),” Jokic said. &#8220One customer stood by the register and slurped it down.”

Jokic also loves to decorate children’s cakes with fancy designs of Disney characters.

Jokic is from Croatia, a country on the Mediterranean Sea.

&#8220Croatia is to Bosnia what Tennessee is to Kentucky,” she said. &#8220I really miss the ocean, but there was war there, and the economy wasn’t good, so we decided to come here.”

Jokic has lived in Bowling Green for seven years.

&#8220We’re not moving to another place,” she said. &#8220We like Bowling Green.”

Jokic opened Anka’s bakery and pastry shop in February.

Even after being married for 15 years and having two sons, Jokic still loves to cook.

&#8220I’ve been cooking for a long time,” she said.

After Jokic worked third shift at the Country Oven Bakery for five years, she decided it was time to have something of her own.

&#8220It just made me tired,” Jokic said. &#8220I just decided to open up my own business.”

Jokic knew what she wanted and drafted a business plan at soccer practices until she was ready to start to looking for locations.

Jokic drove around Bowling Green searching for a place for many months before finding the perfect locale in late 2004.

After installing a wall, kitchen space and other accommodations, Anka’s Secrets boasts pale pink walls and plenty to drool over.

&#8220Many customers pre-order on the weekends for orders to be picked up later in the week,” she said.

Jokic tries to instill a sense of home to customers, an effort she said she feels is paying off with customer loyalty.

&#8220We have really good customers and they’re coming back,” she said.

Being friendly is a must for her employees, one of the first things she teaches them.

&#8220We’re not a very big shop, we’re a small shop,” she said. &#8220 So I always say hello and explain everything.”

Jokic is in no rush to get rich off her current venture. She plans to keep customers first and gain steady revenue increases.

She cuts down on waste by only making what she will sell for the day.

&#8220I organize myself,” she said, with a commitment to freshness and making sure not to freeze baked goods.

Anka’s Secrets was one of many participants in Taste of Bowling Green earlier this year.

&#8220Every day, I see my business growing,” she said.