Bundt business: Pure Delight cakes taking a slice of the gift market

By: LISA CHRISTIANO ROSE - For the North County Times | Thursday, September 21, 2006 11:30 AM PDT ∞

What began as a sweet idea for family Christmas gifts has become a sought-after decadent treat for clients nationwide. And it all stemmed from a secret recipe between two sisters ---- Kimberly Deutsch of San Marcos and Judy Harding of Tempe, Ariz.

"A rum cake recipe was given to my sister by an old family friend who has since passed on," said Deutsch. "She guarded the recipe and made us promise to guard it as well. Judy began making the cakes for Christmas presents, and she had people begging for them every year."

The response was enough to make the two sisters consider birthing a business. Since 1999, Harding has matched her gift of baking with Deutsch's retail savvy, and the result is a thriving specialty liqueur cake business called Pure Delight Dessert Company. Harding leases space in a commercial kitchen in Arizona to do the baking, while Deutsch handles the business end out of her home in San Marcos.

Harding admits her reluctance to sell the cakes in the beginning.

"I thought if someone buys a cake, then they can criticize it," she said. "I only wanted to make them if I could give them for free."

With assurance from her sister that she would handle all the orders and deal with the customers, Harding went to work as the baker.

Their first order came from Deutsch's husband, a real estate developer, who ordered the cakes for his clients.

"Those people fell in love with them," said Deutsch. "And it was all word-of-mouth from that moment forward. And it turned out, in our first Christmas we were too busy to handle it all."

Mariann Cordova, a Prudential realtor in Newport Beach, has been sending Pure Delight cakes for thank-you gifts, holidays and closings since she received one herself three years ago.

"Before this, I bought champagne, wine and chocolate for closings," she said. "It was never such a hit. But when the cake came, people would call me and say, 'Come over and have this with us. It's fabulous!'

"Compared with what I spent before, this isn't even expensive," she added. "The service is outstanding. Kimberly will make sure everybody gets it. She calls. It's the best product I've come across by far."

Deutsch explained that the name, Pure Delight, was an easy fit.

"There's no one who doesn't smile when they eat something wonderful, and we are delighted to make people that happy," she said. "Pure stands for the pure ingredients we put in the cakes. We use all top-notch ingredients, including quality liqueurs, churned butter, free-range eggs and purified water."

She added that there is a common misperception that liqueur cakes have alcohol content.

"People are always saying, 'I can't order one of your cakes because I have young children.' What they don't understand is that only the flavor of the alcohol remains in the cake. We clarify our butter, and through that process the alcohol is boiled out and liquor content is gone. So they are fine for children."

Although their Signature Rum Cake is still their best seller, Pure Delight offers an array of flavors: Lemon Curd, Creamy de Menthe, Hazelnut (made with Frangelico), Butterscotch, Pure Peppermint, Amaretto and Chocolate Raspberry. Seasonal flavors are added to the menu on an ongoing basis. Pumpkin and Margarita will be the first new additions.

Each cake is made to order and can last two weeks on the counter, two months in the refrigerator or up to a year in the freezer.

"The cakes are very rich and dense," said Deutsch. "They're decadent treats that are excellent for corporate gifts or to send instead of flowers."

Deutsch and Harding grew up in Centralia, Wash., a rural, timber-lined area two hours south of Seattle. There, from the time she was 14, Deutsch helped her parents in their jewelry store and learned retailing from the ground up. After studying marketing in college, she rose through the ranks and became a regional manager with Guess Inc.

As a child, Harding was taught by a family friend to bake like a professional, and her love of baking has never wavered through the years.

"Baking to me has always felt like playing," she said. "It's too easy. When I have free time on my hands, I want to go bake."

As an adult, Deutsch developed a passion for creating sauces ---- some of which are used as the base of the cakes. Her home, perched on a 2-acre grove in the San Elijo Hills, provides her the organic fruit for her sauces, including her homemade lemon curd. She jars it and ships it to Arizona to be infused into the Lemon Curd cake.

Today, Pure Delight sends cakes all over the country ---- from sportscasters at CBS in New York to some of the top real estate agents in Orange County and Beverly Hills. They declined to disclose their financial sales numbers or revenues.

"It's really fun when we draw up the list of where we're sending the cakes," said Deutsch. "We're at a 95 percent reorder rate. We've never had to advertise. People call us.

"The selling element is gone," she added. "It's literally ---- get the product under the nose. Have a piece and they're hooked. Our biggest customer base is people who usually order Harry & David (fruits) or those who are accustomed to spending a lot for flowers. Those customers come across, and they never go back."

Each Pure Delight cake is $45 and serves 14-16 people. The cakes have no frosting and look like a typical bundt cake.

"My personal favorite is the Hazelnut," said Deutsch. "Men love the Creamy De Menthe. Ladies often order the Lemon Curd which is great for luncheons and tea parties. The Signature Rum, Amaretto and Pure Peppermint almost exclusively sell at Christmas. Chocolate Raspberry is perfect for Valentine's Day.

"We've had people use three cakes for a wedding, tiered up," she added. "And we always suggest putting fresh flowers on it and serving it with drizzle sauce."

Today, Pure Delight tries to remain a small company that will not compromise on individualized service. Seventy percent of their business occurs between October and New Year's, with more than 50 corporate clients that order 30 to 50 cakes each. Some of them order close to 100.

"We make thousands of cakes during a short period of time, and that is why we work around the clock during the holidays," said Deutsch. "But we're not trying to get huge. We're open to growth, but it has to be slow and steady. We are committed to taste, quality, elegance and service. You can't have that when you have other people answering your phone.

"I can be running 12 hours a day on the phone, but my customers don't have to know that," she added. "Each one is the most important person at that moment. And to me, that's been our selling point. It's been a huge accidental marketing coup, quite frankly."

Harding is still stunned by the response to her work.

"We probably would have grown faster if I wasn't so afraid of it," she said. "This business was a total accident. Kimberly and I love each other and are as close as can be. And for us to do something that's fun for us ---- it's just been a blast."

-- For more about Pure Delight Dessert Company, go to http://www.puredesserts.com or call (866) 497-PURE (7873).

LEMON CURD RECIPE

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

6 lemons, zested and juiced

1 tablespoon Tahitian vanilla

1 stick butter, sliced and chilled

In a double boiler, bring water to a simmer over medium-high heat. At the same time, in a medium-size metal bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar and whisk until smooth, approximately one minute. Add the juice from the lemons, vanilla and enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup total liquid. Add 1/3 cup of liquid and lemon zest to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth.

Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of double boiler. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of double boiler without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. This can take up to 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in butter slices one piece at a time. Let each piece melt before adding the next piece. Continue stirring until all of the butter has been added to lemon mixture.

Place in jar or plastic container and refrigerate. Will keep for up to two weeks.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.