The Leader • Saturday, March 31, 2018 • Page 1B
Remembering the Heights lady who famed bundt cake By Zarah Parker zarah@theleadernews.com Before we had an entire channel dedicated to food, and a new cooking competition every week, there was the pinnacle of competitions: the Pillsbury Bake-Off. It gained popularity quickly from the first Bake-Off in 1949 and in 1966, Heights resident Ella Rita Helfrich won second place with the Tunnel of Fudge Bundt Cake. Though not the winner it would still become the most requested Pillsbury recipe ever. “Back in ’66, Houstonian’s TVs were focused on the BakeOff. My good luck became our city’s victory. I have, indeed, been accorded the celebrity treatment and have enjoyed every single moment,” wrote Helfrich in a letter titled Reminiscing. What she never expected was her recipe to go viral. Around 300,000 letters were sent to Pillsbury to inquire after the recipe in the first month after the Bake-Off alone. And when there was an error in the recipe when it went through the wire service, it was printed incorrectly. Home bakers decided to call Helfrich directly, asking what they were doing wrong. This was back when all you had to do was pick up the phone and ask the operator to direct your call. “Grandma made public appearances, signed autographs in grocery stores, and the phone rang constantly for months,” said Jackie Pontello, Helfrich’s granddaughter. Pontello went on to explain how the phone rang so much that eventually her grandfather wrapped it in a blanket, so they could get some sleep. But Helfrich was a good sport, even writing in her letter how she wished she would have had more time to talk to the strangers on the other end of the line because they seemed like such lovely people. Her decision to use the bundt pan was spurred because Helfrich thought it looked fun. The company behind the pan was Nordic Ware, and having only sold around 500 at that time, they thought about pulling it from their line. However, after Helfrich’s recipe became famous, so did the pan. Helfrich became the woman who singlehandedly caused the sale of the pan to skyrocket to 5 million in sales by 1968. The company had to work around the clock to keep up with the demand. The donut shaped cake, with a lava like chocolatey pecan center, was so loved that when Pillsbury decided to discontinue the essential frosting mix Double-Dutch Fudge Buttercream, there was a national outrage from home bakers. Pillsbury came out with a revised recipe for the frosting and Helfrich worked to recreate the frosting the best she could, but many have said nothing works as well as the original recipe. Helfrich had been entering competitions since the 1950s and for the Pillsbury BakeOff alone had worked many years perfecting a recipe. Her second-place win meant so much to her because it was something she loved to do and worked hard at achieving. “This was no spur-of-themoment happening. For more than ten years preceding this special event, my determination to become a bake-off
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T h e Contributed photo Ella Rita Helfrich is shown here with her stack of cookbooks. The Heights resident took a stroke of good fortune at a 1966 baking competition and ran with it, turning into the most renowned bundt cake maker in town prior to her passing in 2015.
finalist kept me dreaming up recipes and (as my food budget proves) wasting a lot of expensive ingredients,” wrote Helfrich. Her determination and her light-hearted spirit inspired the people around her to go after their own dreams, knowing that even if they don’t succeed, at least they gave it their all. Her grandchildren took this especially to heart. “It wasn’t about the money
St. Pius for about 20 years, then she helped start the All Saints Third Age Learning Center, where they offered classes to senior citizens. “Her bouffant hair on a tiny frame was immediately recognizable across the Heights, and a sweeter woman you never met,” said Pontello. Although her attempts at becoming a Pillsbury Bake-Off finalist once again were unsuccessful, she cherished the ex-
Helfrich became the woman who singlehandedly caused the sale of the pan to skyrocket to $5 million in sales by 1968. periences she was given. Years later her own daughter became a finalist and brought Helfrich to the event. Getting to attend the Bake-Off was something Helfrich loved to do even when she was just a guest. In the last line of her letter she wrote, “Just got the mail in. Here’s an invitation to attend the Bake-Off, not as a finalist but as a guest and former winner. Pillsbury is so thoughtful. Once again I’m on cloud nine.” Helfrich was induced into the Pillsbury Hall of Fame as one of the top 10 recipes and her famous bundt pan sits in The Smithsonian in the room next to the reconstruction of Julia Child’s kitchen. She’ll forever be known as the woman who loved to bake, loved her family, and loved her Heights neighborhood. Helfrich left this world in the summer of 2015 after eating the most fitting of last meals: chocolate mousse pudding.
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or the items she won. It was about succeeding in something she loved to do. She was such a good example to all her kids and grandkids on never giving up and chasing your dream. She was a celebrity to us,” said Helfrich’s granddaughter Kristie Grochett Shields. Helfrich loved to try new things in the kitchen, often having to take something from the oven and toss it in the trash, but even so she wasn’t a fan of recipes. Her grandchildren fondly remember countless days accompanying their grandmother in the kitchen. “It was a treat to eat [at Helfrich’s house] and to try her experiments,” said Shields. Shields also mentioned how she loved staying over at her grandparents’ house because she always knew there would be a delicious breakfast, and whatever they wanted, Helfrich knew how to make it. Helfrich was also a leader in the community. She was the PTA president at All Saints and
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