Kim Cassens, owner of the Nothing Bundt Cakes in Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Eagan, and the Mall of America, admits she is no baker. Her background is in business and marketing, and before coming to Nothing Bundt Cakes, she worked as a project manager at a software development company. After leaving her position, Kim stopped in the Eden Prairie local to pick up a bundt cake. After that one cake, she decided it was a business she wanted to be a part of. It was that good.
Beyond the bundt cakes themselves, what appealed to Kim was the culture. “It’s a product you can do a lot with in your community.” Not only is Nothing Bundt Cakes a part of so many celebrations big and small for so many families, Kim also partners with The Birthday Party Project to extend her reach even further. The Birthday Party Project is a non-profit that helps to throw birthday parties for kids and families who can’t have them otherwise. Kim provides some of the cakes The Birthday Party Project uses in their celebration.
And make no mistake, Nothing Bundt Cakes makes a lot of cakes. In a single location, a store can go through more than 350 pounds of eggs and nearly 100 quarts of frosting in a single day. And all of that goes into bundt cakes. “I hesitate to call them bakeries because we only make bundt cakes,” says Kim. She settles on the term’ bundt bakeries,’ which is fitting for the store’s name.
Kim’s initial store was located in Minnetonka. It opened nearly nine years ago, and for most of that time, she only had the one location. Just last year, she took over Eden Prairie, Eagan, and opened the Mall of America location. This expansion is set to continue, with Cassens opening a new store near Prior Lake later this year. From her time as a project manager, Kim uses a lot of the same skills at Nothing Bundt Cakes. “Managing people, building teams and processes” are perennially applicable, as well as “figuring out what’s going to work and what’s not going to work,” says Kim.
As the business has grown, more and more of her family has come to work with her as well. Her eldest son is her accountant, and her middle son is her director of operations, who plans to take over the business someday.
When it comes to Valentine’s Day, Kim is tight-lipped about how bakers can capture some of Nothing Bundt Cakes’ deliciousness. For baking, “follow the recipe,” she says simply. If, like Kim, baking isn’t your forte, Nothing Bundt Cakes is unveiling a number of cakes just in time for Valentine’s Day. The new flavor, Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter, comes out this month. In addition to their regular bundt cakes, for February, bundt cakes can come in towers with wrapping for that extra touch. Whether it’s for a birthday, a special occasion, or simply an excuse to try a new flavor, Nothing Bundt Cakes provides the best. www.nothingbundtcakes.com
A store can go through more than 350 pounds of eggs and nearly 100 quarts of frosting in a single day.