Just Like Mom Used to Make

Adam Matthew Burckle opened his cheesecake business, Adam Matthews Inc., when he was 21 years old. While many may recall the name from the erstwhile Adam Matthews Balloon Festival – now the Bluegrass Balloon Festival – not many people may know that he is the proprietor of nine Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen locations in the Louisville area.

“I liked to bake. I always baked with my mom and I like to eat too,” says Burckle, now 48. Over the years, the cheesecake business grew and the bakery’s choices expanded.

In 2004, Burckle approached Mike and Gina Cox, who had nearly 20 years earlier, converted a former auto dealership at 2525 Bardstown Road into a lunch counter, ultimately specializing in baked goods. The couple had received plenty of offers, but, thinking retirement, chose Burckle because of his baking know-how. “They said, ‘The last thing we want to see is to have it purchased and fail.’”

Burckle went to work in 2005 making special request items and says “the pent-up demand was enormous. Local bakeries and ice cream shops basically had gone away.” Soon, he contracted for space in St. Matthews, by the old Vogue theatre, promising to keep the character of the building. “Ours is a warm place – wood floors, exposed ceilings. I wanted it to look like the turn of the [20th] century. Not fancy, not pretentious, but nice and cozy.” The very first week, the second store’s business equaled that of the original store. Other neighborhood locations soon followed, and now there are now nine stores in and around Louisville.

Burckle says everything is done in-house, including icings, pies, cakes, cookies and ice cream. “You can guarantee we’ve made it. If you get our caramel icing, it’s the same one we’ve had for 25 years.”

A large part of their success, Burckle says, is because of the timelessness of the fare. “You’d be surprised how many people get meringue pies,” he says. “A young person, 20s, comes in: ‘I’d like to get a strawberry rhubarb pie.’ I say, ‘Grandmother or grandfather?’ ‘My grandmother. That’s all we ate.’” Burckle still makes chess pies and Shaker pies, because he says the demand is still there. “We encompass all ages.”

Burckle says that Homemade is the largest manufacturer of ice cream in the city, including this summer’s flavors: lemon and, by daughter Leanna’s request, strawberry shortcake. But it’s the baked goods that keep people coming back the most. “Our Dutch apple caramel pie is our signature dessert,” he says. “And yellow caramel cake. Upside-down cupcakes, too.” The whimsy, he says, came from his mother. “She had a flair for fun cooking,” he says. “Pretzels. Who makes pretzels? And cheesecake. It was worth every second of waiting.”

But people who come to the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen don’t have to wait long for their favorite treats, because Burckle and company keep ‘em coming. “I love walking in the store and seeing people smile,” he says.

The Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen locations are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and from noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays. The Shelbyville, Ky., location has slightly different open times. All have free Wi-Fi service. For a list of locations and phone numbers, visit www.piekitchen.com.