BY JERRIE WHITELEY

HERALD DEMOCRAT

Just a little north of Midway Mall on Texoma Parkway sits a true Texoma treasure that provides holiday treats around the world.

The Original Ya Hoo! Baking Company is famous for its fruitcake at holiday time, but president Geoff Crowley said that is just the frosting on the cake at a company that has been around, in one form or another, since the late 1930s.

What started out as Miss King's Kitchen in 1955, now ships goodies from fruitcakes to cheesecakes and baskets filled with other delectable treats all across the world.

"It is a small, affordable luxury," Crowley said when describing the company's niche in the market place.

"Our motto is 'A Taste as big as the Western Sky,'" Crowley said, adding that the desire to keep that commitment to customers while using the best ingredients possible keeps people returning year after year.

While many of those return customers make their orders through catalogs, locals can get the treats from the storefront on Texoma Parkway.

Some of the special treats baked today at Ya*Hoo! can trace their beginnings all the way back to Eunice King, a retired missionary and agricultural extension agent who taught safe canning techniques.

She also baked terrific cakes that she sold out of a home on Mulberry Street in Sherman. From there she developed a unique cake-in-a-can which local families sent overseas to service men in World War II. The cakes even went to the top of Mount Everest in 1981 and served as a treat to those in the climbing expedition.

Crowley said recipes developed by Miss King are still used in the company's repertoire. This year, for example, they are introducing a Texas Pecan Cake that she developed.

Of course, the company also offers some items that weren't around in Miss Kings' time.

In fact, Crowley said, the list of items sold is routinely in flux. In addition to keeping up with the laundry list of items available in the catalog, the bakers at the Ya*Hoo Baking Co. also turn out fine desserts sold at national retailers like Neiman-Marcus during the holiday season and at national restaurant chains throughout the year. Some local eateries that feature, on occasion, Ya*Hoo items include Johnny Carino's and Cracker Barrel.

While there is almost always something baking at Ya*Hoo, Crowley said the busy season starts just after the fall holidays.

"It really kicks off the day after Thanksgiving," he said, discussing the mail and phone orders that drive the business through the late fall months.

During that heavy season, the company can have as many as 10 telephone operators at a time taking orders from folks around the corner here in Texoma or all the way across the world in London or Paris, or any other country for that matter.

"The Internet site is also very nice," Crowley said, noting that customers can place their own orders on-line.

During the busy season, Crowley said, as many as a thousand of any individual type of cake can roll out of the business each day ready to spread holiday cheer to the people who receive it.

Industrial-sized food service orders of products can reach between 12,000 to 15,000 pounds per day, he said.

That is a lot of fruitcake, but it isn't just fruitcake. Another staple for the company is the namesake Ya*Hoo cake, which features candied cherries, chocolate chips and pecans. Each of those cakes also comes with a legend sure to bring a smile to those gathered around any holiday table to enjoy it.

During peak season, Crowley said, the company employs up to 50 people. Those people work in shifts, with some beginning as early as 3 a.m. to mix the tasty ingredients into the signature recipes. A few hours later, a crew of decorators and packagers arrive to make the products look as good as they taste. That process of mixing, baking, decorating and packing continues until about 8 p.m. when a sanitation crew comes in to get things ready for the next day.

Crowley said cleanliness and food safety are extremely important facets of the business. He said recent scares with peanuts and pistachios have food safety high on people's lists. However, the topic never leaves the minds of the folks at Ya Hoo, he said describing some of the inspections the company undergoes by third party auditors.

"We routinely score in the highest range on those inspections," he said.

He said the food items shipped out routinely go through a metal detector and every effort is made to seperate allergens during the baking process.

The goal at Ya Hoo Baking Co., Crowley said, is to offer a superior product made with quality ingredients that customers will be proud to serve to family and friends. And doing that keeps him and his staff busy year round.

Printing for each year's catalog is done on Sept. 1. That means the photography that lures customers to purchase those delightful looking culinary creations must be completed by July. Between early spring and that photography date, Crowley and the recipe lady, AKA Monnet Wible, tweak recipes and create that year's list of offerings.

Wible said she is currently toying with the idea of a gingerbread cake with a tipsy punch and several types of brownies.