It’s not a pie. It’s not a cake. It’s a pake - a combination of pie and cake - and Kim Kardashian wants a piece of it.
Debbie Barronton, owner of Cakes by Debbie in downtown LaGrange, was hired to create a pake for Lifetime Television’s “Drop Dead Diva.” In this season, the show, filmed in Peachtree City, has a story line about one of the characters who creates a pake and opens a “pakery.” Kardashian, a part-owner of the “pakery,” steals the life savings of the character who created the pake.
“Last year I did a wedding cake for the wedding that didn’t happen (on the show). They called me this year to come up with a pake,” Barronton said. “They came up with the name and said it had to combine a pie and a cake. I had to create the recipe.”
With a lot of trial and error, Barronton created a pake with a pie crust and a cake with fillings. However, the makers of the show didn’t care if the pake tasted good - only that it looked good on camera.
“I’ve taken it further to make different flavors and something that people would enjoy,” Barronton said.”The product I created for the show is non-edible, but I went on to create an actual product to sell.”
She created dozens of flavor combinations including peanut butter, strawberry-strawberry, red velvet cake, Boston cream, coconut cream and key lime pie. In mid-July, Cakes by Debbie will offer 3-inch pakes for sale to the public.
Creating even the non-edible versions turned out to be a time-consuming task.
“It took days. There’s a lot of waste when you’re creating something,” she said.
She also had to deal with short deadlines and big demands.
“Last year when I was doing the wedding cake for them, they called me at 8 a.m. and wanted a wedding cake in two hours - in Peachtree City,” she said. “We got it there in three hours.”
On Sunday she was finishing about 20 pakes for Monday’s shoot. On Tuesday, she’ll need more than 50 of the pakes to stock the “pakery” for filming.
“I’m actually considered technical support, so I have to be there while they film to make sure everything works,” she said.
As for the actors on the show – and famous guest star Kardashian – Barronton has little contact with them.
“She has her people always around her. They keep it pretty tight,” she said. “But it is fun to watch.”

















