.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} The first sign that Vicente Diaz would eventually become a baker could have been the time he spent as a child in his family’s bakery in Mexico City. The second: an offer from the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle to train him to handle its baking.

Still, Diaz remained in the finance industry as an employee for Citibank until at age 39 he received so many baking requests from friends and co-workers that he decided to turn his passion into a business. In May, he opened Let Them Eat Cake in a small retail bay off Valley Junction’s main street.

“I just decided to look for a place and something OK moneywise and do it,” Diaz said. “In the beginning, it was scary to give up a job.”

However, Diaz has found a devout following for his small, decadent cakes and pastries, which he sells in two glass cases in front of his store as well as at the Valley Junction Farmers Market. He also creates more elaborate cakes by special order for weddings and other occasions.

“We can gauge our traffic [at the farmers market] by if he sells out,” said Historic Valley Junction Foundation Executive Director Jim Miller. “We can tell how traffic is if there’s a line at his table.”

Opening the small business at 405 Maple St. took Diaz more than six months. Enticed by cheap rent, he took possession of the retail bay in December and began renovating the store himself, which included putting in a sliding door, hooking up water, replacing old carpeting with tile and adding the equipment for a full kitchen.

Diaz has learned to adapt to American tastes, cooking cakes that are more moist and have sweeter frosting than in Mexico. However, he has brought his Mexican heritage to Des Moines with smaller cakes, and is considering adding fruit tarts and sweet bread.

Diaz also says he’s always on the lookout when he travels, especially to New York City or Mexico, for new ideas. The most expensive cake he has made was a $700 wedding cake, $200 of which was spent on flowers.

Diaz’s experience stems from an opportunity to become the baker for the Four Seasons Hotel after he was a waiter for banquets for four months. The hotel paid for three months of training, and he worked in the kitchen part time for four years, while continuing to work full time for Citibank.

Then Diaz was promoted to a new position in Des Moines, where he spent the next 10 years in the credit card services division and then in the mortgage department, servicing loans. But as baking requests increased, Diaz became increasingly interested in opening his own bakery.

Three years ago, he was approved for a Small Business Administration loan, but felt the interest rates were not much better than what a bank would offer. So he waited until he had saved enough money to cover the cost of opening the shop, which totaled $25,000 in renovations.

Diaz says he loves the creative freedom of his new career; his previous job was about following company guidelines. “Here I have the freedom to do what I want to do,” he said. “It’s just a different feeling.”

He also has found Valley Junction to be a supportive business community and has already been asked to supply desserts for area open houses. “It’s in the center between West Des Moines, the South Side and downtown,” Diaz said. “It’s a well-known area and everyone is friendly.”

In the future, Diaz hopes to expand and add employees, but for now, he’s working alone. A few customers have also asked him about the possibility of shipping his cakes across the country.

“It takes patience and time, ” he said. But, he added, “I am glad and thankful when a customer has a cake and calls and says that it’s the best cake they’ve ever had. … That’s a good feeling.”