My father worked at Helms Bakery from about 1954-late 1960s. He was the personnel manager at the Montebello plant. Besides the glazed and jelly donuts which were absolutely the *best*, on our birthdays my father would bring home a double layer cake frosted to look like a large "southern belle" style skirt with the top half of a beautiful doll figurine on top. I thought it was the most gorgeous cake in the world, certainly made for a princess. We saved the figurines up in a cupboard, I don't think we ever used them for anything else, but I loved seeing them there reviving the memory of the cake.
If anyone has any more Helms recipes to share, such as for donuts or bread, or coffee cake, please share! I want to bake and share with my family.