Rum Cake from Pearson’s Edina Restaurant in Minneapolis

Pearson’s Edina Restaurant was located on the Minneapolis side of the busy 50th and France intersection. It was the last in a series of restaurants opened by Paul and Helen Pearson and operated by the Pearson family.

Pearson’s Edina Restaurant opened as a coffee shop in April 1973. Homemade baked goods accompanied strong coffee and lots of friendly chatter as the coffee shop became a local favorite.

Two years later, the little shop expanded to add a dining room and broadened its menu to offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. Like all of Pearson’s other restaurants, most recipes for dishes served at the cafe immigrated with Paul’s mother, Elenora Amanda, from Sweden. Elenora Amanda’s recipes for everything from freshly-made baked goods, lefse, and hotdish to traditional Swedish meatballs and lutefisk always remained a family secret.

Helen created the other recipes used at the restaurant. Even after she and Paul entered semi-retirement, she tested and tweaked recipes until they were perfect. When their parents decided to take a back seat in the family business in the early-1980s, sons Paul Jr. and Martsen took over the restaurant’s day-to-day operation.  

After the Pearsons closed the restaurant in February 2011, another restaurant opened in its space; they kept a handful of Pearson’s favorites on their menu. However, as far as we can tell, all of Elenora Amanda’s old-world recipes remain a family secret.