( CNN ) -- It was a difficult choice : the apple pie or the New York-style cheesecake ? Both sat in front of me , looking succulent on separate plates , on the counter at Liberty Pies & Cakes in Madrid . I pushed my coffee aside to study this opportunity . We were in the middle of filming a report about Burton Novack , an American expat in Madrid whom you might call an unusual entrepreneur . In the midst of Spain 's economic crisis , he opened a shop two years ago to make and sell American-style pies and cakes . Unusual because he 's an octogenarian . He looks pretty fit . He says he still plays tennis . He certainly still drives because I took a ride in his car from the shop to his office , where I met his large parrot . `` I said , 'why do n't I go after that making apple pies and cherry pies and things like that . Of course I really did n't know anything about how to do it , ' `` Novack said . Read more : Spain 's tourism boom keeps troubled country partying . But he knows about business . He built a successful engineering firm over decades , with projects for the nuclear power and automotive industries , among others . His oldest son now runs Liberty Pies from a sleek office in central Madrid , which also serves as the pie firm 's administrative hub . The company is nearly making a profit , even as 200,000 small businesses have closed in the crisis . Novack is n't the typical young entrepreneur the Spanish government aims to help with a new law to make it easier to open a business . Watch more : Spain is betting on exports . But even without the help , the pie shop has created seven jobs , in a nation with soaring unemployment . Novack says job creation is the way to economic recovery . His key hire seems to be a veteran pastry chef who formerly worked at an American-style pie shop in Madrid that closed years ago . The chef , David Mota , demonstrated in the kitchen how his small team -- an assistant chef and a kitchen aide -- prepare the crusts and fillings for the pies . Novack insists they can make just about any kind of fruit pie . Read more : Europe 's politicians tackle unemployment . `` The labor market has been squeezed so tight , '' Novack said , `` they ( the government ) have to find a way to give work to the people because if the people do n't have any money , there 's little they can buy . '' `` Of course , in a moment when things are like this , '' Novack added , `` even restaurants are wanting to offer something that will attract the attention of their clients and our products do . '' Sixty five percent of the desserts are sold and delivered to upscale restaurants and hotels . Novack personally convinced each of these big clients , and we went along for the pastry delivery to the Hotel AC Aitana on Madrid 's main boulevard . `` We improve our buffet with the pies , '' said Hugo Vazquez , food and beverage manager at the hotel , `` because the American guests try to find American products in Spain . '' His shop , in northern Madrid , is decorated with images of Hollywood icons like Marilyn Monroe and Kirk Douglas , along with bright red restaurant stools and other furniture made in St. Louis , Missouri , where Novack was born . Novack plans more expansion , even while he 's worried about his own waistline . `` I should be fatter because I taste and eat a lot of pies and cakes , '' Novack said . Which brings us back to my choice . Clearly , I would n't be able to have an objective opinion about the apple pie or the cheese cake unless I tried them . So for the sake of the story , I dug in . Research is research . And it persuaded me that American-style desserts can come out quite well , even when prepared far from their normal settings . Novack politely interrupted our conversation to take another call on his mobile phone . He says he 's just lined up 10 more hotels to take his pies . Despite the economic crisis , his phone keeps ringing .
Liberty Pies & Cakes founder Burton Novack says job creation is the way to economic recovery . Novack 's key hire is a veteran pastry chef who formerly worked at an American-style pie shop in Madrid . The company is nearly making a profit , even as 200,000 small businesses have closed in the crisis .