Photo by Erin Nelson.
Jay Wilson of Jay’s Cheesecakes places hot pans of cakes on the countertop as he bakes a batch of cakes at an industrial kitchen in Homewood. Jay’s Cheesecakes donates 100% of its profits to Cakes for Crews, which helps live concert staff in the Southeast who are out of work due to COVID-19.
It all started March 30, 2020, when Homewood resident Jay Wilson wanted to make a cheesecake from scratch for his birthday. This led to the creation of Jay's Cheesecakes, which we covered last fall and which donates 100% of its profits to concert support staff.
Since then, Jay's Cheesecakes has donated nearly $25,000 to concert crews negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. With Wilson's birthday coming around the corner, he has something new to celebrate.
Starting March 30 — exactly one year after the first cheesecake that made it all happen — three local Piggly Wigglys began selling Jay's Cheesecakes, including the one in Homewood.
The 7-inch whole cheesecakes will be sold at the following locations:
- Homewood: 3000 U.S. 31
- Crestline: 41 Church St.
- River Run: 3800 River Run Drive
Many people have told Jay that their favorite part is the crust, Jay said. The cheesecakes are also rich and fluffy, he said.
His cheesecakes are also currently sold by the slice at Saw’s Juke Joint in Crestline and The Lumbar at Pepper Place. Soon they will also be added to the menu at Iron City Grill downtown.
"What started out as an experiment to take my mind off of not producing concerts has grown into a very fulfilling local business," Wilson said. "In the last year, Jay’s Cheesecakes has made close to 2,000 cakes, donated over $24,000 to concert staff negatively effected by COVID-19 and is shipping nationwide. And now we are blown away that our handmade cheesecakes are going to be available at Piggly Wiggly. Who would have ever thought that was possible!"
Visit jayscheesecakes.com for more info.
