Belfast man opens new shop that only serves cheesecake

A Belfast man has opened his first shop just a stone throw away from his home, and it only sells one thing - cheesecake. Growing up in the east of the city, Jonathon Bennett idolised Jenny Bristow and still is a Great British Bake Off fanatic.

Having worked in the world of insurance for 15 years, Jonathon made his very first cheesecake after discovering how simple the recipe was. And things have snowballed from that moment.

Speaking to Belfast Live, he said he has had customers who've stuck with him for years on end, ad he marks his 10th year in business, owning Belfast Cheesecake Co, which is now located in its own store on Grampian Avenue, as well as in St George's Market.

"Now Great British Bake Off is my bible watch - not that I would consider myself the quality to go on the show but I just love watching it and the creativity on it," he said.

"One of my biggest regrets is probably not going on to do fashion design after school - doing the cheesecakes now is one way of expressing that creativity that I have. Belfast Cheesecake Company has been going for around 10 years - it started off as Death by Cheesecake. A friend had made a cheesecake in my last job. She told me the recipe and I couldn't get over how easy it was, so I started to make my own for friends and family.

"As time went on, they encouraged me to go on to sell them. I first started the business under the name Death by Cheesecake, and after a while I started to do Newtownards Market every Saturday and built up a really good customer base and the Facebook page started. I started to get private orders and was baking from home, in a really small galley kitchen. Everything was made from scratch.

"Eventually, I got into St George's Market, which is much bigger, and indoor. I started out doing one day, built that up to two, and now I do three days on a permanent basis. I also supply a couple of Spar shops, some Centras and one or two restaurants and cafes too, as well as my private orders. My Christmas order book last year was opened in July, and closed within two hours, and I had over 140 orders.

"Some of my customers have been with me for years, one of my Christmas customers has actually been with me for eight years. I have great customers. It is only cheesecake I sell, so when I started branching out to sell in other businesses, I wanted a new name, something with Belfast in it. And now that I am Belfast Cheesecake Company, I am a firm believer that I will only stick to cheesecake, or cheesecake related products."

Jonathon says because of his loyal customer base, he has never had to move away from cheesecakes, or bring in new treats to bake - he is always focused on cheesecakes, and how he can bring something new to the table.

And now that he has his own standalone shop, there is room for more diversity.

"I have made cheesecake filled profiteroles, cheesecake filled eclairs and lolipops. There is more that I plan to do, but I do about 20-30 flavours," he added.

"When I first started out, I had a dream to have my own cheesecake shop, kind of like a version of Taboo Donuts or Blackbox Donuts, where you could go in and pick from a selections of cheesecakes. The retail side of things really kicked off and I was kept busy, so the idea of having my own shop was put on hold.

"I went from working at home, to sharing a space with Brownies on the Hill in Dundonald and I was able to really grow the business, and finally go full-time at it. I am from East Belfast, and when this space came up, five minutes from where I live, I was delighted. It is a really great location. It is home to me, and that is why I wanted to stay in East Belfast.

"It is a really exciting time for me, and the feedback from customers is amazing. I have people who come from down south, to St George's Market, and have also had a lady travel from Liverpool, and got one of my cheesecakes home on the plane. Customers travel from across Belfast too.

"To have the shop, will allow me to experiment more, and to meet more customers. I have had a lot of help and support from friends and family - I have not done this all alone. They have been there all the way and I am so grateful. It is exciting to have a shop which is completely dedicated to cheesecake - and I have a few things in the pipeline in terms of ideas. We'll see how it goes."

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