Sometimes you stick your fork into a feathery cheesecake and it hits a rock-hard layer of graham cracker crust, bland and chalky.
"We do our own crust," says Gillian Speight, who owns Spokane Cheesecakes with her husband Thomas. "We don't believe in graham cracker crust."
Each of their 26 kinds of cheesecake has a type of crust that complements the cheesecake flavor. The limón has a lemon crust, the pumpkin is paired with a gingersnap crust, and some of the liqueur cheesecakes feature Brazilian coffee crust. Dark chocolate orange crust lines the spicy Mayan chocolate cheesecake (the one we sank our teeth into) crowned with delectable chocolate ganache and sprinkled with Saigon cinnamon.
Gillian and Thomas first started making their cheesecakes in a commercial kitchen and selling them at a spot in the Spokane Public Market in September 2011. Thomas always was a cheesecake lover and Gillian loves baking; they felt like Spokane had scant choices for good cheesecake, so they decided to make their own, Gillian says.
But just a year after starting the business, the couple found out they were having a baby, so they closed down.
"Our long-term goal was to have our own space and our own kitchen," Gillian says. "When we got pregnant, we pushed it up."
In December they opened their own Spokane Cheesecakes shop on Sprague Avenue. They have a selection of miniature cheesecakes (3 inches, $5-$5.50) always on hand. Orders can be placed for larger sizes (6-10 inches, $38-$45).
Their many flavors rotate occasionally. For example, they'll bring out several chocolate flavors for Valentine's Day, such as raspberry white chocolate and night and day, a blend of white and dark chocolate, says Gillian. Their selection also includes fruit flavors like huckleberry and strawberry, traditional flavors like New York and cherries jubilee, and more creative flavors like a rum and raisin cheesecake with a vanilla crust. ♦
Spokane Cheesecakes • 1420 E. Sprague • Tue-Fri, 10 am-5:30 pm; Sat, 10 am-5 pm • spokanecheesecakes.com • 570-0658
