Cubano’s ‘Jarred’ Cheesecakes
becoming a celebrity favorite
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Some of the city’s best
cheesecakes are made in the
Bronx…in a jar.
These fanciful creations
come from Kingsbridge native
Justin Gonzalez and his delicious
modern approach to a
classic dessert.
He calls his business Cubano’s
Cheesecakes, derived
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Some of Cubano’s jarred cheesecakes. Photo courtesy of Justin Gonzalez
from his childhood nickname
‘Chef Cubano’, about his love
for cooking and his Cuban
heritage.
Fruity Pebbles, M&Ms, and
lately Krispy Kreme jarred
cheesecakes are just some of
Gonzalez’s delicious specialty
works.
So, why put these cheesecakes
in jars?
“It’s just easier, it’s like
a ‘to-go’ snack this way, the
only difference is how long
you bake it for,” the 27-yearold
baking afi cionado said,
adding that he does the traditional
boxed cheesecakes as
well.
Believe it or not, when he
was just a kid, there was an incident
that made Chef Cubano
shy away from baking cheesecakes
for years.
“One time I messed up baking
a cheesecake and my mom
got so mad she sent me to my
room, I didn’t make cheesecakes
after that,” he said.
It was only years later
when Gonzalez was assigned
to make a cheesecake at Star
Career Academy that he was
forced to confront his dairybased
demons.
From then on the ball
started to roll for Gonzalez. In
2014 he began his ‘test runs’
for Cubano’s Cheesecakes at
a celebrity basketball game
at Baruch College in Manhattan.
“People loved it there and
then it just grew and grew,”
Gonzalez said.
During that testing phase,
Gonzalez didn’t have a phone
or anything, he just went
around the city handing out
cheesecakes to those willing
to give them a try.
“I was like one of those
guys in Times Square handing
out comedy show tickets,”
he joked.
Fast forward to 2018 and
it’s a much different reality for
the Bronx-operating chef.
Now he has delivered
cheesecakes to Madison
Square Garden while the
Knicks practice, caters to the
radio station Hot97 and even
made famed rapper Jadakiss
a Patron tequila birthday
cheesecake.
Gonzalez also caters to The
Compound art gallery alongside
the Third Avenue Bridge.
One NBA player even
reached out to Gonzalez to deliver
a cheesecake to his hotel
in the middle of the night
once.
“For me this is a dream
come true now, school was
never my thing and I was always
in and out of jobs. I fi -
nally found my thing and I
love making people happy and
making my family proud,”
Gonzalez said.
To order one from Chef Cubano
visit his website: www.
chefcubanoscakes.wixsite.
com/cubanoscheesecakes or
Instagram at cubanoscheeseCubano’s
Krispy Kreme cheesecakes. Photo courtesy of Justin Gonzalez cake.
/www.chefcubanoscakes.wixsite
/www.chefcubanoscakes.wixsite