Family-owned cheesecake shop makes dessert sweeter at Rockford-area restaurants
By Paul Anthony Arco
Special to the Rock River Current
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ASHTON — At the age of 7, Katelyn Glavac was obsessed with food. Not eating it but preparing it.
Glavac, with notebook and pen in hand, would prop herself up on a kitchen chair to watch her Slovenian grandparents whip up favorite traditional dishes like palačinke, a crepe-type pancake she would take to school for a class treat.
If she was not in the kitchen, Glavac took her notebook to the couch where she’d devour cooking shows to pick up more tips.
“I’ve always loved to research and experiment,” she said. “I like coming up with all types of recipes. But cheesecake is my favorite.”
So, it was no surprise then that last November, Glavac, along with her mother, Tina Glavac, and sister, Keri Creason, opened CheeseKake Ko., a small shop
based in Ashton, where Glavac grew up. The Ks in the name is a nod to the two sisters’ first names.
The shop, 906 Main St., is both a stop for customers to pick up a whole cheesecake or slice and the home base for wholesale baking that becomes dessert on multiple local restaurant menus from Rockford to Byron and Belvidere, among other places.
Glavac, 31, stumbled into her business by accident when she was tending bar at the Flight Deck Bar and Grill in Rochelle.
“I started making cheesecakes during COVID when all the restaurants shut down, and I wasn’t working,” she said. “I was always a good baker and loved to cook.”
Glavac used her free time to hone her cheesecake-making skills. When Flight Deck reopened the restaurant added Glavac’s cheesecakes to the menu — and the positive reviews were swift. Soon Glavac was researching how to secure a business license. She quit her bartending job and convinced her mother and sister to leave their full-time jobs as well to open their own business.
“It was a scary decision,” Glavac said. “My mom and sister were hesitant, but they trusted me. I had a lot of faith. I took a chance and I’m glad I did.”
Glavac kickstarted her business by selling her handmade custom cheesecakes at farmers markets and other special events. Her social media pages swelled to 13,000 followers. Her decadent desserts became so popular, Glavac knew it was time to start looking for retail space.
The cheesecake delicacies are created in the kitchen of a former pizza joint that Glavac purchased in downtown Ashton.
“It was equipped with ovens and mixers,” said Glavac, who, along with family, spruced up the space with a fresh coat of paint and new floors. “I didn’t want to take out loans to do a complete buildout. The location is perfect for now.”
CheeseKake Ko. held a grand opening last November, and the owners were greeted like rock stars. “The line was out the door until we sold out,” said Glavac. Customers came to Ashton in droves from neighboring towns and as far as Wisconsin, Chicago and Rockford. “I knew it would be busy, but it was crazy,” she said.
Ashton is central for many of Glavac’s 25 wholesale accounts including restaurants and pubs from Oregon, Dixon, Byron and a handful of Rockford restaurants such as Ernie’s’ Midtown Pub, Aero Ale House, The Goat Pub and Grill, 8th Ward Pub and Coaches Corner in Belvidere.
CheeseKake Ko. has 200 different flavors of cheesecake that range from basics such as key lime, blueberry lemon and red velvet. On the more creative side, customers can select from cereal and candy infused cheesecakes including Twix, Fruity Pebbles and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Glavac’s favorite is New York Cheesecake with a side of strawberry sauce.
Glavac and Creason, who are both self-taught, love toying with new recipes.
One of their favorite approaches is baking cheesecake with actual cake layered in. “We’re always bouncing ideas off of each other,” Glavac said. “We’ve never made a bad cheesecake.”
But there’s a science to perfecting each masterpiece. “Cheesecakes are difficult to make. It’s a combination of the ingredients and the way we bake it,” she said. “You have to eyeball it to know when it’s done. If you underbake it, it’s raw. Overbake and it becomes too dry and gritty.”
CheeseKake Ko. is a family affair. Besides the owners, Glavac’s dad, John, her boyfriend, Sam, brother-in-law, TJ, and niece, Kristen, all chip in to help with deliveries, taking orders and marketing. “We’ve always been a close-knit family,” said Glavac.
If business continues at this rate, Glavac said her long-term goal is to find a bigger retail space, which could lead her to a larger market such as Rockford or the suburbs.
For now, Glavac is taking it one slice at a time.
Cheesekake Ko. | Fast Facts
About: In addition to whole cheesecakes, individual slices including squares, round bites and 6- and 10-inch slices are available for purchase.
Where: 906 Main St., Ashton
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday
Phone: 779-251-8464
On the web: cheesekakeko.com
