SWIFTWATER, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Bakers across our region have been racing to meet their Thanksgiving dessert quota so that Pennsylvanians can enjoy something sweet on the holiday.
Rolling through the shop and filling up the front cases with delicious cheesecake is something Jeremy Johnson has done for decades at the Pocono Cheesecake Factory.
Cranking out thousands of cheesecakes, especially with Thanksgiving just days away he has a lot of one specific ingredient.
The cheesecake process is like a well-oiled machine, literally. With the help of mixers ‘Bertha’ and ‘Brutus’ they mix around 18 hundred pounds of cream cheese a week.
“Going back to the 80s when this started, everything was small mixtures poured by hand. Very quaint, but after a while, that can’t quite cut it when the demand grows so we’ve incorporated a number of pieces of machinery,” stated Jeremy Johnson, owner of Pocono Cheesecake Factory.
Johnson says in the last year they battled with waves of labor shortages and inflation on ingredients like eggs.
“When you have to buy a couple of hundred pounds a week, you thought your dozen at the grocery store was bad. So we were sweating that for a while, but a lot of that’s evened out and so we’ve held steady on our costs and also lucked into a really good crew,” explained Johnson.
Now crunchtime for Thanksgiving Thursday He says the holiday is like their Super Bowl expecting thousands of customers looking to satisfy their sweet tooth with all types of flavors.
“The original is always the biggest seller, but this time of year in the fall our pumpkin cheesecake is right behind it, neck and neck. It’s like a reverse record player of deliciousness and chocolate,” said Johnson.
Mixing hard work and some tasty toppings they’re ready to serve up dessert.
The Pocono Cheesecake Factory is open from 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Monday and Tuesday but will be opening earlier on Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day for last-minute customers.
