SW side spongy Cheescake

I grew up on SW side of the city near the old Gertie's (59th & Kedzie). I remember most of the bakeries around there sold a cheesecake that was kind of spongy and even kind of looked that way. It was very light and kind of made a crackly sound when you bit into it. It was also thick and rectangular shaped.

I stopped in a bakery last year by Midway that knew what I was talking about, but didn't make it anymore and didn't know where I could fine some. Does anyone out there know what I'm talking about? If so, please reply. I live out of state now but will be visiting in July and would love to find some.

Also, can you suggest someplace around the airport, or not too far south from there to get a good steak? It's been 20 years since I've lived there.

Thanks!

Did it have a brown soft crumbly topping? It it did, I think I know this cheesecake. They sold it everywhere in the south suburbs where I grew up. Some smaller grocery chains used to sell it as well. They may still sell it at the Strack and Van Tils (sp?) on Ridge Road in Munster, IN. They used to when they were under a different name--the store remains largely the same.

It sounds like it could be it. Thanks!

Hopefully there's still somewhere in the city that makes it.

It sounds like it could be it. Thanks!

Hopefully there's still somewhere in the city that makes it.

Last year I bought a cheesecake like this at Wolf's Bakery, on 95th Street just west of Kedzie in Evergeen Park. It was not unlike an angel food cake, except a little denser, with a brown, slightly crusty top. With a little chocolate or cherry sauce dribbled on top, it was very good. I don't think that this bakery always carries this item; maybe it's seasonal, so I would call first.

LTH, help me out. I reallllly want to find this kind of spongy cheesecake again. I roused out an old family picture that just barely captured one in the frame, so I apologize for the poor quality, but here it is:



I would love suggestions as to where I might find it. In my journey today, I hit up Weber's, Pticek's, Racine Bakery, and Tuzik's. Wolf's formerly sold them, but stopped years ago for odd reasons.

A helpful young lady at Tuzik's thought I might be talking about a cheese slice or some such thing, made with baker's cheese. Is that all it is? Help?!?!

pticek's is closed till the tue. the 12th of jan. there cheese cake is not spongy , they make a sponge cake but it a special they make sometimes.
pticek is 5523 s. narragansett. just south of archer . thread is on page three. my wife just informed me they do not make it any more

Yes, Pticek's was sadly closed. Thanks for letting me know they don't have it, however, as I don't often get over to that neck of the woods.

The cake in question appears to be a Polish style cheesecake called Sernik. It comes in an endless variety of shapes and variations, some fancy and some plain. Sometimes it has fruit topping and sometimes it is chocolate covered. The picture above looks like the plain variety, and closely resembles a picture I found online described as "common" Sernik. Back when I lived across the street from Caeser's deli on Damen (20 years ago), they made a tasty type of Sernik with blueberries mixed in. A co-worker of mine from Poland thought it was surprisingly authentic and home-made tasting (just like his grandma used to make). There is also a spongy Russian cheescake, my grandmother made, which is very similar. I remember the Alliance Bakery on Division used to also sometimes make Sernik. Again, this was a very long time ago.

This cheesecake was made extensively on the North and Northwest side too. As far as I know its not Polish in orign, as we did not frequent Polish bakeries. This was during the late fifties and in the sixties that I remember this cheesecake. This is what I recall cheesecake to be in my childhood. Trying a new york style cheesecake was a shock as it was so dense (but good too). I'd love to find this kind of cheesecake again. It was light and fluffy and had a brown crumb like or "powdery" top. Perhaps some of the old fashioned (are there any left?) bakeries might still make this.

I'm 47.98% sure I saw cheesecakes fitting this description at Delightful Pastries and/or Oak Mill Bakery. Of course, both of these places are on the Northwest side*, so I didn't think to mention them earlier.

* Delightful Pastries now has outposts on Wells St. in Old Town and in the new French Market, though I'm not sure they are carrying their entire line of baked goods in either of those places.

Delightful Pastries
5927 West Lawrence Avenue
Chicago, IL 60630-3129
(773) 545-7215

Oak Mill Bakery
8012 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 318-6400

there is a oak mill on harlem & 57th south also

Rudy wrote:Did it have a brown soft crumbly topping? It it did, I think I know this cheesecake. They sold it everywhere in the south suburbs where I grew up. Some smaller grocery chains used to sell it as well. They may still sell it at the Strack and Van Tils (sp?) on Ridge Road in Munster, IN. They used to when they were under a different name--the store remains largely the same.

It could have been made by Europa bakery. They make a lot of packaged stuff that I see in other stores.

Europa Bakery
4345 West 47th Street, Chicago, IL
(773) 254-9323‎

nomustard wrote:I grew up on SW side of the city near the old Gertie's (59th & Kedzie). I remember most of the bakeries around there sold a cheesecake that was kind of spongy and even kind of looked that way. It was very light and kind of made a crackly sound when you bit into it. It was also thick and rectangular shaped.

I think I know exactly the cheesecake you’re describing though I haven’t had any recently.

mtgl wrote:LTH, help me out. I reallllly want to find this kind of spongy cheesecake again. I roused out an old family picture that just barely captured one in the frame, so I apologize for the poor quality, but here it is:

I would love suggestions as to where I might find it. In my journey today, I hit up Weber's, Pticek's, Racine Bakery, and Tuzik's.

I’m a little surprised none of those bakeries carry that type of cheesecake. I guess it’s not as common as it used to be (as you’ve already realized).

d4v3 wrote:The cake in question appears to be a Polish style cheesecake called Sernik. It comes in an endless variety of shapes and variations, some fancy and some plain.

That sounds right; I’m pretty sure I’ve had that cheesecake at Polish restaurants. I don’t think all Polish cheesecake has that fluffy, aerated texture though.

Yesterday I was at Gilmart and decided to check the cheesecake situation. It was later in the day so the selection wasn’t the best but they still had a variety of cheesecakes. Unfortunately none of the fluffy variety though. They carry baked goods from Forest Home, White Eagle, Olympia, Racine, Europa, Kazik and Chris’s so you could cover quite a bit of ground with a single stop. Other large markets worth checking on that stretch of Archer include Bobak’s (5275 S Archer) and Joe & Frank’s (7147 W Archer).

After Gilmart, I walked a few doors south to Dunajec. I believe they do their own baking and had a nice selection of cheesecakes on display. Again, none of the fluffy variety but a woman behind the counter knew exactly what I was describing. She said they still make it but only every couple of weeks. So if you call and ask about "fluffy cheesecake" (that was the term she used) you might hit the jackpot. There are other small Polish delis on Archer that also could be worth a look. Celina’s (5089 S Archer) and Chester’s (6743 W Archer) come to mind but there are others between Pulaski & Harlem.

Gilmart
5050 S Archer Av
Chicago
773-585-5514

Dunajec Bakery & Deli
5060 S Archer Av
Chicago
773-585-9611
(also 8339 S Harlem, Bridgeview)

Rene G wrote:

nomustard wrote:I grew up on SW side of the city near the old Gertie's (59th & Kedzie). I remember most of the bakeries around there sold a cheesecake that was kind of spongy and even kind of looked that way. It was very light and kind of made a crackly sound when you bit into it. It was also thick and rectangular shaped.

I think I know exactly the cheesecake you’re describing though I haven’t had any recently.

mtgl wrote:LTH, help me out. I reallllly want to find this kind of spongy cheesecake again. I roused out an old family picture that just barely captured one in the frame, so I apologize for the poor quality, but here it is:

I would love suggestions as to where I might find it. In my journey today, I hit up Weber's, Pticek's, Racine Bakery, and Tuzik's.

I’m a little surprised none of those bakeries carry that type of cheesecake. I guess it’s not as common as it used to be (as you’ve already realized).

d4v3 wrote:The cake in question appears to be a Polish style cheesecake called Sernik. It comes in an endless variety of shapes and variations, some fancy and some plain.

That sounds right; I’m pretty sure I’ve had that cheesecake at Polish restaurants. I don’t think all Polish cheesecake has that fluffy, aerated texture though.

Yesterday I was at Gilmart and decided to check the cheesecake situation. It was later in the day so the selection wasn’t the best but they still had a variety of cheesecakes. Unfortunately none of the fluffy variety though. They carry baked goods from Forest Home, White Eagle, Olympia, Racine, Europa, Kazik and Chris’s so you could cover quite a bit of ground with a single stop. Other large markets worth checking on that stretch of Archer include Bobak’s (5275 S Archer) and Joe & Frank’s (7147 W Archer).

After Gilmart, I walked a few doors south to Dunajec. I believe they do their own baking and had a nice selection of cheesecakes on display. Again, none of the fluffy variety but a woman behind the counter knew exactly what I was describing. She said they still make it but only every couple of weeks. So if you call and ask about "fluffy cheesecake" (that was the term she used) you might hit the jackpot. There are other small Polish delis on Archer that also could be worth a look. Celina’s (5089 S Archer) and Chester’s (6743 W Archer) come to mind but there are others between Pulaski & Harlem.

Gilmart
5050 S Archer Av
Chicago
773-585-5514

Dunajec Bakery & Deli
5060 S Archer Av
Chicago
773-585-9611
(also 8339 S Harlem, Bridgeview)

it use to be more available. my wife said they (pticek's) used to make but the mix for that dough got out of price range to make it? ??

Is this similar?

Subject: Taste of Serbia

Marmish wrote:

Our krempita from St Basil's on Saturday

Rene G--

The Dunajec on Harlem was clean out of a lot of things, and also crowded with Polish speakers. Sadly, Polish is a language with which I have almost no familiarity. I was planning to call/hit up Europa tomorrow after a class to see if they have it, as per Artie's suggestion. The girl working at Tuzik's wasn't quite sure, but thought they might have what I was talking about--but they were sold out of it at the time. She said to check back tomorrow, so I will.

Cathy--

Not quite it, sadly. This cheesecake is almost a cross between cheesecake and poundcake. It's extremely airy and one can pretty easily eat a great volume of it (so long as you forgo the bottom crust, as I often did in my youth).

Anyhow, many thanks to all for the help. Hopefully, I can report back soon with some success. Tasting this again would certainly result in cheesecake-y tears of joy.

Agreed. It was not yellowish and creamy as Cathy's pic shows but it was more a pale cream color. Something tells me it was made with gelatin whipped in it. It was square like a block and very light and airy not dense like today's cheesecake.

I used to very much enjoy a Japanese cheesecake that was precisely a cross between cheesecake and poundcake - very rich, yet light and airy. It did not have the crumb topping, nor a bottom crust, but maybe it would fit the bill? I believe these cakes can be found at Mitsuwa.

Found it!



This one came from Europa Bakery, as suggested upthread. It looks and tastes exactly right, but isn't quite as high (by perhaps half or three-fourths of an inch), but who cares. I couldn't wait to get home before tasting, so I took a corner off. The immediate emanation of spongy crinkle let me know I'd hit the jackpot. At four dollars for that good-sized cake, this is a treat nobody should miss.

Thanks, LTHers, for helping me relive my childhood.

I tried another place called Joe and Frank's Market on Harlem and Archer. They had something that looked close, but was far too dense. Also, the browned top bit didn't taste right. It was more sour, in a good way, and all around delicious, but not quite right. Oak Mill on Harlem and ~58th missed the mark as well. I stopped in at Tuzik's again to see if they had their "cheese slices," but again they were out. The counter girl assured me they'd be there tomorrow. I'll probably be too far gone into cheesecake bliss to remember, though.

Europa Bakery
4345 West 47th Street
Chicago, IL 60632-4440
(773) 254-9323

Joe and Frank's Market
7147 W Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60638
(773) 586-0026

Oak Mill Bakery
5747 S Harlem Ave
Chicago, IL 60638
(773) 788-9800

Tuzik's Bakery
4955 West 95th Street
Oak Lawn, IL 60453-2522
(708) 422-0099

Yup that looks like it. The thing I remember was an inch or two higher and more like bar. But looks like you hit the jackpot. I wonder what makes it different?

Yes, the ones at Wolf's were a bit taller, too, but also more expensive, I think. Anyway, the taste is perfect, and that's the important thing.