Baking & Snack - June 2022 - 40

JUNIOR'S CHEESECAKES & DESSERTS
Junior's cakes and
cheesecakes are
sold in packaging
with orange
and white stripes.
Others come in
clear-domed containers.
Juniors
Cheesecakes
and Desserts
the cake, then a bit of touch-up work can be done manually
as needed. Before it's finished with coconut around
the sides, an Apex Motion Control Baker-Bot pipes icing
swirls around the top edges of the cake.
" They can mirror anything a human can do, " Mr.
Rosen said of the Baker-Bot.
It is a versatile piece of equipment that can handle a
variety of different applications and finished patterns
like stripes or dots. A Unifiller enrobing machine covers
cakes in chocolate ganache. A large part of the room on
this day is filled with workers piping on whipped cream
and putting sprinkles on heart-shaped cakes.
One Topos Mondial and four Hobart mixers are used to
make all the creams and frostings for the cakes, including
butter cream, whipped cream, chocolate fudge and more.
" We don't hold anything over, " Mr. Rosen explains. " It
goes from the mixer right onto the cake. "
It's also where the specialty cakes are assembled,
which can take some effort. Take the 12-lb Skyscraper
Devil's Food, for instance.
" We put a chocolate cake on the bottom, then a layer
of fudge, push the cheesecake down into the ring, then
another layer of fudge, another layer of cake, another
layer of fudge, another layer of cake. Push that down
with a stamper. Then we freeze it, " Mr. Rosen explained.
" We blowtorch the ring, slide the ring off and frost the
outside. We finish with the crumbs and the chips. "
Building 4 is where the cakes that are not cheesecakes
are baked. This includes the layer cakes as well as
the ones sliced horizontally for the cheesecake bases. A
Topos Mondial mixer handles the cake batter mixing,
and a Unifiller line is used for greasing the pans and
depositing the batter. Two Gemini rack ovens and three
Reed ovens in this area bake the cakes.
40 Baking & Snack June 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
" They're making chocolate cake right now, " Mr.
Schwartz said. " Today is a chocolate day. We try to make
the same cake all day long so less changeover. "
For the cheesecake bottoms, the cooled cakes run
through Krumbein cutting machines. One cake provides
five ¼-inch cheesecake bases, and the domes are used as
crumb toppings.
" When we started, we did this on a deli slicer, " Mr.
Rosen said. " I'm talking about when we were baking
them above the restaurant. "
Mr. Rosen said the bakery is at about 40% to 50%
capacity at this point. He's eyeing more automation for
packaging for his next investment and is optimistic despite
inflation concerns.
The bakery raised prices 3% to 5% recently although
raw ingredients are up by double digits.
costs
for
Increasing volume, working smarter and ensuring that
nothing is wasted is all part of the plan to keep costs
manageable. And the bakery is staying vigilant in the
wake of supply chain problems.
" We're going to keep our eyes on it, " Mr. Rosen said.
" We're buying plastic in the summer that we're going to
use in the fourth quarter. That's a lot of cash to keep on
the floor, but we do it because you can't put a cake in
nothing. You've got to put it in a plastic dome or a corrugated
box. We're way out in front on packaging. "
He plans to continue along the path of organic growth,
holding onto tradition by sticking with that 72-year-old
cheesecake recipe while seeking out new formats for it.
He runs on the philosophy that the bakery is only as
good as its last cake, so he and his team members need
to stay on their game.
" I don't think we're ever going to be the biggest bakery
around, " he said, " but I want to be the best. "
*
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Baking & Snack - June 2022

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