I have quickly made a habit out of visiting our every Wednesday for the vegetables, Tak Mori’s yakitori and those little cheesecakes in a cup. It’s the lady behind this cheesecake booth I’d like to introduce to you.
California Cheesecakes, as the banner states, is a reiteration of her previous company, Oklahoma Cheesecakes, based in, you guessed it: Oklahoma. With her slightly Southern accent, Vonda Lee will tell you straight up if asked what brought her to our town: “What takes any woman away to a different town? A man!” So somewhere in Carlsbad there’s a man we need to thank for bringing Ms. Lee and her multiple cheesecake flavor fusions to us.
She has been selling cheesecake in Carlsbad from her commercial kitchen for a little over three years. Now, the story behind the variety of flavored cheesecakes in a cup is one you probably would not expect.
You see, these little cups she's known for started out merely as samples for the real deal—a full-size cheesecake. She tracks what flavors are the most popular. A highly requested flavor, key lime pie, for instance, becomes one that she’ll put on a regular product rotation. Flavors that are not so popular at the market get put on the back burner, so to speak. And these are nonbaked goods, by the way. Her recipes are as mysterious as they are delicious.
Among the flavors of cheesecake you can try and buy at her booth are: strawberry, cherry, blueberry, toffee, chocolate fudge, pumpkin spice, cookies and cream, key lime, and classic. There are additional flavors available on her website.
The popularity of this cheesecake in a cup has risen to the point that sales of these samples have become her trademark. California Cheesecakes is currently being re-branded as Cheesecake in a Cup.
So stop by and see Vonda Lee at the Carlsbad Village Farmers Market. Try the cheesecake in a cup and ask her about "that man."
