By Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Four years ago Bonita Lacey lost her factory job and took a lesser-paying job. So she and her husband, Jim, began to make cheesecakes on the side to bring in some extra money. B’s Cheesecakes was born.
Since Bonita has a previous back injury affecting her ability to work, this money-making side job has proven convenient. She says she can work at her own pace, sitting down to take a break when necessary. And Jim does all of the heavy lifting, literally, by washing dishes and lifting mixing bowls full of cheesecake batter.
Bonita and Jim Lacey’s batter for their raspberry lemon curd cheesecakes./Karen Parr-Moody
Now others who want to try to make extra money by cooking or baking can learn the ropes on Sept. 18 with the Food for Profit workshop offered by the UT-TSU/Montgomery County Extension. It will take participants through the steps necessary for starting a small food product business. Topics will include regulatory requirements, packaging, safe food handling, marketing and financing.
There is a registration fee of $30 per person, which will be held at 1030 A Cumberland Heights Road, Clarksville, Tennessee 37040. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required by Sept. 10. To register call Martha Pile at 931-648-5725.
Bonita has gotten help from the experts at the UT-TSU/Montgomery County Extension on how to grow her cheesecake business. Additionally, she and her husband use the commercial kitchen that the Extension offers to small food product businesses. The result? They fulfill private orders and also sell at the Downtown Market on Saturdays.
The couple makes about 30 flavors of cheesecakes. Among these flavors are maple-candied bacon, caramel pie, Butterfinger, tiramisu, Heath bar, German chocolate, Beachaven peaches and cream, Nutella, caramel pecan praline, Beachaven blackberry, gingered pear, apple pie moonshine, carrot cake, hummingbird cake and red velvet cake.
Red velvet cake is another one of B’s Cheesecakes flavors./Karen Parr-Moody
They tested out the Downtown Market last year for three weeks, just to see if there was a public desire for cheesecake.
“We sold out each week,” Jim says.
They were looking at creating a “niche” of cheesecakes made in unusual flavors, and they’ve done it. This year they entered the market for the whole season.
“The demand has just gone through the ceiling,” Jim says.
Bonita adds, “We hear all the time that our cheesecakes are better than the Cheesecake Factory’s.”
The couple thinks that a key selling point is their use of fresh, “top shelf” ingredients. If all continues to go well, their next goal is to use the shrink wrap machine at the Extension office to package cheesecakes for nationwide shipping. In the meanwhile they can be found on www.facebook.com/pages/Bs-Cheesecakes/199670210211468.
Photos by Karen Parr-Moody
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.