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Making cheesecakes was a hobby for Michael Vespa while growing up in New Jersey. As he got older, he would still make them for family and friends, simply known as Michael’s cheesecake.
The hobby eventually turned into Sweetie’s Cheesecakes, a cheesecake shop and catering business, in north Fort Worth.
The company has been in operation since 2017 and celebrated its third anniversary July 27 at its location off Harmon Road.
The details
Michael Vespa finished college with an engineering degree and moved to Fort Worth. He was working in Plano when he found out he was part of a downsizing decision. A father of three, Vespa called his wife, Shannon, to let her know the news.
“Shannon and the kids knew I was miserable, so they prayed for me to lose my job, and I lost my job,” he said. “Shannon was like, ‘Come home, we’ll start a business.'”
Her idea was the same as the one she had years ago—start selling his cheesecake. The business name came from the family’s cat.
Vespa said he wanted to get away from selling large cheesecakes, instead settling on a single-serve cheesecake in a glass mason jar. He said it worked out nicely because his cheesecake recipe can be frozen in the glass jar.
He said he still had his doubts early on.
“Shannon loved the cheesecake, the family loved the cheesecake, but it’s a different story when you go out there and try to sell it to somebody who doesn’t know you,” Michael Vespa said.
The answer came at a farmer's market in Grapevine, which started the day after Thanksgiving. They sold out on the first day. He went to the market manager and said they were out of cheesecake and wouldn’t be able to return the next day.
He said that moment turned Sweetie’s Cheesecakes into something sustainable, and the family could start paying bills and grow.
Digging deeper
Sweetie’s Cheesecakes attends several festivals throughout the year. Michael Vespa said the fall is the busiest season, from festivals to Ocktoberfest events to Christmas markets. He says they take anywhere from eight to 14 different cheesecake flavors to events.
Many of the festivals they have attended have sparked flavors such as mango habanero, peach moruga or chocolate reaper. There’s also been one-off flavors like lavender cheesecake at the Blanco Lavender Festival, an Irish cream cheesecake for the North Texas Irish Festival or an oatmeal caramel cheesecake for the Bertram Oatmeal Festival.
Each cheesecake is individually made and is handmade and hand-poured into the mason jars. Shannon Vespa says they touch the jar 11 times before it goes to a customer, from putting on labels to hand-spooning in berries or fruits.
The year-round menu flavors include plain, signature, chocolate, mango habanero and gluten-friendly and sugar-free plain cheesecake. There’s also seasonal flavors such as whiskey peach, peach melba, mango coconut, key lime, cantaloupe and a red, white and blue cheesecake with cherries and blueberries.
Going forward
Sweetie’s Cheesecakes location on Harmon Road is just one way to pick up orders, which also includes 10-inch cheesecakes and single-serve cheesecakes. Shannon Vespa said customers have driven from Wichita Falls, Mansfield, Weatherford and Denton to buy cheesecake.
However, road work along Harmon Road has cut the sales in the store in half, Shannon Vespa said.
“We knew that construction could hurt you, but we had no idea,” she said of the $12 million road project.
Each season, the menu changes and new flavors are added. The Vespa's children also take part in creating different flavors.
The youngest, 14-year-old Caz, is behind the S’mores flavor that will launch in August. He helps with the markets and festivals and assists his older brother on the social media work. The oldest son, also named Michael, helped inspire a ube cheesecake that is in the works.
Their daughter, Sophia, also helped with the business when it started and is behind the creation of the chocolate cheesecake.
For August, the seasonal menu will include S’mores, hibiscus, peach melba, whiskey peach and raspberry hatch. Sweetie’s Cheesecakes uses TX Whiskey in the peach cheesecake, a product offered by former Fort Worth City council member Leonard Firestone and business partner Troy Robertson.
