Beloved Cheesecakes in Silverton just needed a kick to get started
Love is practically in the air at Silverton’s new gourmet cheesecake shop downtown. It’s in the name, on the walls, and probably mixed into the handcrafted desserts at the counter.
It’s definitely in the $27,633 donated online by the friends, family and supporters of owner Jen Jacobson, whose new shop – Beloved Cheesecakes – is her way of supporting her family and loving her community.
“It’s amazing how many people believe in me – and cheesecake,” she said.
Jacobson, 42, is the mom of three boys, a survivor of domestic abuse, and a new college graduate. With a 2018 Portland State University diploma in-hand, she expected to be working a parole and probation or counseling job by now.
But it’s her side business, baking cheesecakes, that grew into the career she never saw coming. Now she hopes to blend her social services training into her interactions with customers and employees, because “everyone deserves to be loved,” she said.
She must’ve already been loving others well, for they came from all corners of the country to support her new business in an online fundraising campaign on the website Kickstarter. Online “backers” – 196 of them – logged on and donated. Even her first friend in kindergarten, who lives in the Midwest now, contributed.
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'I feel like I’m in a dream'
Primarily, she was requesting financial help to build a kitchen into the shop space she’s renting at 205 Oak St., Suite B., which was most recently home to Klecker Knives.
As money started coming in online, three-dozen friends volunteered alongside Jacobson, contractors agreed to take payment after the fundraising campaign ended, and Beloved Cheesecakes took shape.
“I’m still trying to process all the support,” she said. “It’s surreal. I feel like I’m in a dream.”
In her airy little shop, personal touches are everywhere. Visitors find antique cake stands at the counter, sparkles in the silver paint on the walls and inspirational quotes throughout. On the cake cooler is this one: “Women are angels. When someone breaks our wings, we continue to fly.”
It’s a one-sentence summary of Jacobson’s life. Born in Oregon City, she grew up with a drug-addicted father who died when she was only 14. After that, she lived with her mom in Oak Harbor, Wash. At 19, she moved to the Clackamas area, landing in Molalla when she got married.
The next chapter in her life was even more difficult, she said. Her husband was abusive, and, a decade after they moved to Silverton, she was getting a divorce and negotiating the legal system to protect herself and her three boys.
She made her first local cheesecake – blackberry – for the staff at her boys’ school and, from there, word spread. In three-and-a-half years, she’s made and sold more than 400 cheesecakes. Last Saturday, at the SACA auction, one of her specialty cakes sold for $850. She’s delivered as far north as Vancouver, Wash., and as far south as Albany.
Taking her business to the next level by opening a shop has been exciting and terrifying, she said.
“I don't want to live with regrets,” she wrote on Kickstarter. “I’ve realized that I can integrate my social work practice within my cheesecake business. My dreams are to grow and expand to where I can hire individuals with barriers or need a hand up.”
Beloved Cheesecakes’ grand opening was Aug. 2, and, now it will be open Wednesday through Saturday each week. On the menu, a single slice costs $6.95 to $8, and customers can also buy, tea, coffee and whole cakes to go.