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March 3, 2025
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Dylan Schulfer said it all started when he wanted to impress and surprise his then-girlfriend, Jayda, with something special when she returned from vacation.
Deciding to challenge himself with this surprise and push himself to take on something difficult and unexpected, he said he settled on making Jayda a cheesecake.
“I spent quite a few hours watching videos and looking up recipes,” Dylan said. “One of the negative things I see on cheesecake reviews is people don’t like that they can be very dense or way too sweet. So I experimented with a few different recipes that made it more light, fluffy and creamy and not so sweet. Then I took a few recipes and mixed it all together into my own recipe or creation.”
When Jayda returned and Dylan gave her the cheesecake, she said she admitted to the baker-to-be that she didn’t like cheesecake in general, but she ate it to be polite.
“It was actually the best thing I’d ever had,” Jayda said. “Now, eight years later, we’ve been married for a couple of years, and we have our own cheesecake business. So, he did pretty well.”
Taking sweet steps
For the next four years or so after that date, the Schulfers said they started making cheesecakes for family and friends, all who encouraged them to do something professionally with their cakes.
However, they said it would take a meeting with “someone who knew someone” to turn their hobby into a serious business and this blossoming dream into reality.
“We have a family friend who is (a businessman), and I made my dad a cheesecake and he was eating it when this family friend happened to be there,” Jayda said. “My dad gave him a slice to try, and he said how good it was and wanted to know who made it. When he was told Dylan and I made it, he said he wanted to meet with us.”
Upon meeting, the couple said one of the first questions the family friend asked was whether they were seriously interested in starting a real business – which they said they definitely were.
The Schulfers said the family friend then arranged for them to meet with one of his friends, who owns Hotel Meade.
Next, the pair said the two sides got together, had a discussion and ultimately reached an agreement – which allowed the duo to use the hotel’s kitchen and equipment whenever it wasn’t being used by the hotel.
Soon after that meeting, the Schulfers said The Cheesecake Slice – originally called The Slice, until they decided to pick a more specific name – officially started.
“It took a couple of weeks or so to make sure all our paperwork was in order and for the health department to approve the kitchen and so on,” Dylan said. “By the day we were planning to open, everything was set to go, and we were able to open without a hitch. We formed our LLC and started using Hotel Meade’s kitchen in November (2024).”
On a side note, the couple said the day after they met with the hotel owner, they brought slices of cheesecake to him and each of his staff.
“They all loved them, so that was very exciting for us, too,” Jayda said. “Since day one, everyone at Hotel Meade has been very warm, welcoming and happy to be renting out their kitchen to us. It’s been a great experience so far. They’ve done so much for us already, going beyond just renting out kitchen space to us. They know this is our first time being entrepreneurs, and they’ve given us tips on how to run your own business and that kind of thing. They’ve been really helpful.”
The Schulfers said they bake at the hotel, then make deliveries to customers within a 20- to 30-mile radius, or make arrangements for customers to pick up their orders in some other way.
Continually experimenting
In the three short months The Cheesecake Slice has been open, the Schulfers said they have not only tweaked and perfected Dylan’s original recipe that helped win Jayda’s heart, but they’ve focused on the ingredients for all of their cheesecakes.
“Since we decided we wanted to make this dream a reality, we really focused on the ingredients and the portions of the ingredients, and fine-tuned everything down to a science, pretty much,” Dylan said. “We still experiment with different flavors, and we get probably 20 different suggestions a week with different flavors people want us to try. We have to tweak things a little bit for each flavor, but for the main recipe of our cake, it’s definitely our own creation.”
Right after the holidays, the couple said they rolled out a new menu.
After starting with 20 cheesecake flavors, they said The Cheesecake Slice now offers up to 26, with more to come.
The couple said pistachio was one flavor they added almost immediately after opening, because it was so popular.
Other popular flavors, Jayda said, are cherry, turtle, cookies and cream, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and pumpkin.
“People have requested Cookie Monster, so we’ve done that for someone, but it’s not on our (regular) menu,” she said. “There have been a few other special requests that we’ve done for people, but they’re not on the (regular) menu. We’re always getting new requests and depending on the request, we like to experiment. We’ve done several new flavors this year already and will be adding new flavors as we go.”
A couple of other ongoing experiments, the Schulfers said, are gluten-free and keto-friendly cheesecake options.
“We’ve found ways to make keto-friendly cheesecakes, but the flavors are much more limited,” Dylan said. “They’re also not on our (regular) menu yet, because we want to make sure we perfect them first and that they are what we say they are. But they will be coming to the menu, eventually.”
He also said customers with any food allergies should make these known when placing an order, especially those allergic to nuts or cinnamon.
“We do use those two ingredients in our cheesecakes, so people should definitely tell us about any food allergies they have,” Dylan said. “We’ve both worked in the food industry for a decade, so we understand food allergens and that is a very big, important part of our baking process.”
Started under the Golden Arches
That decade in the food industry, Dylan said, hearkens back to when both he and Jayda were working for McDonald’s – which is where they first met and began their courtship.
He said they were initially crew members at the same McDonald’s store, but eventually were each promoted to general managers of different stores.
Jayda said she worked for McDonald’s for 10 years before leaving to start a banking career about 18 months ago, while Dylan remains a GM for McDonald’s in Wisconsin Rapids.
“Because we both still work full-time jobs and bake in our free time, it’s been a little hard trying to get our feet on the ground with the business,” Jayda said, adding that they’re still figuring out the best ways to manage their time.
Dylan said meeting the demands of The Cheesecake Slice and “keeping all the balls in the air” are important to them, mainly because owning their own business is something they’d wanted for so long.
“We’ve both worked for somebody else, and we’ve both done management positions,” Dylan said. “We’re grateful for those positions, but the idea of being the one to start something new and build it into something special, to share between the two of us, makes it even better and more special for us.”
Jayda said she also finds the venture continuously encouraging.
“Hearing such positive feedback, and seeing how happy so many people are to get one of our cheesecakes makes us feel equally as happy,” Jayda said. “It’s rewarding to see and hear the responses. It makes us happy to make others happy.”
The Schulfers said they split work for The Cheesecake Slice 50/50 and do everything for the business together.
They said their biggest test so far was this past holiday season, as together they handled dozens of orders.
“It was crazy, but we feel blessed to have gotten those orders,” Dylan said. “While the holidays were super busy, it had even started the very first week we were open in November, when we made 30 cakes right off the bat. The most we’d ever done in a week before that was maybe six. The orders were flying in as soon as we posted on Facebook that we were open. The hotel was so helpful in working with us, so we could come in at different times to get all the cakes finished.”
To better ensure a successful operation, the Schulfers said they ask customers to place special orders at least a week in advance.
“We try to bake a few extra cakes each week in case somebody needs one, but we had a lot of people right before the holidays, even the night before, who wanted cakes but, unfortunately, we didn’t have them,” Dylan said. “If they had just reached out a week earlier, we would’ve gladly been able to help them.”
Partnering with others in the community
The Cheesecake Slice’s Facebook page, Jayda said, is generating the most business for them, but said they’ve also done some events with Hotel Meade, including making some cheesecakes for the hotel’s New Year’s Eve event.
That type of partnership with the hotel is something the Schulfers said they’d like to become more prevalent.
In addition to aspiring to provide specialized cakes for the hotel’s events and its restaurant – The Whitney – the couple said they’re seeking more opportunities for weddings, graduation parties, retirement parties, company parties and other corporate events.
Our House + their cheesecake
Jayda said they’re also hoping to partner with other local businesses.
For example, she said for Valentine’s Day, The Cheesecake Slice partnered with Our House Senior Living – Wisconsin Rapids Memory Care, for an “Adopt-a-Grandparent For Valentine’s Day” promotion.
For a $5 donation, people could “adopt” an Our House resident whether they know the person or not, and that resident got his or her very own slice of specialty cheesecake.
It was a great way to surprise the residents, Jayda said, and to support a local small business at the same time.
Realistic, but reaching for the stars
Jayda said with The Cheesecake Slice, she and Dylan have a healthy mix of down-to-earth expectations and high hopes.
“We’d like to have our own storefront someday – that’s the biggest dream,” Jayda said. “And obviously, we want to grow our customer base.”
Dylan said he also has designs on an expanded menu.
“Once we have our own store, we’d like to maybe add a couple of other pastry-type items or breads and add coffee so we could have a nice little coffee house and bakery,” he said.
Should their position one day enable it, the couple said someday they would like to offer small scholarships to students or others who want to go into business for themselves.
“Every small business wishes they would have had help or someone who pointed them in the right direction and made things a little easier,” Dylan said. “That’s something we would love to be able to do, at some point, for young entrepreneurs. (Growing) our business would help us get to the point where we can help others.”
The Schulfers said they anticipate an independent website for The Cheesecake Slice, but for now, its Facebook page is where customers can place orders and/or keep up with new flavors and information.
All in all, the baking duo said they have to feel pretty good for a couple whose early courtship days started their cheesecake business and new adventure.
