The Best Free Cheesecake

Two Words: Free. Cheesecake
David Glass Factory, Bloomfield
November 8, 2008 (Plus many more).

[Sad Update: Desserts by David Glass is closed. I guess the writing was sort of on the wall as you read below.]

I have no idea how far the distribution arm of David Glass extends, but for your sake, I hope it reaches you. Put it this way: I was never a huge cheesecake fan… until I had a David Glass cake. Simply put, these are perhaps the best cheesecakes available to the masses.

Consider this post a public service announcement – This is certainly one of Connecticut’s hidden treasures; something so great that no one knows about. I’ve been twice and both times only had a few people to compete for free cake with. (Not really true, they put out about 10 cakes for you to eat to your heart’s content.)

And who knew that the factory that churns these things our is right up the road from me in Bloomfield? “I believe that using high-quality natural ingredients is the only way to bake and cook,” says David Glass. “I would never use partially hydrogenated fats or oils. I taste a difference between natural and synthetically formulated products and am conscious of what I eat from a health standpoint.”

Nice. Now I don’t feel guilty about serving it to my son for lunch. Or breakfast when he was home sick a few weeks ago. Or for dessert last night at dinner.

What’s more, “Since we use a minimal amount of machinery, our desserts are very close to handmade. In fact, every machine that we have purchased over the years has resulted in an improvement in the quality of our cakes.

We donate a portion of our profits to local, national, and international charities as well as to our employees and their families for educational advancement.”

That’s cool… The variety of cakes by David Glass is expansive, but it appears that the chocolate truffle cake earns the ravest of reviews. You can read a bunch of them here, but the best one has to be from then President-Elect Bill Clinton: “Thank you for the delicious desserts made by David. It is a very thoughtful gift and I want to take a moment to let you know how much it means to me. As you know, I am busy working on the transition and preparing to assume the responsibility of governing this great country. Thank you for your continued support.”

Weird.

Also weird is that when we were there tasting his cakes on a Saturday late morning, Mr. Glass himself appeared and said hello. We had no idea who he was at the time, but now that I’ve seen his picture on his site, it was indeed him.

It must be said that David Glass does have some issues – namely, financial. Even though his company earned about $1.5 million in revenue last year, and he sells his cakes from $10-$50, he’s looking for “loans” from loyal fans. I’m sorry, this is just lame.

My favorite: “The Ultimate Cranberry Streusel Cheesecake”

As long as he doesn’t stop giving away all the free cake you can eat every Friday and Saturday, I don’t care how much he begs. The factory is tucked away in an industrial section of Bloomfield off of Blue Hills Avenue that you’d never know existed if you weren’t looking for it.

It’s worth the search, trust me. (And afterwards, I’d highly recommend driving 8 minutes to the Thomas Hooker Brewery for more deliciousness. We did.

Desserts by David Glass