Jill Nichols / Owner, John & Jill’s Cheesecake, Novato, California

Cheesecake is serious business at John & Jill’s Cheesecake in Novato, California, where a team of 20 produces as many as 3,000 cheesecakes a day in nearly 50 flavors and 12 sizes for U.S. and Asian markets. Even with that output, John & Jill’s Cheesecake provides personal service with a retail bakery including a seconds freezer that’s popular among locals.

John & Jill’s Cheesecake has been making premium cheesecakes from the freshest ingredients since 1994, when the brother and sister team decided to combine their baking experience. Jill Nichol said she and her brother, John Harris, worked for the same bakery in high school as sales manager, production manager and general manager at different times so it seemed logical to start their own bakery.

John & Jill’s Cheesecake uses The Perfect Purée Red Raspberry Puree in its bestselling White Chocolate Raspberry and Raspberry Swirl cheesecakes as well as Orange Zest in the seasonal Cranberry Cheesecake and the New York Tall, an impressive five-and-three-quarters pound cheesecake with 16 slices.

Jill appreciates the local connection of working with a company in her Northern California backyard (Napa and Novato are 30 miles apart). The Perfect Purée’s all-natural ingredients ensure the flavor of just-picked raspberries swirled into the batter.
“It really does have the most flavor of the concentrated amount that we have to use and it works perfectly in our formulas,” Jill says.

At John & Jill’s Cheesecake, the classic New York Cheesecake is just the starting point for a range of nearly 50 flavors that are consistently rich and creamy yet not too dense and sweet. John and Jill’s cheesecakes are a favorite at specialty markets in Northern California and nationwide at wholesalers including cheesecake.com. They’re also popular in Asian markets throughout California and across the Pacific where customers prefer the less-sweet flavors of yuzu, green tea, black sesame and ubu (purple yam).
Jill says the classic flavors are perennial bestsellers, especially in America, but she’s continually exploring new varieties and plans to try The Perfect Purée Banana Puree, Pear Puree, White Peach Puree for a client request, and Red Jalapeño Puree, one of The Perfect Purée’s newest flavors.