The Eli's Cheesecake Company Commemorates 25th Birthday With The Ultimate Chicago Style Celebration
Chicago - Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Chicago's own Grammy award-winning multi- platinum rock band Chicago and Marc Schulman, the big cheese of Eli's Cheesecake, Chicago's favorite dessert, are scheduled to cut a giant 2,500 lb. Eli's Cheesecake, created to celebrate the 25th birthday of The Eli's Cheesecake Company of Chicago at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 25 at the city's beautiful Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. The grand cake-cutting ceremony will be emceed by Chicago funnyman Tim Kazurinsky of Second City, Saturday Night Live and Police Academy fame. After a round of "Happy Birthday" led by Chicago, the supersized confection will be served free to the public.
Eli's Cheesecake, created by Eli Schulman as the signature dessert for his legendary Chicago restaurant, Eli's the Place for Steak, made it's public debut at the first Taste of Chicago in 1980 and has been Taste's #1 dessert ever since. What began as a local favorite, has gro! wn into one of the country's largest specialty bakeries, turning out over 18,000 rich and creamy, all-natural cheesecakes and other delicious desserts daily at Eli's Cheesecake World, the 62,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art bakery, café, retail store and visitors' center, located on Chicago's northwest side.
In a blast from the past, Eli's giant birthday cheesecake will feature original plain, chocolate chip, Hawaiian, cinnamon raisin, and cherry vanilla...the five original cheesecake flavors created by Eli Schulman in 1980. According to Eli's President, Marc Schulman, "My dad's original plain and chocolate chip cheesecakes have always been top sellers. We retired cinnamon raisin, Hawaiian and cherry vanilla, so it's been fun to re-create them and see people's reactions. We tested the retro flavors at the recent National Restaurant Show and everybody loved them...so in honor of Eli's Cheesecake's 25th birthday, we are re-introducing these fla! vors as a limited edition."
The mind-boggling grocery lis t needed to prepare Eli's 25th birthday cheesecake includes: 1,400 pounds of cream cheese, 325 pounds of sugar, 156 dozen eggs, two gallons of Madagascar vanilla, 150 pounds of Michigan cherries, 80 pounds of fresh pineapple, 75 pounds of semi-sweet mini chips, 55 pounds of golden raisins and 200 pounds of butter cream icing. In order for the cherries to be in scale with the 5' high and 6' tall birthday cheesecake, they will be handmade out of marzipan to be the size of baseballs.
For those unable to experience the "Big Cake," Eli's has created two tasty solutions. The first is to make a cheesecake at home by using the attached recipes for Cherry Vanilla, Cinnamon Raisin and Hawaiian. The other is to order one of Eli's Retro Cheesecakes online at www.elicheesecake.com. Eli's Cheesecake fans include everyone from Michael Jordan to President Clinton,! from the band Chicago to the Backstreet Boys, and from designers Dolce & Gabbana to Donna Karan. In honor of the 25th birthday, the "Retro" line is specially priced at $25/cake (9" precut into 14 generous slices), plus shipping and handling.
SOURCE: Eli's Cheesecake Factory