“The cheesecakes made by the Nuns of New Skete are, dare we say, divine? They give new meaning to the term heavenly.” So read the opening to a recent article in Life@Home magazine regarding our cheesecakes. We were founded in 1969 and initially earned income to maintain our way of life by making church vestments and religious icons. When Sr. Magdalene (a wonderful baker) joined us, we expanded our work to include cheesecake production. In 1975, we fine-tuned the original recipe that became the cornerstone for New Skete Kitchens. With capital raised from the sale of the cheesecakes, we upgraded our equipment, and in 1983 built the streamlined bakery of today. The high-ceilinged room was designed by an architect with green-energy efficiency in mind. The bakery has a spacious, open feeling and is comfortable in size, temperature and noise levels. 

 The cookie crumb crust is spread in the pans via an apparatus we call The Crumber which was adapted for us by an engineer and works much like a potter’s wheel. The batter is poured into the depositor, which dispenses the batter into the now-crusted baking pans and balanced to a pre-determined weight. The cakes are baked in a revolving five-shelf oven that holds over one hundred cakes each baking round. There is enough time between morning and evening prayer services for the cakes to cool and to be unmolded for cutting the next day. A slicing machine places dividers between each of the sixteen slices of the frozen cake. Cakes are then sealed and boxed ready for sale or shipment.

We do retail and wholesale distribution, as well as working with local schools, churches, and other NFP groups in their fund-raising.