IVINS — Turns out you really can have your cake and eat it, too.
preps cheesecakes at her business in Ivins, Utah, Aug. 7, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
At Se’ Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes, they’re serving up indulgent flavors like pina colada, matcha tea and passion fruit. Just one bite of their new spin on old favorites like raspberry swirl, key lime, or New York cheesecake will likely have cheesecake fans pausing to close their eyes, take a deep breath and say, “Mmmm.”
“I feel like it’s a part of my parents and their legacy and it’s a complete honor to get to do this — something that my mother always loved doing,” Se’ Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes owner Candice Fowler said.
The new Se’ Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes booth can be seen at the Downtown Farmers Market in St. George, but Fowler said the name and original family business began in 1995 when she was 13 years old.
It was this year that her parents quit their jobs and put everything they had into starting their own cheesecake business. They purchased a hole-in-the-wall shop off Sunset Boulevard, and her father traveled from Mesquite to Cedar City, pitching Se’ Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes to every restaurant owner who would taste and listen.
At one point, Se’ Cheese Gourmet Cheescakes were seen inside Pasta and Pizza Factory, a top-end Italian restaurant, a pub off Bluff Street and more. They found themselves so busy that Fowler and her five siblings began seeing their parents less and less.
“They had to make a choice,” Fowler said. “And they chose us. So just two and a half years in, they stopped and quit.”
After begging her mother for the legendary cheesecake recipes for years, Fowler said her mother finally caved. Taking the original recipe and spending years tweaking it to make it her own, she gave her cheesecakes to friends and donated to local fundraisers.
After spending years in Idaho, Fowler and her husband moved their family back to St. George in 2020. As a previous hairdresser and a full-time stay-at-home mom of six children, Fowler said she was ready to get back into the workforce.
She first partnered with her sister and sister-in-law on a catering business before deciding it was finally time to take her own business full-time.
After 25 years of dormancy, Se’ Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes was re-opened and Fowler set off to pursue her love for baking and memorialize her parent’s hard work.
“I want this to be their legacy,” Fowler said about Se’ Cheese Cheesecakes. “My parents have a crazy, crazy, story. And it’s a part of them. And for me, it’s an honor to carry that on because they won’t always be here.”
With both traditional cheesecake flavors and unique flavors you won’t find anywhere else, she said what actually sets her cheesecakes apart is their simplicity.
“My focus is tasting the cream cheese and simplifying it,” she said. “To me, less is more.”
Ready to taste the flavors of fall? Get your fill of pumpkin spice or bite into a Christmas delight with seasonal flavors that include eggnog, candy cane, pumpkin swirl and apple caramel crumble — a caramel apple crumble cheesecake with slices of apples soaked in cinnamon.
Fowler said she loves coming up with new flavors. And it’s the challenge of creating these flavors that drives her, along with witnessing others’ reactions after taking that first bite.
Fowler runs Se’ Cheese Cheesecakes out of a basement in a home next to Troy’s Custom Auto Body and Paint in Ivins – a commercial kitchen that is zoned for commercial resale.
As for future plans, she said she would love to open a small gourmet cheesecake cafe with gourmet coffee and sodas. For now, she’s enjoying watching the business grow and expanding its flavors.
Her husband Quinn Fowler said watching his wife build her business has been nothing short of special.
“The happiness and the joy that it brings her — putting this whole business together — there’s so much excitement with that,” he said. “She loves baking. She loves creating. She loves seeing people try it for the first time. It’s fun to watch her grow and do something that she loves.”
For more information on Se’ Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes and to place an order, follow them on Instagram or text Candice Fowler at 801-613-1335.
Photo Gallery
Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes offers flavors from plain to extravagant, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A cheesecake by Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes sits on a table, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A variety of Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes sit on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A vanilla bean New York cheesecake by Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes is seen at a wedding, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake by Se' Cheese Cheesecakes sits on a kitchen island in Ivins, Utah, Aug. 7, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes are pictured, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A Key Lime Cheesecake by Se' Cheese Cheesecakes sits on a kitchen island in Ivins, Utah, Aug. 7, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
A variety of Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes sit on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A variety of Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes sit on a counter, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A variety of Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes are laid out on display, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A Tiramisu Cheesecake by Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes sits on a kitchen island in Ivins, Utah, Aug. 7, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
A Key Lime Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecake sits in a box ready-to-go, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
A Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecake sits on display, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Candice Fowler, St. George News
Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes owner Candice Fowler preps cheesecakes at her business in Ivins, Utah, Aug. 7, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Quinn and Candice Fowler take a photo inside Se' Cheese Gourmet Cheesecakes in Ivins, Utah, Aug. 7, 2023 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
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