House of Cakes - Old School Bakery [Get the Cheese Sticks!]

LTH,

Old School bakery with Italian leanings House of Cakes is right at the tip-top of Chicago proper, just before the city falls off the edge into the suburbs.



Before I get too far I should point out my wife turned me on the HoC she loves, and I do mean loves, the Cheese Sticks. Crisp flaky crunchy crust, slightly sweet filling, I'm guessing it is the same filling used for cannoli, lightly dusted with powdered sugar. I ate one in the car and immediately went back in the shop and bought more. Brought them to a friends house and had an email asking where I bought them before I got home.

My picture does not do the Cheese Sticks justice.

House of Cakes Cheese Stick



Bakery style pizza, olive oil heavy slightly doughy crust, I like this style, but its not for everyone. Enjoyed the small round artichoke pizza, which was consumed room temp a few hours after purchase.



House of Cakes Artichoke Pizza



Donuts, coffee cakes, cookies etc all available. Get the Cheese Sticks!



Italian bread a bit bland, what RevrendAndy calls white bread with good crust, toasted it made a decent foil for nudja with pickled red onions.





House of Cakes cheese sticks are worth a trek to the far reaches of the city, pick up a pizza, maybe a donut or two, but oh those Cheese Sticks

Enjoy,
Gary

House of Cakes
6189 N Canfield Rd
Chicago, IL 60631
773-774-0440

I was at Tenuta's in Kenosha the other day and they also were selling cheese sticks in two flavors; cinnamon and raspberry. I got a couple to snack on for the ride home and they were great. What's going on here? Are cheese sticks the new cupcake?

I could have sworn I posted about House of Cakes cheese sticks. Must be another post that got stuck in my brain. I was at my hair salon a couple of months ago and was looking for ideas of something to take to a party. My stylist raved about HofC's cheese sticks. Another customer chimed in and off I went to the northwest side. They did not disappoint me or the party guests. House of Cake's was doing a booming business that day with a steady line of customers picking up pre-ordered cakes and walk-ins like me. I made the mistake of not seeing the "get a number" machine so I got to enjoy the ambience a little longer. Not only were the cheese sticks great, but I loved that House of Cakes gives teenagers a place to work. I saw only one person who looked older than 18 behind the counter.

Gary,

Those cheese sticks are truly fantastic - perfectly crisp, flaky and with a wonderful and not too sweet cheese filling. I try to stay away from them a bit because I'm certain they're not too good for my health and I have a bad habit of eating them as if they're pretzel rods . . . one after the other, unable to resist. I think the filling is more of the typical sweetened cheese filling found in coffeecakes, and thicker than you might find in a cannoli (I also suspect an absence of ricotta and citrus, but I'm not positive).

I have not yet tried their pizza, however. But it always looks so good and I need to try it one of these days. It's about time someone devoted a post to HOC's cheese sticks.

Oh House of Cakes pizza...how I long for thee. It has been a few years since I have had a HoC pizza at room temp. I believe I will have to course correct my errand route today to allow for a stop at HoC to pick up tonights dinner.

stevez wrote:What's going on here? Are cheese sticks the new cupcake?

One can only hope!

These remind me of something we called "cheese flakies" from a downtown bakery long gone. Maybe it was on Madison. During the busy accounting closes downtown we were always sure to send a staff accountant over to get some. Anybody remember those?

So... how are the cakes? I have birthday season comin' up here, c'mon!

Mike G wrote:So... how are the cakes? I have birthday season comin' up here, c'mon!

Stick with the cheese sticks...which has been a pastry staple of ours for years. I actually did a short stint cleaning pans and floors here exactly 40 years ago, for a prior owner, who had a substantial airline food service business and no cheese sticks.

What T Comp said. Extended family members get cakes here for special occasions. Highly meh. Believe their cannoli were reviewed during the cannoli-off. Also meh.

Pizza bread? Meh.

Not to doubt our fearless leader on the quality of the cheese sticks . . . .

Giovanna

G Wiv wrote:Before I get too far I should point out my wife turned me on the HoC she loves, and I do mean loves, the Cheese Sticks. Crisp flaky crunchy crust, slightly sweet filling, I'm guessing it is the same filling used for cannoli, lightly dusted with powdered sugar. I ate one in the car and immediately went back in the shop and bought more. Brought them to a friends house and had an email asking where I bought them before I got home.

Being the friend in question, it was wonderful to receive a delivery of goodies while being laid up. The cheese sticks were indeed delicious -- light, crispy, rich and not overly sweet -- and everyone who tried the box Gary brought by said as much. My one concern with them is the fact even today, days after Gary brought them by, they are still very crispy, which suggests to me that they are made with something other than whole butter. And I could be wrong about this but my experience is that whole butter pastry does not hold up so well after several days. This may or may not bode well as it pertains to their other confections.

I thought the artichoke pizza bread was good. Otoh, the white bread was just ok. Gary brought over some nduja (from Chris Cosentino's Boccalone) and homemade pickled red onions, which I felt both far outshined the bread. It just wasn't a worthy base for the superior level of these toppings. Still, I really appreciated the care package and company, both of which brightened my day immensely.

=R=

Resurrecting the dead (topics). Headed home from the West suburbs over the weekend and decided to visit House of Cakes after a long break. Line had formed outside (only 5 customers inside at a time). Cheese sticks still hitting it out of the park and took a half sheet pizza for afternoon snacking (reminded me of my youth). Nice to see that some things don't change.

spinynorman99 wrote:Resurrecting the dead (topics). Headed home from the West suburbs over the weekend and decided to visit House of Cakes after a long break. Line had formed outside (only 5 customers inside at a time). Cheese sticks still hitting it out of the park and took a half sheet pizza for afternoon snacking (reminded me of my youth). Nice to see that some things don't change.

Now I want cheese sticks.

Open at 7AM tomorrow.

Rick T. wrote:These remind me of something we called "cheese flakies" from a downtown bakery long gone. Maybe it was on Madison. During the busy accounting closes downtown we were always sure to send a staff accountant over to get some. Anybody remember those?

I'm 10 years too late, but pretty sure it was Davidson's. Also home to the best banana cake ever made. Banana cake/banana buttercream and covered in chocolate sprinkles.

spinynorman99 wrote:Resurrecting the dead (topics). Headed home from the West suburbs over the weekend and decided to visit House of Cakes after a long break. Line had formed outside (only 5 customers inside at a time). Cheese sticks still hitting it out of the park and took a half sheet pizza for afternoon snacking (reminded me of my youth). Nice to see that some things don't change.

Thank you b/c I never heard of this thread or HoC until now!

It looks glorious.

pairs4life wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:Resurrecting the dead (topics). Headed home from the West suburbs over the weekend and decided to visit House of Cakes after a long break. Line had formed outside (only 5 customers inside at a time). Cheese sticks still hitting it out of the park and took a half sheet pizza for afternoon snacking (reminded me of my youth). Nice to see that some things don't change.

Thank you b/c I never heard of this thread or HoC until now!

It looks glorious.

The cheesesticks contain gelatin. That was a deal-breaker for a strict vegetarian I work with.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:The cheesesticks contain gelatin. That was a deal-breaker for a strict vegetarian I work with.

Did you check what type gelatin they used? (Probably, but just making sure)

Also, HoC is still deep in my rotation, cheese sticks, glorious cheese sticks for sure. Chocolate donuts, bread, all manner of baked goods. HoC is tip-top in my opinion.

HoC, count me a Fan!

G Wiv wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:The cheesesticks contain gelatin. That was a deal-breaker for a strict vegetarian I work with.

Did you check what type gelatin they used? (Probably, but just making sure)

I did not but I called HoC before I posted and during a very pleasant conversation, the person with whom I spoke told me that the gelatin is often a problem for vegetarians.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

pairs4life wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:Resurrecting the dead (topics). Headed home from the West suburbs over the weekend and decided to visit House of Cakes after a long break. Line had formed outside (only 5 customers inside at a time). Cheese sticks still hitting it out of the park and took a half sheet pizza for afternoon snacking (reminded me of my youth). Nice to see that some things don't change.

Thank you b/c I never heard of this thread or HoC until now!

It looks glorious.

The cheesesticks contain gelatin. That was a deal-breaker for a strict vegetarian I work with.

=R=

Thank you for the head's up.

Mom requested glazed, raised donuts and cheese danishes as part of a care package I was assembling for her. I had some time to kill so decided to swing by House of Cakes on my way to Naperville. I was excited to see that donuts and cheese sticks were 99 cents each. That quickly changed to dismay when I learned the donuts had sold out much earlier. I ended up getting cheese sticks, brownies and a couple of kolacky. She loved the cheese sticks. I inhaled the kolacky on the drive. The brownies are dessert for today. House of Cakes staff were as friendly as always. Masks worn by staff and patrons. I wish they capped the number of people in the store though. I'm pretty sure the current capacity limits were exceeded.

Donuts were obtained from Joe Donut on Milwaukee Ave and Harts Rd. Mom reported the glazed donuts were flavorless. We were unimpressed by the old fashioned donuts.

The GP wrote:so decided to swing by House of Cakes on my way to Naperville.

Was at House of Cakes today myself. Cheese sticks, slice of grandma pizza and Kaiser rolls. I dig their Kaiser rolls for sandwiches, Cheese sticks are were always terrific and the slice makes for a quick car lunch.

Always friendly, masked and cash only. There was a slightly off-center older fellow in front of me, he had no cash, kept repeating "his wife shops there all the time" They ended up giving him a few free items just, at least it seemed to me, to get him politely out of the shop. He was not rude or angry, just insanely repetitive.

Far as Joe Donut, I went a few times when they opened, liked the pistachio raised glazed. They seem to have taken a short downhill slide. In the general neighborhood Allegretti's Bakery has wonderful chocolate donuts and Somethin' Sweet Donuts rock.

House of Cakes, count me a Fan!

G Wiv wrote: ...
Far as Joe Donut, I went a few times when they opened, liked the pistachio raised glazed. They seem to have taken a short downhill slide. In the general neighborhood Allegretti's Bakery has wonderful chocolate donuts and Somethin' Sweet Donuts rock.

I thought about going to Somethin' Sweet, but both locations were out of my acceptable route path. I really was hoping that a place named Joe Donut would live up to its name. I wasn't comfortable that there were diners inside the restaurant. Couldn't get out of there fast enough. I'll file Allegretti's in my mental database for next time.