The Cheesecake Republic’s constitution is smeared with raspberry compote and littered with biscuit crumbs, but nobody minds because its fundamental principles are sweet indeed. A new home baking venture that delivers cold and baked cheesecakes, this “Republic” is governed by textile designer-turned-baker Aishwarya Jalan and marketed by her art director sibling Shruti, who both “solemnly swear to encourage the consumption of cheesecake and spread its awesomeness”. Are you applying for citizenship?

The menu here comprises mostly cold cheesecakes and a smaller section of baked ones that promises to get padded up soon. On foundations of biscuits, Aishwarya builds creamy cakes with cheese and chocolate and brownies, embellished with glistening fruit and crispy praline. Earlier this week, we ordered one raspberry cheesecake and a Devil’s Indulgence, which came from their busy at-home workshop that’s already baking close to ten cakes a day.

Are you Dense?

The cakes arrived in adorable Cheesecake Republic boxes, a simple but impressive branding exercise that most home bakers tend to ignore. The logo and artwork is where Shruti steps in, a graphic designer who quit her full time job at Grey Worldwide about five months ago.

We were advised to pop both the cheesecakes in the freezer and transfer it to the refrigerator thirty minutes prior to binge time. The result? Dense, cold (but not icy) bites perfect for a balmy Bombay night. The raspberry was predictably pretty and tasty too, but the fruit didn’t feel as "farm fresh" as promised. The Devil’s Indulgence is topped with delicious swirls of golden caramel but still manages to feel light enough for guilt-free seconds. Other flavours include hazelnut, strawberry-chocolate, Oreo-mint, coffee-cinnamon, baked lemon and more. The Cheesecake Republic claims to work with natural and organic ingredients, sourcing its fruit straight from the farms. If you’re having a party, they’ll even do cheesecake in shot glasses, but you’ll have to order a minimum of twenty five.

Love Handles

Even as we dissect their menu, Shruti and Aishwarya are already working on adding to the population at Cheesecake Republic. In their Goregaon home kitchen they experiment with flavors and conduct regular test tastes on those who live in their apartment building. To think that all we get from our neighbours is a plain hello. And often, this contains no sugar.

The drawback of ordering from Cheesecake Republic is that they only deliver from Malad to Bandra (with a hundred rupee charge), but are working on reaching South Bombay in phase two. If you don't want to wait around, you can just choose to do a cheesecake run to Goregaon and back, God knows you can do with the exercise. Yes, we’re talking to you, chunky monkey.

Getting there: Cheesecake Republic, call 9820401012 / 9820302204 or view the Facebook page here, place your order 24 hours in advance, home delivery from Malad to Bandra or pick up from Goregaon (W), Rs 500 for half a kg cake.

bpb pays for its own dessert orders.