AJ's Cheesecakes

Bakery, Dessert shop, Cake shop in Durham, NC

Address
2504 Fayetteville St, Durham, NC, 27707
Phone
(984) 308-2510
Website
ajscheesecakes.net

About AJ's Cheesecakes

AJ’s Cheesecakes is at 2504 Fayetteville Street in Durham, trading under “Dessert Like A Boss, Dine Like Royalty.” Owner Ali Edwards makes cheesecake in two sizes — 8-inch regular and 4-inch mini — across a menu deep enough that the specialty list alone runs past twenty flavours. The classics start at $65 for an 8-inch plain, $12 for a mini: strawberry, blueberry with fresh compote, cherry, banana and pineapple. Specialties run $70–$75 for an 8-inch: strawberry crunch, caramel pecan, pecan pie, turtle, snickers, Reese’s peanut butter cup, salted caramel, taffy apple, tiramisu, sweet potato pie, and a peach cobbler cheesecake finished with warm homemade cobbler. The Ghirardelli chocolate brownie cheesecake was created by a member of staff, Rashad, and the menu says so by name. The vegan menu is a full parallel menu, not an afterthought — plain at $70/$15, the same fruit range, an Oreo, a gluten-free vegan option, a vegan cheesecake shake, and six signature vegan flavours from $75. There is also a gluten-free vegetarian crustless cheesecake. The sweet shop adds cookies at $1.50, from-scratch cakes at $7.50, chocolate and plain croissants and apple fritters. Catering is a real operation with its own 24-hour line on (919) 636-6655: 2.5-inch petites from $550 for 100, 4-inch minis to $1,300, and 8-inch rounds from $600 for ten classic flavours up to $3,650 for specialty at volume. Orders over 4-inch rounds need 48 hours. They deliver, ship most flavours nationwide, sell digital gift cards from $15, and run a youth baking class. Open Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 4pm–midnight and Saturday noon–midnight; closed Monday and Tuesday. Call for summer hours.

AJ’s Cheesecakes began with an eleven-year-old in a pantry. Ali Edwards was the youngest of her siblings when her mother fell ill and could no longer cook; she found some boxed meals and fed the family herself. The gratitude that came back from that meal started a lifelong relationship with cooking, and eventually with the one dessert she liked making least — cheesecake was slow and laborious, and she is a fast cook, but it bothered her not to be excellent at something. Her cheesecakes have since been called “The Great American Cheesecake.” She opened the shop in Durham in 2021, and made a decision that defines the business as much as the menu does: she joined the North Carolina Second Chance Alliance and hires people coming out of incarceration. In a state where more than 49% of people released from prison are arrested again, and one in four is unemployed on return, the shop is a working door back in. Salah Abdallah spent seven years as AJ’s handyman after his release and became a community organiser and reentry specialist. Edwards explains it simply: every stage of her life has been mirrored in her employees, and if somebody had opened a door for her and welcomed her in, she would have been loyal to them too. The shop pushes that outward as well. Its Local Entrepreneurs page spotlights other small businesses it has actually worked with — a New Orleans caterer, a Raleigh bakery, a vegan brand, a photographer who is also on AJ’s staff — and gives customers 10% off for using any of them. It has run winter fundraising to house Durham’s unhoused, and teaches a youth baking class. As Edwards puts it, once you’ve had a slice, you’re part of the family forever.

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