The Great Macon Baking Week: The Rookery’s Christmas Tree Cheesecake

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Macon businesses are vying for the top spot in the inaugural Great Macon Baking Competition, and some are stirring up a batch of nostalgia with their unique entries.

41NBC’s Drake Rozelle visited The Rookery, located on Cherry Street since 1976, and got a taste of the past.

The Rookery, which has played witness to historical moments from Jimmy Carter’s presidency to the chart-topping hits of Macon’s own Capricorn Studios, offers a sense of nostalgia on its own.

“I wanted to go off of nostalgia,” Rookery baker Amber Palfy said. “I didn’t want it to taste like the modern Christmas Trees that you buy in the store.”

Their entry, the Christmas Tree Cheesecake, is designed to look and taste like a Little Debbie treat.

“I wanted it to taste like a memory,” she said. “So when I was developing it, I just kind of tried to recapture the memories I had of eating them when I was younger, and the Rookery is a very nostalgic place to begin with, so I felt that it was a very good fit.”

The creation consists of a New York cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, buttercream in the middle, an Italian sponge cake that emulates the texture of a Debbie Cake and a wrapping of white chocolate icing.

As a fellow Debbie Cakes aficionado, Rozelle tasted the cheesecake alongside a special guest, Ava Palfy, Amber Palfy’s daughter.

“I think it was delicious!” Ava said. “I would have to agree,” Rozelle added. “She wasn’t kidding when she said it tasted just like a Christmas Tree Debbie Cake. That’s crazy, but it’s like way creamier. It’s really nice on the tongue. It’s not overly sweet, and it has that icing crunch that you would expect from a Debbie Cake, which is really cool.”

The Christmas Tree Cheesecake, originally made for the holiday season, is back by popular demand at The Rookery for not just the competition, but also for “Christmas in July.”