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Heart of Our City: Russel Adams is the Cheesecake Fairy

Russel Adams supports fundraisers by sharing his experimental cheesecakes with Prince Rupert

By day, he’s the office manager for the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society in the Nisga’a Hall, but by night Russel Adams transforms into the Cheesecake Fairy.

At least two or three times a week, Adams dons his blue Cookie Monster apron and mixes up sweet, inventive creations — only to give them away for charity fundraisers, loonie auctions or to friends and family.

It all started in 2010, when Adams was between school and a job and had a lot of time on his hands.

“One of the things I used to do was just watch the Food Network. I enjoyed watching that process of creating. Once I did come into some money, I started kicking around the idea of cheesecakes,” Adams said. “I just started experimenting.”

Soon Adams wanted feedback for his cheesecakes, which come full-sized or in mini form, and started giving them away to family and friends so he could perfect his new craft.

“It’s something that I really want to pursue professionally somewhere down the road, to get some formal training. Initially it was just me baking and doing draws with my friends on social media and Facebook, just to get feedback from them to see what works and what didn’t.”

About three years ago, a friend asked Adams to donate to a bake sale for CityWest’s Relay for Life team. Since then, his desserts have also made appearances at fundraisers for kids’ extra curricular activities, loonie auctions and family fun events hosted by members of the Nisga’a Society. Recently, one of his creations — a brownie with a cheesecake on top and a chocolate ganache — raised $165 at the Diamonds and Lace Gala during the Prince Rupert Skating Club’s loonie auction.

“I just love baking,” Adams said with a smile. “If I donate something, it’s cool to hear that a lot of people wanted to put their name in for that.”

When he’s not in the kitchen, Adams is often walking his dog Cooper, a very vocal corgi-cross.

“We do like five kilometres, and in that time I’m thinking of different ideas for different cheesecakes. So if you see me walking my dog and I have a blank look on my face, I’m in the zone thinking of different flavour combinations,” he said.

“There’s that kind of Zen place with it. In the kitchen itself, even doing the dishes afterward, it’s very calming. I’m getting goosebumps. I really enjoy the whole process of baking too, even if it doesn’t turn out as I think it would in my head.”

READ MORE: Heart of Our City — Friends, Facebook and fundraising

The Cheesecake Fairy Facebook page isn’t Adams’s only brainchild. The life-long Rupertite has a knack for social media. Besides running the Cheesecake Fairy page and the Gitmaxmak’ay Nisga’a Society page for work, Adams also created the Prince Rupert Pride page. He noticed there wasn’t a way for LGBT people in Prince Rupert to connect.

“I created something initially with the intent to have a social, like a meet and greet,” he said. “I think that’s very important, especially in a small town like Prince Rupert where people may or not be comfortable in their skin enough to come to something like that.”

Creating a sense of community is important to Adams, who said he can’t see himself moving away from his coastal hometown.

“If I do move away, it definitely won’t be for long, because Prince Rupert’s always Prince Rupert,” Adams said with a laugh. “Coming from a large First Nations family, family is everything. Whenever I talk to friends who aren’t as close to their family, it really does resonate just how strong roots and bonds are to me in my day-to-day.”

His family is often the first to try a cheesecake, and it’s at family gatherings where Adams tests out more elaborate recipes. At one such event, Adams brought a carrot cake with cheesecake in the middle, topped by cream cheese icing. He’s also tried to create a rainbow mini cheesecake.

“I’m sad to say it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would, but the people I gave it to loved it. You’re supposed to put one colour down and then another colour on top and let it spread out, but I think I got too impatient,” Adams said. “That’s my next goal, to create a perfect rainbow cheesecake.”

Currently, one of Adams’s most popular creations was inspired by the King of Rock and Roll.

“I love the Elvis cheesecake. I’ve seen flavour combinations for cupcakes and cookies, so I adapted it to cheesecakes. It’s a pretzel-crusted banana and peanut butter cheesecake with a chocolate ganache and covered in bacon and chocolate. It’s definitely one of the popular ones, which is kind of ironic, because I don’t eat meat. To have my apartment smell like bacon is comforting for my dog, but not so much for me,” he said with a laugh.

But for all the decadent treats he makes, Adams also doesn’t eat anything he makes. “If I did, I think I would be in trouble,” he said.

For the baker, eating his sweets isn’t the point.

“It’s just to see the joy it brings people,” Adams said with a smile.

Read more Heart of Our City profiles here.

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