The Eli's Cheesecake Cookbook: Remarkable Recipes from a Chicago Legend

An updated and expanded edition of The Eli’s Cheesecake Cookbook, released in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Eli’s Cheesecake.

The story of Eli’s Cheesecake began more than forty years ago. It rose to prominence originally as the featured dessert at one of Chicago’s most popular restaurants: Eli’s The Place for Steak, a classic steakhouse, pillar of the city’s culinary community, and noted celebrity watering hole. This book details the storied history of one of the nation’s most famous desserts, all the way from Eli Schulman’s first cheesecake to President Obama’s 50th birthday cake to the creation of four towering, 2,000 lb. cheesecakes served at inaugural festivities in Washington, DC.

The second edition of the Eli's Cheesecake Cookbook has been fully expanded and updated in honor of the 40th anniversary of Eli's Cheesecake. In addition to the classics featured in the first edition, the new edition features even more cheesecake recipes, including Basque, Cherry Vanilla, Hawaiian, Carrot Cake Cheesecake, and Holiday Cheesecake Dippers—one of Oprah's Favorite Things. You'll also find many more signature dishes from Eli’s The Place for Steak, including Chicken Vesuvio, Pepper Steak, Corned Beef Hash, Potato Pancakes, and French Onion Soup, and an all-new chapter showcasing Eli's bakers from around the world sharing their favorite family recipes.

Because of his unique baking process, Eli Schulman is often credited with putting “Chicago-style” cheesecake, richer and creamier than its New York counterpart, on the map. This collection will allow home cooks to make the same cheesecakes that helped celebrate five Chicago Mayoral inaugurations, Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial, the City of Chicago’s 150th birthday, Illinois' Bicentennial, Hamilton the Musical, the NBA All Star Game, the White Sox World Series, and more.

As Eli Schulman might say, it’s a helluva book.

Maureen Schulman is an award-winning publicist and a photographer who has been a part of the Eli’s Cheesecake story since the beginning, when along with her father-in-law, Eli Schulman, and husband, Marc Schulman, she helped launch Eli's Cheesecake at the first Taste of Chicago in 1980. She is the director of public relations of Eli's Cheesecake, serves as president of the board of The Happiness Club, and is an Obama presidential appointee to the board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. She and her husband have three daughters and one kitty and live in Chicago.

Elana Schulman graduated from Vassar College with a degree in film. After moving to Brooklyn, she began her career producing video content for Condé Nast and then became a supervising producer at MUNCHIES, VICE Media's food site. During her tenure at VICE, Elana produced food content exclusively and was able to work with some of the best chefs and culinary minds in the world. In 2016, Elana received a James Beard Award for her work on an episode of the MUNCHIES web series The Sushi Chef. In 2019, she joined her parents in working at Eli’s Cheesecake, representing the third generation. She sits on the Associates Board of Green City Market and is also a graduate of Ireland's Ballymaloe Cookery School, where she honed her cooking and baking skills. There, she learned about farm to table cuisine, studied the importance of zero-waste cooking, and ate her weight in butter. She is thrilled to collaborate on this second edition of the cookbook. She lives in Chicago.

Jolene Worthington served as executive vice president of Eli’s Cheesecake for forty years, until her retirement in 2020. She has lectured on creating premium cheesecake at the American Institute of Baking and on the history of cheesecake before the Culinary Historians of Chicago, and trained young artisan bakers through Eli’s Bakery. Before joining Eli’s in 1984, she wrote the “Cooks Tools” column for the Chicago Tribune, served as culinary consultant for the Time-Life cookbook series “Good Cooks” and wrote for Cuisine magazine. She is a member of the board of Slow Foods Chicago, has served on the governing board for the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, and is a board member and mentor for the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. She lives in Chicago.

Tara Lane is an award-winning pastry chef and a culinary innovation consultant. She apprenticed at New York’s François Payard before garnering national acclaim as the executive pastry chef at the restaurants Blackbird and Avec in Chicago. She earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a master’s degree in design methods from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland. She also worked as a food preservationist at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, where she focused on food advocacy and policy issues. She lives outside of Austin, Texas.

Diana Moles is senior vice president of innovation at Eli’s Cheesecake, where she oversees the baking team in the development and commercialization of new products. She received her professional training at the American Institute of Baking and the Culinary Institute of America. A member of Les Dames d'Escoffier, Diana was a featured pastry chef, representing the State of Illinois, at the James Beard Awards reception on two occasions. Among her other accomplishments, Diana was invited to be a guest chef at both the Obama White House and Lornado, the official residence of the US Ambassador to Canada, under Ambassador Bruce Heyman and his wife Vicki. She lives in Chicago.

Peter McCullough is CEO of McCullough Photo, a photography firm specializing in architecture, commercial design, and concept photography. Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, he began his career as a chef at the award-winning McMasters and was executive sous chef at the Kensington Hilton in London and the Chicago Hilton and Towers. He lives in Chicago.

Born and raised and still living in Chicago, Rick Kogan has worked for the Chicago Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune, where he is currently a senior writer and columnist. Named Chicago's Best Reporter in 1999 and inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 2003, he is the creator and host of WGN radio's After Hours with Rick Kogan" and the author of a dozen books.