Cheesecake entrepreneur serves up support for Chesterfield animal rescue charity and small businesses

Daniel Armstrong is the founder of Totally Cheesecake & Bakes which has just clocked up 100,000 followers on Facebook.

He is celebrating the achievement by running a raffle in aid of cash-strapped Chesterfield Animal Rescue. Daniel said: “I follow the animal rescue and saw a post where they said they can’t afford for dogs to be rehomed.

"We’ve got 37 really good prizes for the raffle. People have donated a kids party package with bouncy castle, hampers, meals at local restaurants, cash amounts of £50 and I’ve donated £100 to be spent with me."

Daniel of Rye Crescent, Danesmoor is supporting prize donors by plugging them on Facebook. He said: “It’s difficult for anyone to give away their products for charity when times are hard and I think it’s absolutely brilliant that they have done so. My aim is to help a charity and also help businesses at the same time.”

He has already sold 465 raffle tickets himself and is hoping to double that ahead of the online live draw on Easter Monday. Two cafes which stock Daniel’s products – Davis’s Fresh Bake on Elder Way, Chesterfield and Poppy’s at Clay Cross – are also selling tickets at £1 each.

The 44-year-old dad said: “I’ve done charity work all my life – I was a singer when I was younger and used to raise money at concerts. I’ve raised thousands of pounds for cancer charities and people who have had strokes.”

Daniel began singing when he was 19 and was nicknamed Dan Dan the singing man. Latterly, he has become known as Dan Dan the cheesecake man.

He said: “Me and my son Kian used to love cheesecake and every Friday night we’d go to a supermarket and just buy a cheap one. We’d soon become bored of it so I said I’m going to make my own; Kian, who was then 12, looked at me gone out as though I wasn’t capable. I made my own and we were both pleasantly surprised by it. I started doing them for friends and family; anyone who tasted them said ‘these are beautiful – they are really nice.’

In 2020 Daniel decided to turn his talent for making cheesecakes into a business and quit a part-time job to focus on his new enterprise. Daniel said: “I started at the end of January and then Covid came and everyone went into lockdown. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for me because I put so much hard work into trying to achieve what I wanted. However, I took a positive out of Covid as I think it did me a huge favour. Because everyone was on lockdown and feeling miserable they wanted a pick-me-up, a treat. My Facebook page went crazy during Covid – everyone was ordering cheesecakes and I started making other things as well. I had contactless collections from the porch area at my home.”

As demand for his products grew and his Facebook page attracted followers from as far afield as America, the creations that Daniel produced in his kitchen at home expanded to include cookie pies and brownies. Daniel said: “I pushed myself into trying new things and creating items to keep people sharing my post.

"I really don’t know how many cheesecakes I’ve made. The cafes alone sell around 200 individual cheesecakes per week.

"I do birthday cheesecakes in a range of sizes, ranging from two to three people right up to 15 to 20 people. I even do a sponge cake cheesecake with a sponge centre and cheesecake around it.

"Coffee cheesecake is very popular even though I don’t like the smell of coffee. Lemon is always a big favourite and Biscoff is a very good seller….they are two of my favourites but I very rarely eat them now. When you work with something every single day, you don’t want it.”

Daniel is content to continue making sweet creations at home for the time being. He said: “I’m a big believer in whatever’s working, don’t change it. With the cost of living the way it is now, I’d be foolish to change it.”

You can keep tabs on Daniel’s creations on Facebook, call him on 01246 628392 or email: [email protected]