WATERBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – If she’s in her purple kitchen, you can bet Lauren Alpert is whipping up something wonderful. That “something” is cheesecake.

“I love cheesecake,” she says with a smile. And, she has loved it since she was a kid growing up in Manhattan. “That’s where the home of New York-style cheesecake is, right?”

Despite its beginnings in the Big Apple, the start of this story takes us overseas to Hamburg, Germany. That’s where Lauren’s brother, Jeff, lives.

“[He] could not find any good cheesecake there,” says Alpert. “So, he decided to start his own business.”

Jeff’s Cheesecake was a smash hit in Europe and just recently expanded into its own café. After taking off, Jeff decided to share a slice of the success.

“He was here visiting once and we were talking about it and did a little baking together,” Alpert recounts. “Decided hey, let’s bring it to Vermont.”

Around five years ago, she launched Lauren’s Cheesecake, baking in a commercial kitchen in her Waterbury home.

“I think I was ripe for something a little different to go along with my job,” she says.

Different — and delicious. Her handmade cheesecakes come in all sorts of flavors, including original, lemon, peanut butter, even raspberry swirl. Alpert won’t give out the secret to a delicious cheesecake, but notes she does skip the typical water bath.

“We call it handmade and I try to stress that because if there’s a little crack in it, it’s still delicious,” she says.

Alpert spends her evenings getting the goodies ready for whirlwind weekends of markets and customer pickups. At this point, she’s got the process down to a science.

“I’m very strategic. It’s like, OK, let’s get those crusts made so that tomorrow night we can put the batter in,” she says.

With recipes now committed to memory, time spent mixing and baking is more therapeutic than anything else.

“I can actually spend hours down here and not realize, ‘Oh my gosh, where did the day go,’ you know?”

The cheesecakes come in three sizes: 4-inch, 6-inch and 9-inch. She also makes them gluten-free, so even people with allergies can enjoy them.

“Because so many people love cheesecake, it’s like 99% of the population is what I like to say,” she laughs.

Once they’re all whipped up, she brings them to local businesses and events for customers to enjoy. You can find Alpert at the BTV Market in Burlington’s City Hall Park on Saturday mornings or at the Richmond Farmers Market on Friday afternoons. Her list of events can be found here.

No matter where you cash in on the Alpert family cheesecake, be it Germany, Vermont, a café or a farmers market, they’re guaranteed to be tasty… and made in Vermont.

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Waterbury, VT- The Agency of Human Services has appointed Brendan Krause as the newest director of Health Care Reform.

Krause has an extended history working in health systems and policy. After graduating with a B.A. degree from the University of Florida and earning his Masters degree at the London School of Economics, he worked in Washington D.C. for eight years in the Health Policy Division of the National Governors Association.

Following his time in D.C., Krause moved back to the United Kingdom to work with Optum and the UK’s National Health Service to improve population health management.

Most recently, he served as Head of International for Health at Uber where he worked to minimize transportation barriers to healthcare access.

Krause’s expertise will help the AHS in their mission to improve the conditions and well-being of all Vermonters. “We are excited to welcome Brendan Krause to the AHS team,” said Jenney Samuelson, AHS Secretary. “His extensive experience and innovative approach to health care reform will be invaluable.”

Krause now resides in Burlington with his wife and dog.