A lot of baked goods get served in our newsroom, and when we run out of paper plates, sometimes a slice of pie has to go into a paper cup. This is genius, a fellow reporter and I joked the first time we did it. Someone should start a business called Pie in a Cup, we said.

Now Jordan Crosby and Nick Sarro have beat us to it, only their idea is more clever. Their new bakery, launched in Franklin in January, is called Downeast Cheesecakes, and they’re making desserts in a jar. You can buy blueberry or strawberry pie in its own little 8-ounce reusable Mason jar.

Their Apple Crisp in a Jar and S’mores in a Jar – made with homemade marshmallow fluff and chocolate sauce – are selling briskly as the weather cools. The Cheesecake in a Jar comes in flavors such as cherry, pumpkin, plain, German chocolate, strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. The desserts cost $5.99 or $6.99 for a single serving, or you can buy multiples up to a dozen for $64.99.

Crosby, who attended Johnson & Wales culinary school in Rhode Island, and Sarro, who handles the business side of Downeast Cheesecakes, are longtime friends who decided to move home to Maine to open their own restaurant. Then Crosby started teaching adult ed classes on making cheesecakes.

“He sold out every night that they had it,” Sarro said. “People just loved it so much, we decide to give it a shot.” They dropped the restaurant idea, and their families helped them construct their own commercial kitchen.

The partners are still looking for a distributor, so for now their desserts in a jar can only be ordered from downeastcheesecakes.com or purchased when available at local restaurants such as Ironbound in Hancock, the Lucerne Inn in Dedham and Two Sisters Cafe & Deli in Prospect Harbor. I had two shipped to my home, and they came packaged in a sturdy rectangular box. I have a feeling that, come holiday season, Santa is going to love these.

— Meredith Goad