FALL 2020 by Kelly Caldwell & Darious Davis
Pandemic Leads to New Dessert Business for Davis
As the new year began , Darious Davis had several plans in store for 2020 . He had started a new job at Phi Eta Sigma and things were looking BIG for my friend ( and adopted brother )
Unfortunately , as the COVID-19 pandemic began to shut down the nation , he found himself forced to return home to Andalusia , Ala ., to be with his family .
As if continuing to take classes online and working from home wasn ’ t enough on his plate , Darious knew that he had to find a way to keep the right balance in his life . Darious is one of those people that have to stay extra busy , and he knew he had to do something or he would stay glued to a computer screen for too many hours each day .
One afternoon , Darious found himself going through his grandmother ’ s old cookbooks and recipes , and from there it took off . He made his grandmother ’ s
Cheesecake in a Jar
2 cups of Graham Cracker Crumbs ( Honey ) 4 Tbsp melted butter 1 cup heavy whipping cream 8 oz package cream cheese softened 1 1 / 2 tsp Vanilla extract or vanilla flavoring 1 / 4 cup sugar 1 can of whipped cream Flavor to your liking : Strawberry ( Fresh Strawberries and Strawberry filling ) Oreos ( Double Stuffed Oreos and Chocolate Syrup ) Reese ’ s ( Reese ’ s Peanut Butter Cups and Chocolate Syrup ) Caramel ( Caramel Syrup and Mixed , Fine Chopped Nuts )
famous banana pudding recipe and baked cupcakes that would then be scooped out and filled with one of the community ’ s favorites . Those were just a taste of what was to come for Darious the baker !
Following that , he took to the internet and other sources to find recipes that inspired him . He would add a twist here and there to make it to his own comfort and liking .
His neighbors enjoyed his contactless deliveries of the beignet , cookie , red velvet cake , and peach cobbler drop-offs , but most importantly , his now-famous cheesecake jars stole the show !
His parents were always his first taste-testers . His father , Roosevelt Weaver , jumped out of his recliner in excitement , knowing there was no way his son had created such a thing .
He has always loved his father ’ s clarity , so he took a chance and went to social media to begin making and selling cheesecake jars to his hometown community .
Y ’ all his first weekend selling the jars , he sold over 60 !!!!
He went on to sell an additional 98 later in the lockdown phase . When asked about how long it took him to make 98 jars , he said .
“ It took me about a full day from sun up to sun down to make each individually ordered cheesecake jar , but it was so worth it .”
Now , with the holidays approaching and his plan to return to visit his family in Andalusia , Darious plans to offer a pumpkin cheesecake jar and peppermint cheesecake jar . As for now , Darious ’ cheesecake jars come in flavors of strawberry , oreo , cherry , chocolate peanut butter cup , and caramel with nuts .
And , he was kind enough to share his recipe with Southern Holiday Life !!
Mix melted butter and graham cracker crumbs together in a bowl and spoon into the bottom of the mason jars ( this recipe yields for about 3 , 16 oz mason jars which are pictured . But the smaller jars make individual servings !)
Take your flavoring and spoon into the bottom of the jar as well . For me , I ’ d evenly layer fresh strawberries along with strawberry topping .
In a bowl , mix the heavy whipped cream until peaks began to form and then set aside ( if this doesn ’ t happen sometimes , it is fine , and you can still proceed )
In a separate bowl , blend cream cheese until smooth , ensuring that you scrape down the sides of the bowl . Once blended , mix in vanilla extract and sugar .
Began to slowly mix in the heavy whipped cream with the cream cheese mixture and once smooth , evenly distribute into the mason jars .
Top the mixture with whipped cream from the can and the toppings ( flavor ) of your liking .