Last summer, I started baking Grandma's recipes. She had cookbooks by the dozens with formulations of some of the most delicious sweets you'll ever try. Some of the ideas were hers and others were friends, family, or small improvements to published cookbooks. 

Are you interested in nostalgia baking? If so, Grandma's Recipes is the place for you. Take a trip down memory lane with her use of butter, sugar, and all things sweet. 

Some of my fondest memories of my Grandma involved her homestyle cooking. The food was always the perfect combination of sweet and savory. I don't recall a lot of heat, but the sweet and savory, definitely.

All the baking that I remember took place in her kitchen on Church St. in West Tennessee. As a child, our families would gather on holidays or a typical Sunday meal after church. The women helped in the kitchen. The men sat in the den watching sports. The children played outside or were in one of two bedrooms playing with a jar full of buttons. It was heaven. 

Today, I'll share a little slice of heaven with this chocolate cocoa cake. 

Chocolate Cocoa Cake
 
Ingredients:
¾ cup of butter
1 ¾ cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 1/3 cup water
​
Directions: Cream the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. 

​Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for one minute. Add the flour, cocoa, and salt alternatively with water to the creamed mixture.

​Pour the batter into two oiled and floured pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes. When the cakes are cool, take out of the pans for icing. See the chocolate icing ingredients and directions below.

Ingredients for chocolate icing:
¾ cup cocoa
2-2/3 cup powdered sugar
6 T. of butter (unsalted)
5 or 6 T. of milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix all the ingredients and spread on each layer of the cake. 

Here we are again.  Back to writing, creating, and talking about desserts. I have a sweet tooth just like everyone else. When I'm really craving a sweet treat, I want chocolate. Not just any chocolate...a deep, dark, chocolate something. 

As I started googling recipes, I ran across many chocolate cheesecake desserts. Choices like: To bake or not to bake. Adding fruit to the filling. The type of crust. Lots of ideas to ponder. 

For me, I have to watch the sugar, lactose, gluten, and all the stuff that accumulates in your gut and disrupts the ecosystem. Or something like that. Therefore, I created the Chocolate Cheesecake Raspberry Chocolate Drizzle a 'la Liz. 

​Chocolate Cheesecake Raspberry Chocolate Dribble
 
Ingredients: Cup of graham crackers (crushed)
2 ½ T. of melted butter
One envelope of unflavored gelatin
Cup of cold water
One four-ounce pkg. of Baker’s semisweet chocolate (coarsely chopped)
Four eight-ounce pkgs. of 1/3 less fat cream cheese (softened)
Cup and a 1/3rd of coconut sugar
¼ cup of cocoa
1 ½ T. of vanilla extract
Small container of fresh raspberries
Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
 
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the melted butter and crushed graham crackers and press into a round pie pan that’s been greased. Bake until light brown, approximately 10 minutes depending on your oven.
 
Next, prepare the gelatin. Pour the cold water into a saucepan and add the gelatin. Let it sit a minute then turn the heat to low. Stir. Wait until the gelatin completely dissolves. Add the chocolate to the gelatin until melted. Stir again.
 
In your mixer, add the softened cream cheese and sugar and mix until the sugar is incorporated. Add the chocolate mixture and cocoa. Add vanilla. Pour into the graham cracker pie crust. Refrigerate for approximately two hours.
 
Cut into 12 pieces. Add the raspberries, chocolate drizzle, and whipped cream to individual pieces.

This dessert is easy and has Star Power. Make it tonight!