Saturday, April 26, 2008

Cheesecake Pops-Daring Bakers




This month's daring bakers challenge involved a technique I had never used before. I had my first go at cheesecake in a water bath. Overall this recipe was not as hard as I expected, though like everyone else, I had to extend the baking time of the cheesecake (I think I left it in the oven about an hour). They worked well frozen, and the ones I did not cover in chocolate we used for chocolate fondue. I am super excited for what the next month of Daring Bakers will bring.



Cheesecake Pops

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve

14 comments:

KJ said...

Chocolate fondue cheesecake - I love it. What a great idea!!

Cakelaw said...

Your pops look terrific - well done! It was my first time cooking a cheesecake in a water bath too - I was rather nervous about it.

Christine said...

It was my first time with baking a cheesecake too! You did a fantastic job!

Jerry said...

Congrats on your first cheescake, sorry you slightly had to destroy it!

kk said...

great pops!! they look so cute! -kk

Madam Chow said...

They look like Christmas!
Madam Chow
http://mzkitchen.com/

Gigi said...

congrats on your cheesecake! You did a great job.

Deborah said...

Chocolate fondue is such a great idea! Love your pops!

Barbara said...

They look very Christmasy with the red, green and white dots. Great job.

Barbara said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Nice job on this challenge, the pops look tasty!

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a wonderful job on your pops!

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

Texana said...

Very nice. Now that you've successfully completed your first cheesecake, that just opens up all sorts of possibilities!

Jacque said...

I love them with the Christmas sprinkles. And chocolate fondue... brilliant!