Daring Bakers Challenge

Cheesecake Pops - Daring Bakers April 08 Challenge

This was my first challenge for the super baking group, the Daring Bakers. I was quite nervous to discover the challenge for April after seeing the delicious but very frightening French Bread of February. But I started back baking to learn and grow in my abilities as a baker so I was ready to tackle whatever they happened to throw my way for April.

As soon as I got my email welcoming me to the group and made my first visit to the Daring Bakers site, I found the recipe for April was Cheesecake Pops. I was kind of relieved I had to admit. I had made cheesecake many times in the past (though not recently) so I was familiar with the recipe for the most part. I have never made cheesecake pops however. Of course, I had eaten them before but those were store bought. As we all know, store bought really can't compare to home made.

I was tempted to make the pops right away after all I love cheesecake and I was looking forward to eating the 'reject' rolls by themselves. I decided to wait and see how some of the other Daring Bakers faired with their cheesecake pops and take some of their issues and success into account. I think that wait really paid off. I noticed many had issues with the cheesecake setting up in the middle.



Keeping that in mind, I made sure to bake my cheesecake a little longer than suggested (I halved the recipe and ended up cooking it for about 40 minutes). The cheesecake came out of the oven firm and lightly browned on top. Because I didn't have a proper round cake pan, I used a rectangular pan that was the perfect size for my toaster oven. It was about 8 x 1.5 inches. It gave me enough depth to cut the cheesecake (I decided to go with the cut option rather than rolls).

Apparently I have a size judgement impairment. I tried to made the cheesecake pops to be 2 ounces in size but they looked bigger than that to me. Since I halved the recipe I should have ended up with about 15 to 20 pops. I had 13 when I was done. Not too many less but it bothered me a bit. Perhaps I should have rolled them anyways. I may have ended up with less than what I actually did but they may have looked closer to the right size. Size aside, the cheesecake itself was very tasty. It was quick to whip up so it may be my go to cheesecake when I want one fairly fast.

After I cut and stuck the pops with the sticks then froze them, it was time to dip and decorate. I went with the basic chocolate dipping for the outer coating and then I played around with the decorations. Most of the pops ended up with a crumbled graham cracker coating. I also rolled a few in coconut and the remainder in peppermint candy coating.

They were all very tasty but in the end, I think I prefer cheesecake to be off the stick and not frozen. I like my cheesecake plain with just strawberries to go along. These were very good but just too much for me. I would definitely make them if I was going to a party. They seem like perfect party desserts. All in all it was a great challenge. Not to hard but it was a new experience that was fun and tasty.

Don't forget to check out the other Daring Bakers to see what yummy pops they came up with as well!

Cheesecake Pops
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.

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

Lightly grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan). Pour the cheesecake batter into the cake pan and place in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly goldenon 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 cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchemtn paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the 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. 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.
Introduction from Deborah & Elle

These cute little bites of cheesecake, held on a stick and dipped in chocolate and, if you like, decorations, are sure to make you smile. The cheesecake is New York style, the pops can be jazzed up with different toppings, and they are FUN…just right for a party. They are from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor. Isn’t that an alluring title for a cookbook?

We wanted to pick something that had potential for putting your personal stamp on. We like them for a challenge because the recipe for the cheesecake part makes use of the concept of a water bath, an essential tool for bakers, plus there are many ways to personalize them. And they are cheesecake!! The photo in the book showed the lollipop sticks twined with pretty ribbons and bows, too.

It is unclear if this recipe can be halved. A key thing is that the cheesecake be in a pan where it bakes deep enough to scoop out the balls.

Allowed Variations. Yes you can make some changes to this cheesecake as long as you promise to use the basic cheesecake recipe (although you can add a flavor to it if you like) and do keep it white (sorry, no chocolate or coffee or mocha), and keep the pops to the 2 ounce size.

The dipping flavors and colors are completely up to you.

If you want to use decorations, go for it. Same with drizzles and ribbons on the sticks. Or leave them plain after dipping them.
You can cut the cheesecake into geometric shapes instead of making balls…triangles or squares or diamonds…just keep them about 2 ounces each. We can't wait to see what combinations our Daring Baker come up with…just make sure to use the basic cheesecake recipe, to make the pops 2 ounces or close to that in size, and to dip each pop in chocolate or confectionary coating and have it on a lollipop stick.

Here are some exceptions to the "you must follow the same recipe rule".

-- Allergies.
-- Particular ingredient is hard to find in your area.
-- Particular ingredient is cost-prohibitive. We don't want anyone stressing over having to pay for something that's too expensive, especially if you have to buy a large quantity for just a smidge in the recipe. So if the ingredient is way too expensive you can leave it out or sub something else that will work.
-- The host allows a specific ingredient change, but that must be specified in the host's challenge recipe announcement post. For example, the hosts says it's okay to substitute the rum in the cream with a flavoring of your choice as long as the cream is still "white". But making chocolate or coffee pastry cream is not okay.