Popping out

When I first found out about this month’s challenge, I was ecstatic! I love cheesecake, I love chocolate, and I love bite-size things, so I was thrilled. I was also excited that it was something that I could make for Passover with minor adaptations. Had it been bread, I may not have been able to participate. I did a bit of research and took advantage of the fabulous DAB knowledge about going gluten-free and decided to sub out the flour with half the amount of corn starch. The making of the cheesecake went out without a hitch. I used a 9-inch springform pan (all I had), triple-covered with aluminum foil to prevent water leakage. Here it is during baking. Not sure if the bumps are bubbles or lumps in the batter…

I checked it after 45 minutes of baking and it was still fully liquid. Having read the comments on the forum about baking times and having some previous cheesecake experience, I let it keep baking until it look set. I’m not exactly sure how long that was, but I’d guess it was about 80 minutes. I wasn’t surprised it took that long because a) my oven runs a bit on the cool side, b) I used a smaller pan so it had more depth, and c) I probably let the oven cool down from too much time with the door open (between pictures and putting in the water for the water bath). I took the cheesecake out, let it cool and set it to chill. When I went to make the pops, I noticed that it had developed a thick skin (potentially from slight overbaking) but looked and tasted very creamy. I rolled the balls by hand, which was a messy and sticky endeavor but lots of fun. Here are the balls before getting the lollipop sticks.

Once they were frozen and ready for dipping. I slowly melted the chocolate in the microwave (my method of choice when I don’t care about tempering) and mixed in some hazelnut oil just to thin it out. I had a feeling that with the frozen balls, the chocolate would harden immediately and create too thick a shell. I probably should have added more oil, since it gave the chocolate a nice nutty undertone and it would have been better if it had been a bit thinner. I dipped the balls as quickly as I could, shaking of the excess as much as possible, and then dipped them in candy sprinkles. I had grand plans to do some with white chocolate decorations, but I ran out of time.

The Verdict:

How did they turn out? They were delicious and a big hit at our Seder (Passover dinner), (along with some Chocolate-Covered Matzah Crunch, aka Matzah Crack, the most addictive and delicious Passover treat, pictured below). My only issue was that they were a bit hard to eat. When they were fully frozen, they lost their creaminess and were a bit insipid. When they defrosted a bit, they tasted great but the sticks just popped out of the balls, defeating the whole “pop” point. Also, the balls were a bit bigger than one bite so taking a bite would make the other half fall off the stick, so people had to hold the other half in their hands… not ideal hand-held food. Overall, though, I loved them and would definitely make them again, albeit smaller. They are delicious and have a great wow factor. Thanks to Elle and Deborah for the wonderful recipe and to all the DBers for the help and wonderful inspiration for the future.

My First Daring Baker Challenge!

I had hoped to have this ready a few days earlier, but house hunting has been taking up most of our time here. This was my first Daring Bakers challenge. I have spent the last several months admiring several different bloggers' monthly creations and decided it was time to join. It took me a couple of days to complete this challenge. I had never made a cheesecake before, but I hoped it wouldn't be too hard. It was fun getting to use my new mixer - one of many new kitchen toys from our wedding registry. The cheesecake took a bit longer than the recipe said but turned out just fine with a golden brown top and cracked in only a few places. I left it in the fridge for a day or two.

The next step seemed more challenging. I really wasn't sure how big two ounces would turn out. I decided to use an ice cream scoop that was approximately two ounces. It was definitely a messy endeavor, but I finally got them scooped out. I think the cheesecake balls could have been much smaller, but I didn't really have time to experiment. After leaving them in the freezer for overnight, I was ready for the final step. I used a Pyrex bowl on top of a saucepan to melt the chocolate. It was a little difficult dipping the cheesecake balls and covering most of them with chocolate. After that I used nonpareils and other chocolate sprinkles to decorate them. (I had been hoping to document this all with photographs, but our camera has decided to hide somewhere in our apartment.)

After all of this effort, the cheesecake pops sat in the fridge for another day or so. I had been letting some friends know that I had something interesting for them to try, so everyone was eagerly awaiting the results. The overwhelming feeling was that these were simply delicious. Rich, but delicious. We did have some trouble with the pops starting to fall off of the lollipop sticks, but that could probably be prevented with smaller cheesecake balls.

I'm looking forward to the next challenge. I'm hoping to have my own blog up and running before too long, but we'll have to wait and see.

-Jennifer E

A Photo Essay in the Making of Cheesecake Pops!

Prepping for the challenge!


Cheesecake in water bath


Forming the balls


Naked cheesecake pops


Prepping for decorating


Melting the chocolate


Daughter helping out


Chilling out!


YUM!

I made the cheesecake pops with my 18 year old daughter and we had a great time. We made the cheesecake the day before without any problems and had a blast decorating them the next day. We finished 2 trays of them and had some of the softer center of the cheesecake left so I used it as a filling for a lemon strawberry bundt cake that I had made the day before. The cheesecake pops were cute and delicious and we kept them in the freezer for a cool, frozen treat. This was a true challenge as it is not something that I normally would have made. I thank you for this opportunity to participate and look forward to the next challenge.

- Natashya

Daring Bakers First Challenge

This challenge was my first Daring Bakers Challenge. I'm excited to be participating and I really enjoyed this month's Challenge - looking forward to many more!

The anticipation of the finished product is what motivated me for this challenge. I have made a cheesecake or two before, but many years ago. I didn't find the challenge daunting, but I knew it would still be challenging to me - I seem to always manage to misread directions. However, I am happy to say that my challenge turned out successfully.

I have used a water bath before to make a delicious flour-less chocolate cake, so being familiar with one of the techniques ahead of time was settling.

I wanted to make the pops for a baby shower I was hosting for one of my coworkers. The shower was on Friday, so that left limited preparation time. I was up at 6 am Thursday making the cheesecake. Being up at 6 am period is difficult for me - and to be required to bake something at that time was quite interesting. All went well - except when the cake had been in the oven for 45 minutes and still looked soupy! I started to freak out because I was worried I had done something wrong. I was ready to scrap it, when I called my mom - and we decided it wouldn't hurt to leave it in and see what had happened. I wished I had read some of the Daring Bakers blog earlier to see that others were having this problem!

The cheesecake turned out wonderfully, after about 1 hr 15 minutes in the oven - and was extremely tasty! I'm saving this recipe for sure!

I used a cookie scoop to form the pops - froze for a few hours, then dipped in melted milk chocolate wafers. I then rolled the pops in some candy coating. I was very impressed to see all the different coatings that others used. Next time, I will definitely experiment.

I did plan to drizzle pink chocolate over the coated pops - but I had trouble melting it. I didn't add the shortening - and that possibly was what caused the pink wafers from not melting.

Looking forward to next month's challenge!

- Meagan

April 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge- Cheesecake Pops

With warmer weather finally making its way into Maine, I was hoping this month’s challenge wouldn’t tempt my sweet tooth too much, as I have been trying to cut back on sweets lately. This hope came true since I am one of the rare individuals who isn’t a big fan of cheesecake. These treats would not go to waste though because between my family and my book club meeting this week I knew I would have plenty of people to polish them off!

This was my first time making cheesecake and working with a water bath. Everything went well while I was making the cake. Although, I nearly poured too much water into the roasting pan and flooded my cake, but I manage to get the right amount eventually.

I had to bake the cake a bit longer than the recipe said in order for it to be golden and firm. I was a little nervous since I don’t really know what a good cheesecake should look like!

After it was cool I scooped out 40 balls and put them back into the freezer. I snagged a sample of the cheesecake before I refroze it and, I must say it was pretty tasty in my, not so expert opinion! :)

After the pops were frozen I went to work melting the chocolate. As I was dipping the pops I was worried I would not have enough chocolate. In the end, I had chocolate leftover so I could have dipped them a little deeper. I decorated with some colorful sprinkles. Back in the freezer to chill and await the review of my cheesecake connoisseur husband to arrive home!

 

The final review of everyone who tasted these was that they were cute, fun and delicious! Once again, thanks for the fun and for helping me expand my baking resume! Until next time!

- Sarah

New Kids on the Blog had a bunch of hits….

How sad is it that I can only use that line once?........not only that but it totally dates me. Oh the memories……those were some good times eh? Anyway, onto the challenge! As this was my first challenge I spent a lot of time mentally preparing. I'm sure you all can relate to the anticipation as one waits for the email detailing our task. There was a little fear, a little anxiety and a lot of excitement. And then the day arrived……oh, as I read the email I could hardly contain myself and I got more excited as I read. Then I read the part about decorations and flavors and colors and I almost passed out. Me who has no imagination couldn't think past the recipe. I put off making the challenge as I thought out of sight out of mind would work well…..and when it didn't I started praying. And then it happened…"creativity started licking at my brain." Oh what a joyous thing that was. While it is not out of this world creativity, it is definitely out of MY world creativity.

I decided that since the recipe was large I wanted to make a couple flavors. Who doesn't love variety? I had a very hard time not eating the first step……I'm talking VERY. Doesn't it look fantastic!!!!

Once I started adding eggs it got a lot easier to not taste it. My tongue doesn't like raw egg taste........no matter how beautiful it looks. What a difference eggs make in consistency eh?

After everything was mixed I separated the batter into 4 parts and then flavored to my hearts content. On the left is the Chai flavored one…I added ¼ tsp of chai spice to the batter. The middle is Lemon and I added zest…for visual appeal and ¼ tsp of Lemon extract. The right one is cinnamon flavored….and yes I know it's not so white any more, but who knew cinnamon was such a strong color? I added ¼ tsp of cinnamon. YUMMY!!!! I didn't take a picture of the fourth one because it was just plain old cheesecake.

I did have a few problems. The time for cooking took longer than I had anticipated, and even though they cooked for an hour or more I don't think it was enough time. When it came time to make the balls it was not an easy task….after making a couple of them I realized it was not for me and I just free formed them. It was just too soft to roll into balls without ending up with half of it on my hands. The only other minor problem was trying to adhere toppings to the dipped pops. The chocolate and candy coatings dried so quickly I could barely get any stuff to stick. When it came down to it, the toppings didn't add a whole lot more to the treat and they were just as good in a simple dip.

After coming up with the flavors for the cheesecake I tried to do complimentary toppings. For lemon, I dipped them in white chocolate and then sprinkled shortbread crumbs on top. Everyone who tasted it, thought it was a perfect combination of flavor and cheesecake. It was pretty tasty. For the Chai, I dipped in chocolate and left it as is. I wanted the chai to be the main focus. Who doesn't love Chai?.......apparently everyone does as I have none left. For the cinnamon, I thought too grand in my design. I dipped in caramel and topped with graham cracker crumbs and dried apple. What a mistake. The caramel was too thick and the apple didn't adhere because the caramel solidified too fast. I barely got crumbs to stick. After it sat in the fridge for a while some caramel melted off (weird I know) and it was perfect. It was my favorite flavor combination. Everyone loved the flavor combination, but felt the caramel overshadowed the cheesecake. Understandable....All in all I'd say they were a success and they look great!

This is definitely a keeper of a recipe and I will definitely use it as many times as possible to impress everyone I know. Can't wait to see what's on the table for next month!.......or should I say "in the oven"?

-Amber