Ah, the scent of new blog. Smells like cheesecake currently. That may have something to do with the fact I took it upon myself to complete an old challenge from the Daring Bakers that I found while using stumble upon. Pictures to come when they are complete.
This was a blast to make. Over the past year, I've become a pro at making cheesecake in 20 minutes or less. Were my electric mixer a person, I would potentially consider running away with it for a hot passionate fling. Making the balls was a bit harder as after one or two they would stick to my hands. I solved this by using an ice cream scoop to get an adequate amount of cake each time, and having a bowl of warm water to wash my hands every so often. Getting the parchment paper into the freezer was also a bit of a challenge which I solved by putting a baking sheet under the paper, moving it to the freezer and taking the sheet away.
This post will be updated with pictures and the rest of the account once I get back from work and get to dip them in chocolate!
Recipe info:
Makes 30–40 pops
5 8-oz pkgs cream cheese room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
boiling water (as needed)
thirty-forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 lb chocolate, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegetable shortening
assorted decorations: chopped nuts, colored sprinkles, 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.
Update: Aaaand fail. After going through two bags of chocolate, I finally managed to get the chocolate to melt properly (I really need to get a real double boiler)...and by that point the effects of the freezer had undone themselves. Room temperature cheesecake on a stick =/= successful cheesecake pops. Alas.
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