For this month’s Daring Bakers challenge, our hosts Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms picked Cheesecake Pops from the book Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor and Leigh Beisch. This was a dessert I’d never seen or heard of before, but when it came down to it, the method was quite straightforward: bake a cheesecake, chill, scoop it into balls, freeze, then dip balls into chocolate and whatever else strikes your fancy. The end result is pretty cute and the recipe makes a tremendous amount of pops - definitely party food. The full recipe was actually said to yield 30-40 pops, but I still got about 30 pops out of only a half recipe! That’s ok, though - I’ll be taking them all to work tomorrow. :)

I baked the cheesecake in an 8-inch square Pyrex pan set inside a larger rectangular Pyrex for the water bath. There was no browning and the cheesecake set smoothly after about 45 minutes. I left it in the oven for about 5 more minutes, though, since others had encountered some issues with it not setting properly. I didn’t have much trouble scooping them out and rolling them into balls, although after rolling the first time, I froze the balls for about 15 minutes and rolled them lightly a second time to get somewhat more uniform spheres…just as one might do for soft truffle centers.

Since I didn’t have time to get to the craft store, I cut “sticks” from colored straws. Although not as strong as lollipop sticks, the straws did a pretty good job of holding up the wee pops (I made the balls about the size of a heaping rounded tablespoon). Also, I went through much more chocolate than suggested in the recipe - about a pound for dipping a half-recipe’s worth of pops. I didn’t make the coating particularly thick - I just think the chocolate estimate was on the conservative side.

I think these cheesecake pops would be something children would like quite a bit; they could easily help with rolling and dipping, and would have fun picking out different toppings to use. My little niece and nephew would probably get a big kick out of them. For me, though…well, they really weren’t to my taste, unfortunately. They’re a little too sweet for me, and I just don’t like the taste of cheesecake and chocolate together (maybe I’m just a freak). That said, I’m not writing these off completely. UPDATE: People at work really liked them, so I think I’ll definitely make them again, and maybe try some flavor variations - raspberry, cheesecake, and chocolate is sounding good right now… I think they’d be a big hit at parties and with kids, and I wouldn’t mind trying to make them look a little more elegant - although maybe I’m missing the point of this messy, sticky, all-American dessert: too much fussing just doesn’t seem right.

Thanks to hosts Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms for the challenge!

Cheesecake Pops
Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor and Leigh Beisch
Makes 40 – 60 Pops

5 8-oz. packages of cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream

Forty to sixty 8-inch lollipop sticks

2 pounds semisweet or milk chocolate, finely chopped (chocolate chips are fine)
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
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 325º F. Set a kettle of 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 (or an 8-inch if halving the recipe) 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 (*note: a half-recipe was done in 45 minutes, so a full recipe may take at least an hour).

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, about the size of a walnut or a heaping rounded tablespoon. Place balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, freeze for 10-15 minutes, then roll with your hands into uniform spheres. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In a double boiler, or a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water, warm the chocolate and shortening, stirring continuously until smooth and glossy. It’s best to work with 8oz of chocolate and 1 tablespoon shortening at a time, so the chocolate does not dry before all pops have been dipped.

Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the heat source. Working quickly, dip a frozen cheesecake pop, swirling to coat it completely. Gently shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. Place the finished pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening as needed.

Refrigerate the pops in a covered contained for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Posted by the cookworm on Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 11:43 pm.