Sunday, April 27, 2008

Daring Bakers - Cheesecake Pops


Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms and Deborah of Taste and Tell are co-hosts of this month's DB's challenge - cheesecake pops.


When I first saw this month's DB's challenge, my feelings were mixed. I love cheesecake, and the pictures of the cheesecake pops sure were cute; but on the other hand, the practical side of me was saying, "why?" I knew that it was going to take a lot of effort and a lot of mess to produce these bite-size treats, and when cheesecake tastes so good on its own, I wasn't sure that I could see the point. However, after completing this challenge, I can say, yes, it is time consuming; yes, it is messy; but boy oh boy, are these delicious!!!! These creamy, smooth bites of cheesecake on sticks are encased in a crispy chocolate shell (lollies optional), and the combination is rich, decadent and altogether other worldly.




Elle and Deb invited us to use shapes other than round balls for our pops. I had grand plans of making flower shaped pops, and decorating them with ribbon with the sticks stuck in florist's foam in a vase to resemble a floral arrangement. Alas, I found that the cheesecake was too soft to allow this kind of frippery, so I opted for geometric shapes (rectangles, squares and triangles) instead. This allowed me to make the best use of my round cheesecake, because uniform shapes were not necessary.


I used dark and milk chocolate to coat my cheesecake pops, not because of my brilliant forethought in planning for variety, but because my non-mathematical brain thought that 250g of dark chocolate equalled a pound. It was sheer luck that I had a block of Cadbury Dairy Milk in the cupboard that I could use to make up the shortfall in dark chocolate. However, as far as finished results go, the dark 70% cocoa solids chocolate was a clear winner, both in workability and taste. The milk chocolate was very sweet, and because I forgot to add shortening to it, it tended to thicken much quicker, which meant that it didn't go as far and gave less-than-smooth results as it set more quickly.







I sprinkled the chocolate-coated pops with a combination of lollies. Some had red, yellow and green smarties arranged to make the rectangular pops look like traffic lights. These were my favourites, as I thought that they were kinda cute. I had to work quickly when sprinkling the lollies, as the chocolate dried very quickly on the frozen cheesecake. I found that it was a disaster to to attempt to roll the chocolate-coated pops in lollies to get a more even coating, as the chocolate tended to dribble all through the lollies, making a mess and ruining them for any other use.


If you would like the recipe for cheesecake pops, it is available here. Thanks to Elle and Deborah for choosing such a cute and delicious recipe this month.


Verdict - I loved the taste of these cheesecake pops, and would make them again in a heartbeat given an occasion warranting the expense and effort.



45 comments:

Dolores said...

My cheesecake's in the oven now, and I'll confess wondering if this one was going to be worth the work. I'm glad you found it so. :)

Gretchen Noelle said...

The first pops I have seen posted - yeah! I agree with the mixed feelings upon seeing this months recipe. I don't know if I would go through the lollipop part, but I really loved the cheesecake part!

Silvia - Magnolia Wedding Planner said...

Wonderful lollipops darling. They look delicios and so "fiesta"! Good job dear!
Silvia

Cakespy said...

I'll take three please!!! I cheated on mine (no chocolate cover but a little something else) but now that I see yours I'm like "Hello, yum?" And I think they're going to respond.

Pixie said...

Well done on the challenge!!!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Very pretty pops! You did a great job here!

Cheers,

Rosa

Deeba PAB said...

What fun this was...love the way you used the smarties! Very nice...this was indeed a fun challenge! :0)

KJ said...

I like your traffic light pops. Very cute!!

desie said...

it was a daunting recipe but i am so happy with the result.
glad you liked the pops, they look cute.

Y said...

Think I totally missed the bit in the original DB recipe about being able to make different shapes. Cubes might've been interesting, especially when you get to incorporate the "traffic light" smartie effect. Love that one!

Mary said...

I love that you did geometric shapes! I have to admit I also thought why put the cheesecake on a stick when it's so good on it's own!

Anonymous said...

Well done, cut designs, very cute.

Mandy said...

well done on the challenge! The cheesecake with chocolate buttons does remind me of traffic light too!

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a great job on your challenge. They are beautiful.

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

Helene said...

They turnef out beautiful! Love the smartied too, I miss those!!

Anonymous said...

adorable.

kellypea said...

I just love the look of all those pops ready to be plucked off that tray! I hear you on the idea of prep on this one, but it wasn't too bad. I usually make quite the mess with chocolate, and this time, I thought about my organization (what a concept, huh?), so everything went well. The stoplight pop at the bottome is darling!

Lis said...

I think you did a great job decorating them! I love the smarties.. too cute! :)

xoxo

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Wow our minds sure work alike! Now I'm hooked.
So very cute!

Tammy said...

Your pops look great!

Megan said...

Totally worht the effort!! Love your shapes.

Christine said...

I agree, yes they were time consuming but definitely worth it! Your pops look great!

Chris said...

Great job! K love the stop light...I would be all about green...ready set go into my mouth! :)

Anonymous said...

These look great!!! I'll eat all the ones with the smarties first!

Lunch Buckets said...

I'm totally envious that you worked the word "frippery" into this post.

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Dolores - I am just about to go and check yours out.

Hi Gretchen - one of the best cheesecake recipes that I have ever had.

Thanks Sylvia!

Three coming up Cakespy.

Thanks Pixie and Rosa.

Agreed Deeba - it was fun!

Thanks KJ - they were my favourite too.

Hi Maybahay - agree it was daunting, but worth it.

Thanks Y - you would have done a super job with the shapes.

Hi Mary, absolutely - I think the balls would be fine without the stick, it's more of a convenience thing (if it stays in!).

Thanks Kim, Mandy, Natalie, Helene and Marye - your kind words are much appreciated.

Hi Kellypea - the picture of them en masse on the tray makes me hungry!

Thanks Lis.

Hi Tanna - I know, when I read your post, I laughed when we had the same thoughts on the recipe.

Thanks Tammy.

Amen Megan and Christine - they were worth it.

Thanks Chris - absolutely a green light to these!

Hi T & D, the smarties were my one small flash of inspiration - they were originally meant to be the centres on my flowers that never were.

LOL Lunch Buckets - it's a good word.

Susan @ SGCC said...

Your pops are such fun! I love the different shapes and all of the colorful decorations! Well done!

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Susan!

Emily said...

Spectacular! They look so good.
Great job.

cupcaketastic said...

Ha, too funny. I think that this one needs a try. Cake/cheesecake pops are everywhere at the moment. Great job.

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Em.

Hi Cupcake, you'd be great at these, 'cause you could make them really pretty.

Unknown said...

cute!

Rosie said...

Well done your pops look wonderful :D

Rosie x

Astra Libris said...

The geometric shapes are awesome!! I especially love the traffic light designs - too clever!

Brilynn said...

This was certainly a pricier challenge, but the results were pretty stunning!

Big Boys Oven said...

they looks so cute! my kids sure love to have them!

Deborah said...

I love all of the different shapes! Next time I try this I'm going to do the shapes, because they look so fun! Great job on this challenge.

Veron said...

Yes, I too thought...it would have been better to stop at the cheesecake, but after having fun with making the pops and how yummy it turned out, I was glad for the challenge. Your pops look gorgeous!

Ivy said...

Lovely lollipops. Your traffic lights should all be green. Nothing to stop us from eating some.

Kelly-Jane said...

You did a great job, I love your traffic light ones - great idea :)

Morven said...

You did a great job with these and I'm very impressed with the variety of decorations. I love the ones with the smarties!

Sara said...

They were fun, weren't they! I like your triangles.

Unknown said...

I think you created great shapes for the softness of the cheesecake. I like the squares!

creampuff said...

They look great! Nice job!

Cakelaw said...

Thanks Aamena and Rosie!


Hi Astrid, the traffic lights were serendipitous rather than by design, but I like 'em too.

Hi Brilynn, agreed entirely. this was a lot of fun, and I think many DBs pops are even cuter than the originals in the book.

Thanks Big Boys - they are perfect for children.

Thanks Deborah. I was inspired by Elle for the shapes, and it ended up being a great idea.

Thanks Veron.

Hi Ivy, it's all systems go! No red lights here.

Thanks Kelly-Jane - a moment of inspiration after my flowers sadly failed.

Thanks Morven.

Agred Sara - these were a lot of fun, and the variety of pops the DBs came up with is amazing!

Thanks Jenny and Ivonne.