27 April 2008

Cheesecake Pops


Daring Bakers challenge #2- completed!  This month's challenge was hosted by Deborah at Taste and Tell and Elle at Feeding My Enthusiasms , who chose cheescake pops as our recipe.  I went through a phase a couple of years ago when I tried (for a few weeks) to make a good cheesecake at home and ended up giving up in frustration and haven't thought about attempting one again so I was a little bit nervous about this month's challenge.  It turns out that I really didn't need to be as the batter for the cake comes together really simply and then bakes at one temperature (previous recipes I've used have called for starting at a higher temp and then dropping the oven) and didn't have a complicated cooling process.  The most complicated thing  was wrapping my springform pan with aluminum foil to make it watertight.*

So- the cake batter only took about 10 minutes to make and it went into the oven for about 55 minutes until the cake was set (but it had not turned golden brown but remained a sort of ghostly white).  I took the cake out, let it cool on the counter for an hour and then popped it in the fridge.  After chilling the cake, I formed it into little balls of 1.5oz (45g) as I thought the 2oz. balls the recipe called for were just a bit too big and then skewered them with cut up straws for the pops to add some color (and because I had no idea where I could by lollypop sticks).  I did have some issues when I tried to dip the frozen pops in the chocolate as my chocolate just wouldn't get thin enough. It was the consistency of a thick pudding and therefore coated the pops a bit too thickly for my taste. I rolled some of the pops in crushed graham crackers with a bit of sugar and coconut, as the crust is one of my favorite parts of the cheesecake and I was a bit sad not to have one.

The pops turned out really prettily but I have to say I didn't love them. They were good- perfectly adequate but not fabulous. The cheesecake had a great smooth texture but seemed to lack depth of flavor and the thick chocolate coating overpowered the cheesecake on the first bite. I don't think that I will make this recipe again, but I am really glad that I tried it and I now know cheesecake is not beyond by power, but maybe something I should leave to the pros nonetheless. If you'd like the recipe check out Elle or Deborah's blogs.

Update: I just ate one of the leftover cheesecake pops (I made them Friday and now it's Sunday) and I have to say that they have improved with time.  On Friday I thought they were missing part of that essential cheesecake flavor but it seems like two days in the fridge helped it to develop.  Maybe my problem was serving them the day they were made instead of giving the cake some time to chill- have any of my fellow Daring Bakers experienced this?

* I decided to only make half a recipe as I had no idea who I would feed 40 cheesecake pops too. I took Elle's advice and decided to measure a smaller pan by the amount of water it would hold but the water immediately started pouring (I was using a springform pan). Before baking the cheesecake, I double wrapped the pan in aluminum foil till about 3/4 way up the sides which worked out fine- just be really careful when you take the pan out of the water bath if you do this, as some water may accumulate in the bottom of the aluminum and could pour out and burn you.

15 comments:

Amy J. said...

They look great! Good job!

Shelby said...

If my pops hadn't been so soft, I would have rolled them in graham cracker crumbs before dipping in chocolate for the total cheesecake taste! Sorry you didn't care for your pops! I still think they look great!

Rebecca said...

I understand about the graham cracker crust. That's one of my favorite things about a cheesecake too (well, that and a good cherry topping), so to not have it with my cheesecake--I felt like the cake was naked!

Faery said...

wow the look delicious and with those colors they look like happy pops

Elle said...

Your pops look so cute eith the straw sticks...inspired handle if you don't ahve lollipop sticks! Have to admit, if I did it again, I'd add lemon zest to the batter for more flavor. Great job!

Jen said...

Thank you all for the comments- they're the best part about being a daring baker (well maybe aside from getting to eat the challenges). I've just eaten on of the leftover pops and I have to say it tastes a lot better than when I made them. Two days in the fridge seem to have allowed the flavors to develop a bit more and it had that cheesecakey taste that it was missing (and I managed to get the proportion of chocolate coating right on that one).

Jen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lunch Buckets said...

They do look good - I'm interested to see if mine taste better tomorrow too! I thought the flavor was a little flat, wishing I had added some lemon, but maybe it just needs time!

Unknown said...

Sorry that you didn't care for your pops! I was nervous about the challenge too. You did a fantastic job!

Ally said...

Love the straw sticks, Brilliant idea! They look wonderful!

kat said...

they look really good though, its been such fun to see these all over the internet this weekend

... said...

good job on your second challenge..
Your balls look amazing.
Great work.

Iisha of
http://thefablifeofi2daj.blogspot.com/

Barbara said...

They look so perfect (same size, perfectly round). Great job!

Jen said...

Thanks again to everyone for the comments...

Barbara- I actually used my kitchen scale to weigh out the cheesecake so they would all be the same size- it worked really well (with a piece of saran wrap over the top so it didn't get covered in cheesecake).

Michele said...

I'm glad you ended up liking them better a few days later! I don't know if mine got better over time-- they were gone within the first day. Hehe!

You did a great job. I think they look fantastic!

xoxo

Michele
Abigcupoftea@blogspot.com