Pop Goes the Cheesecake!

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Well, it's that time again. The time when Daring Bakers everywhere flaunt their talent and creativity, their hits and their misses, their flips and their flops! It's post time for the April Daring Baker Challenge: Cheesecake Pops!
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This month our lovely hostesses are Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms and Deborah from Taste and Tell. The recipe that they selected was from the cookbook Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth by Jill O’Connor. Now before I get thousands of comments and emails about this, let me clear something up. Yes, I know that the name of this book is similar to the name of my blog. And no, I am not a big, fat copycat. I did not name this blog after Jill's cookbook. In fact, I had never even heard of this cookbook before I started blogging. That's the God's honest truth. Those of you who have followed my blogging journey may remember that when I first started out - I didn't bake! Since I wasn't really a baker, I didn't even own any baking books until I went out and bought Dorie's book.
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I named this blog after the most gorgeous cinnamon buns I had ever seen while watching the Food Network one day. Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy just popped into my head and I typed it into my Blogger profile. After a while, I did learn about SCMG and I was pretty damn shocked (and a bit embarrassed). But, that's life. It's a big world out there folks, and things like this are bound to happen. Deal with it. I have. Now, back to the challenge.
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When I read that Elle and Deborah had chosen Cheesecake Pops for us to make as our April DB challenge, my reaction was.....well.....let's just say, enthusiastic. Cheesecake? Did somebody say cheesecake? Oh boy! I love cheesecake!!! Cheesecake is one of my all time favorite things ever!!! I can't believe it! WOOHOO.....CHEESECAKE!!! YIPPEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
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After I calmed myself down, I sat down to make a plan. Right from the start, I knew I wanted to make my pops reminiscent of flowers. I had a helluva time finding flower cookie cutters in the right size and thickness. I ended up with only one lousy cookie cutter that would work. So much for having a variety of different flowers in my little garden. But I was undaunted. At the craft store, I found a couple of cute flower pots to "plant" my flowers in and some pretty ribbons in the dollar bin. I was set. Excellent!
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Baking the cheesecake was not as easy as I thought it would be. Even though I'd never had problems before, this time the cake cracked a little. Crap! While I was wailing and moaning, Mr. SGCC calmly pointed out that the chocolate would probably camouflage this. Oh. Right. I knew there was a good reason why I married him! He was right. After the flowers were dipped, I
couldn't even notice the cracks.
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I used a mixture of dark and milk chocolate to dip my pops, because while the dark looks better, we all prefer milk chocolate. To decorate the flowers, I swirled some iridescent pearl dust on them. Pearl Dust is usually used to decorate fondant, but it worked really nicely with the chocolate. I took the cheesecake scraps and rolled them into balls. Then, I dipped them and rolled them in toffee bits, crushed pecans and crushed pistachios. I tied some ribbon around each and arranged them in my pots.
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I was very pleased with the way they turned out. I really thought they looked lovely, but you can judge for yourself. I will tell you that they tasted divine! They earned the Mini-SGCC Taste Testing Seal of Approval. There's no higher praise than that!
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If you'd like to see some more delectable cheesecake creations, please visit the Daring Bakers Blogroll. I know you'll have a very sweet time!
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Cheesecake Pops
Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey
(Printable Recipe)
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5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionery coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional
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Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.
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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.
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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.
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Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.)
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Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionery chocolate pieces) as needed.
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Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.
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Enjoy!

Comments

Nic said…
I had not heard of that book until recently, BUT I had heard of your blog!! (and I love the name!)
Nice pops by the way!
Jen Yu said…
You know, I had never heard of the book until the challenge was posted and I immediately thought of your blog. In all honesty, I like your blog title better :) Lovely job on your pops - especially the luster dust! Brilliant. xxoo
Anonymous said…
Great pops! Cute presentation. Husbands always know the right thing to say don't they.
CookiePie said…
Your pops are so cute!! I love the flower theme, so festive.

I joined Daring Bakers recently - I'm excited to get started!
grace said…
those flowers are psychedelic, man! totally rad! ultra groovy! okay, i'm done. :)

i'm loving your creativity here, nicely done!
Patsyk said…
I love how your pops turned out! The flower shapes are adorable!
Gretchen Noelle said…
You did a GREAT job on these! I love the flower pot with the pops stuck in it. Goodness, kudos for creativity!
Michele said…
I love your presentation! And what a funny story about the name of your blog-- I have to admit, when I saw your blog name in the blogroll, I assumed you were the famous person that created the recipe! Hehe!

I'm excited to snoop a bit more on your blog-- lots of yummy things!

xoxo
Michele
A Big Cup of Tea
Jen said…
These are absolutely gorgeous!
So glad you enjoyed this challenge Susan. I love all your pop flowers:D
Mandy said…
gorgeous pops! They earn the seal of approval in my household too.
Deborah said…
That pearl dust is absolutely gorgeous! I love the flowers, but they all look great!!
Anonymous said…
Wow! Beautiful!! The pearl dust just puts it over the top!
Anonymous said…
oh my, cheeeescake pops! wow -- that looks incredible, i want some so bad. you lucky devil...
Susan @ SGCC said…
Nicisme- Thanks for the vote of confidence and the compliment! :)

Jen- Thanks, Sweetie! The first time I saw the book, I almost died! I knew that people would think I swiped the idea. Some have asked me about it in the past. It was honestly just a coincidence.

I'm glad you like my "flowers" Weren't they fun?

Kim- Thank you! Yes, they're always the voice of reason. ;)

CookiePie- So glad you like them!
Welcome to the DBers. I'm looking forward to your future creations! )

Grace- Far out! Glad you like them!

Patsy- Thank you. They were a mess to make, but I like them.

Aran- Thanks!

Gretchen- Awww. Thanks! I'm so glad you like them!

Michele- Lol! I wish I was her!
Welcome to my humble corner of the web. Come by anytime! :)

Jen- Thanks! Glad you like them.

Thanks, Val. I'm glad you like them. It really was a fun challenge.

Mandy- Thank you! They were pretty darn good!

Deborah- I'm glad you like them. The pearl dust was perfect for my inept decorating fingers! ;)

Culinography- Thank you! I'm really glad you like them.

Aria- Make some! They're really not hard at all. :)
Unknown said…
When I saw the name of the book, I did look at your blog title but saw that it's a bit different, so I didn't think you had stollen the name! Cute pops! So different and colorful. Much better than my non-existent ones! :-(
Andrea Meyers said…
Your pops look wonderful! I love the flower shapes with the dust, very pretty.
Cakelaw said…
Susan, these are just gorgeous!! The flower thing was what I wanted to do, but couldn't execute - double brownie points for bringing this idea to life.
Helene said…
The flowers in their little pot are too cute! Great job on the challenge this month! I love how they shine :)
Susan, These look like part of the landscape, gorgeous presentation! Love it!!
Ginny said…
Looks great! I love the flowers...so cute!
Pixie said…
Adore the pot of the pearl dust pops- stunning! One of the best pops I've come across thus far. ;) Well done!
Nicole said…
I cannot believe your flowers have cheesecake in them. They are too cute!
L Vanel said…
They look really yummy! I love the coatings!
zorra said…
Wow, wonderful pops and wonderful husband! ;-)
sunita said…
Beautiful pops...I love the pearl dusted flowers :-)
Anonymous said…
They do look pretty :)
Veron said…
love your cheesecake pop bouquet! You did a fantastic job!
Anonymous said…
Beautiful work, as always. I can't make these because it would be very, very bad to have them in the house. Very. Bad.
Brilynn said…
Love your presentation, so very pretty!
Susan @ SGCC said…
Claire- Thanks, Claire! I'm glad you liked them.

Andrea- Thank you! If I were more artistic, I would have tried to paint designs on them.

Cakelaw- Thank you so much! I saw that on your post. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

Tartelette- Thanks, cutie! I'm so glad you liked them! :)

Thanks, Marie! That's just what I was going for.

Ginny- Thanks!

Pixie- Aren't you sweet! I'm so glad you liked them. Thank you!

Nicole- My hips can't believe it either! ;) Thanks!

L. Vanel- Thank you!

Zorra- Lol! Thanks on both counts! ;)

Sunita- I'm glad you liked them. I loved the sparkly dust too!

Maryann- Thanks!

Veron- Thank you! You did too! :)

Joanne- Lol! Tell me about it! I will have to padlock the fridge soon! Thanks!
Susan @ SGCC said…
Thanks, Brilynn! I'm glad you liked them. :)
Anonymous said…
The pearl dust is really fun! I can't imagine there was a time when you didn't bake -- everything you bake is so beautiful.
Katie B. said…
Beautiful pops! If only they did grow like that - I'd have to try to be a better gardener! Great job!
Tempered Woman said…
I love the pearl dust- being a sucker for aesthetics and all. But damn girl~ you SO had me with pistachios~ YUM! Beautiful pops.
KayKat said…
I love the nuts toppings! These pops rock :) And I love the coincidence of the name, don't you be embarrassed :)
Your pops look incredible. I love the flower ones!!! How creative!
Those are so beautiful! I love the pearly shimmer on the flowers. What a decorating genius you are. Brava!
Anonymous said…
Awwww! They're so cute! And they sound fabulous. What could be better than cheesecake on a stick? Pretty much nothin, that's what. lol :)
Anonymous said…
It's obvious to me that the name of your blog and Jill's book proves that great minds do indeed think alike!

Great site. I look forward to visiting again soon.
kellypea said…
No need to defend -- I'd never heard of the book before this. Besides, lots of people intentionally do a play on words for their blogs. It's fun! And your pops are so cute. That shimmery shiney stuff is so cool, and you did what I only thought of doing -- using a cut pot to stand them up in. Very nice touch. We thought they were pretty tasty, too!
Anonymous said…
Susan ... these are fantastic!! Love how you propped them in flower pots!
Anonymous said…
Another beautiful example!
Suzana said…
Those look so cute! And absolutely love your blog's name!
Anonymous said…
You know... I really feel like I learned something by reading your post. Thank you! I had no idea about the iridescent pearl dust - what a unique touch! Your Pops are beautiful!

xoxox Amy
Unknown said…
This was the first time that I heard of the book. The challenge was fun but man are you talented! Your pops are amazing and the color of the pot just pops them out in the pic!
Marq said…
Awww, these are cute! I love the 2nd set of pops. They blend in soo well with the background!
Laurie said…
They all look beautiful..but I love how you used the Pearl Dust. Fabulous!! :)
Susan @ SGCC said…
Susan- Thank you so much! You're very sweet to say that.

Katie- Lol! Wouldn't it be great if you could grow cheesecake in your garden?

Tempered Woman- Thanks! The pistachios were my favorites.

KayKat- I'm glad you liked them! (And my name too.) ;)

Thank you Judy. Glad you liked them!

Lynn- You're making me blush! Thank you, but I'm no genius.

CanaryGirl- Thanks! You're right. Cheesecake on a stick is pretty hard to beat!

Dana- Welcome! Please come back anytime. And thanks! ;)

Kellypea- Thank you! You are very kind. I'm really glad you enjoyed my little display. It was a lot of fun putting it together.

Chez US- Thanks so much! Glad you liked them.

Noble Pig- Thank you very much!

Suzana- Awww! Thanks!

Amy- Thank you! That dust can be used either wey or dry. Next time I want to try it wet.

Chrismacd1- Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like my pops. You're very sweet!

Marq- Thanks! I really like them too. They look like they're growing in the garden. :)

Laurie- Thank you! I wish now that I had gotten more colors!
creampuff said…
Susan,

Those are just amazing! So creative and pretty!
test it comm said…
Your pops look great! I really like the flower shaped ones!
... said…
Your balls look amazing.
Great work.

Iisha of
http://thefablifeofi2daj.blogspot.com/
Elle said…
The flower pops are so pretty and creative and fun! Great job.
Renee said…
Love your pops!!! So creative!!
pixie said…
love the flower shape! They seem to have not been cut out but moulded!
LyB said…
So creative and beautiful! I love cheesecake too, a lot, so I had to laugh at your screaming for joy, I probably would have done the same thing! :)
Anonymous said…
That's a really funny story about the name of your blog being so similar to the cookbook's.

Your pops look so good! Wow.
Congrats on a great challenge!
Texana said…
OOOO! I love the pearl dust on your flowers--very up-scale!
maybelles mom said…
I love how yours looked. very festive.
Susan @ SGCC said…
Thank you, Ivonne! I'm so glad you like them.

Obsessive- Thanks, girlfriend! I wish I could send you one. They were amazing!

Kevin- Thanks! Yours were beautiful too!

Lisha- Lol! Thank you! :)

Elle- Thank you! I'm glad you liked them. And a big thanks to you for such a fun challenge!

Renee- Thanks so much!

Pixie- Thanks! The chocolate coating softened the edges a bit. I think it's the photo angle too.

LyB- Lol! I do love my cheesecake! I'm glad you like my little garden. :)

Little Lisa- Thank you! I couldn't believe it when I saw that book the first time! But, it is what it is. :)

Texana- Thanks! I really liked that dust too.

Maybelle's Mom- So glad you liked them! Thanks!
these are fantastic! love the flowers...and your ribbons are beautiful!
these are fantastic! love the flowers...and your ribbons are beautiful!
Jescel said…
hmmnn.. I'd love to have some of those cheesecake pops.. they look so cute and yummy!
Barbara said…
They're gorgeous! I especially love the painted ones at the top of your post.
Susan @ SGCC said…
Steph- Thanks! So glad you like them.

Jescel- I still have a few in the fridge. Come on over! ;)

Barbara- Thank you! I like those too! :)
Chou said…
Wow! Your flower pops are beautiful. I have hydrangeas on the brain now. Yummy ones.
Anonymous said…
Nice job! Cheesecake in a pop sounded difficult but you definitely pulled it off! Very nice.
Anonymous said…
These look amazing! So much better than mine! I'd never heard of the book either but I love your blog name! Hx
Amy said…
I'd never heard of the book before this challenge. To me, your blog came before the book. :) Your cheesecake pops look adorable.
Susan @ SGCC said…
Thanks, Ladies! I'm so glad you liked my little pops! It was a fun project. I'm already looking for another reason to make again!
Anonymous said…
they're very cute and you've done a great great job :) it was a very funny challenge indeed :)
Anonymous said…
Susan, these are truly so pretty! These beautiful treats seem to your calling and baking at that! Are you sure you never really baked before? We've seen all your baking treats and they look marvelous!
Great minds can always think alike and it just so happened that you and Dorie were thinking along the same lines. You are not a copycat and a true SGCC original!
Dolores said…
I'll confess I was curious about the similarities between your blog name and the April challenge author. Great minds *clearly* think alike. :) I love your cheesecake flowers... great job!

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