*Update on previous post regarding bad drivers: EC and I went on our weekly trek to Spokane this Saturday. We were driving back pretty late, so it was quite dark. As I was driving along, I looked in my rear view mirror to see a car coming up behind me, pretty close. I glanced in my mirror again and saw the dreaded red and blue lights coming from his grill. My stomach did a flip flop thing and I thought, I have never seen lights on a grill before, it must be an undercover cop. So, I proceeded to pull over, but the car simply passed me. Strange. Then off from the side of the road, a car pulled out of the darkness. A few seconds later I looked in my rear view mirror once again to see the dreaded red and blue lights flashing. That's twice in less than five minutes - I almost had a heart attack. Once again I proceeded to pull over, but the cop just passed me, turned off his lights, and raced into the darkness. A mile or so down the road we saw the first car that had lights on its' grill pulled over by the actual cop. Which made me happy.
Now, on to Cheesecake Pops!
This little balls of goodness were fun to make and tasted amazing! EC had one while we were walking to the neighbors, to share some so I didn't eat them all, and he bemoaned the fact that we were giving so many away. Perfect, bitesized pieces of cheesecake on a stick. I also still have some in the freezer that I didn't put on sticks, which will be more like cheesecake truffles, but I ran out of chocolate so I didn't have a chance to make them all. The best part about these was decorating them, I had a lot of fun with my different sprinkles.
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 2, 10-inch cake pan and pour the batter into the cake pans. 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, 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.
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