Daring Bakers Challenge - Cheesecake Pops

Bin of cheesecake pops
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

This month's Daring Bakers Challenge was hosted by Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms and Deborah from Taste and Tell. The recipe can be found both places, so don't look for it here!

The basic premise is that you make a cheesecake, make balls out of it, and dip them in chocolate and other things. I had some creative inspiration that I didn't follow through on, mainly because the texture of the cheesecake was a bit too delicate. I wanted to make balls and decorate them in three different ways, and turn them into cheesecake pop shish-ka-bobs. It just wasn't meant to be.

The cheesecake had a really hard time setting up. I had baked it for double the time required when I took it out because it had started to crack, but I don't think the recipe was as infallible as I would have liked. As a result I had to take an extra day or so with this recipe, allowing more time to work around the softness of the cheesecake.

The cheesecake itself was left in the fridge overnight before balls were made, and the pops were frozen overnight rather than just for a few hours before being dipped in chocolate. Even as I dipped them, as they came to room temperature the chocolate seemed to want to stick less.

When I finished this recipe, I was not feeling like my cheesecake pops were particularly photogenic. I am always bringing recipes into work, but my co-workers never end up in my pictures.


Not this time. I sent out an e-mail informing them that showing up for break and cheesecake pops meant they might end up in the blog. Caroline, pictured here, was so excited about this idea that she posed for a picture even though she didn't eat a cheesecake pop!


Janet gives the cheesecake pops a thumbs up.


Susan models the first problem with how I made the recipe. When I went to the grocery store, they had no popsicle sticks. The only thing I could find were coffee stirring straws, which are remarkably flimsy.


Linda models one way to eat the cheesecake pop, by supporting its weight with the thumb from the other hand.


Elaina just decides to attack hers. I would like to be able to say that no cheesecake pops were harmed in the making of this blog, but that would be a lie.


Ed uses an extra toothpick to try to solve the eating problem, but it falls on the table anyway.


My cheesecake pops were pretty mobile. They even made a house call to be consumed by a librarian who recently had surgery.


Not all of the cheesecake got made into pops. This recipe really makes quite a bit! The first strawberries of the season had started to show up, so some of it was eaten with those. It made me wish I had thought to poke some strawberry pieces into the cheesecake balls before dipping in chocolate - that would have been a dream.

Speaking of strawberries, I might have bought a gallon today, and might be spreading the strawberry love shortly in my blog. Stay tuned.

Categories: Chocolate, Cream Cheese, Daring Bakers