DB's April Challenge: Vanilla Cheesecake Lollipop ~ 香草乳酪蛋糕棒

This month’s Daring Baker's challenge is fun and not as difficult to make! Thanks to Elle and Deborah. With my school’s fashion show around the corner and cakes I have to bake for friends’ birthday, I prayed for an easier challenge. It was such a relief when I found out that we are baking cheesecake (with a twist) coz I am good at baking cheesecake. Well, compared to everything else, that is =) All you need to do is keep mixing with a whisk, bake, and decorate! 100% foolproof!

This month challenge is to make cheesecake lollipop! That is right, cheesecake bite on a stick and dipped in tempered chocolate (flavors up to you); a recipe taken from Jill O’Connor’s beautifully presented Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey book. I have made some adjustments but still managed to stick to the following guidelines:

- Must use the basic cheesecake recipe supplied; you can add a flavor but it has to be white in color. For example, lemon and lime is okay but mocha and coffee is not.
- Must be 2 ounce per serving.
- It can come in shapes of diamond, heart, and flower so it is not restricted to just round.
- The dipping chocolate flavors and colors are completely up to you.
- You can jazz up the pop in whatever toppings.


These cheesecakes would make great entertainment piece at gatherings and parties, especially among children! How would I know? Well, I rounded up the kids of my neighbors and let them be the tasting judges! They all agree that these tasted great and I am the most talented person on earth ^0^

Vanilla New York Cheesecake
Makes 15 Pops

2 ½ 8-oz packages cream cheese or 568g @ room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/8tsp salt
2 ½ whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1 vanilla pod – split & seeded or 1tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 cup heavy cream

8-inch lollipop sticks
Boiling water as needed

I thought you should know:
- This cheesecake must be baked using regular cake pan (no removable bottom or springform).
- The recipe said to bake for 35-45 minutes but I had to bake for 80 minutes. Oven temperature slightly differs by brand so best to keep checking.
- It is not stated in the book if the recipe can be halved. However, I decided to try to convert the recipe to fit my 8-inch pan by just dividing everything by 2.

Prep:
- Wrap the cream cheese in plastic food wrap and place in microwave on high for 30 second to soften it.
- Preheat oven to 160 degree C/325 degree F.
- Grease an 8-inch cake pan.
- Boil some water for later use (appx. 2 liter).


Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Using a whisk, beat the cream cheese until blended; add the other ingredients in the following order, sugar --> flour --> salt and beat until smooth. Now add the whole eggs, egg yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla seeds/vanilla extract and cream; make sure that each item is well blended before adding another. Strain the cheese mixture then pour into the greased cake pan.

Place the pan in a roasting pan then pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. If the water dried out while baking, be sure to refill with more hot water. Once the top of the cake turns slightly golden and the sides begin to pull away from the pan then it is done, about 80 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. Place in fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight to set.

Once the cheesecake is firm enough; scoop out 2-ounce balls and place on a food wrap lined plate. Insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball then place in the freezer until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours. When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate.

Bittersweet Chocolate Coating
8 oz bittersweet chocolate – finely chopped
1tbs veggie oil

Chop the chocolate into tiny pieces and place in a heatproof mixing bowl (dry your bowl before using). Temper the chocolate by melting it in the microwave. Need to do it on medium for 4~5 times and at 30 second interval. Stir the chocolate each time the microwave stops until becomes completely melted and smooth. Add the veggie oil and stir until smooth. Cool for 1 minute before dipping the cheesecake pops.


Assemble time:
Optional - Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, sweet peppers, sanding sugars, dragees and etc.

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.). Either place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet or stick it into a bowl of rice to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening as needed. Refrigerate the pops until ready to serve or you can also let it set in room temperature!

By the way, I made 2 birthday cakes, a raspberry mousse cake with rose flavor Chantilly cream and a tiramisu along with the cheesecake pops this weekend! My kitchen is a mess right now!

Here to you two’s birthday; Happy Birthday R & M!