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4.27.2008

Daring Bakers...A Hot Mess of Cheesecake Pops





This months Daring Bakers Challenge was from one the combo of Elle and Deborah. Deborah is one of my favorite bloggers in that she was one the first people to notice my new food blog and comment. I have never seen a more supportive blogger! Elle and Deborah chose Cheesecake Pops from Jill O'Conners Sticky. Chewy, Messy, Gooey. When I first saw the challenge I was kind of taken aback( I like cheesecake, but I'm not obsessed with it), but how more American can you get than with cheesecake and these cute pops! I didn't underestimated these would be easy. But I didnt have a enthustiactic feeling as I did with most challenges. Nevertheless I purchased some Merkens Wafers, and a mini heart shape cheesecake pan. I know the recipe called for scooping out the mixture to form the balls, but I wanted to play with the small shapes. I added Butterscotch Extract. The batter really rose tall in the heart shaped mini cheesecake pans and fell just a little once removed. I did the requisite chilling and started to work. I purchased two colors of wafers. Because I purchased in bulk, they were no instructions. I looked on line and read I could microwave them. Thankfully I only micro waved a bit, and I over nuked them to a caramelized crunch. I dug out the double boiler and decided to mix the two colors. This is where the trouble accelerated. My coating was very thick. I was getting tired of manipulating it to the pops. I did it small batches. Suddenly right before I was about to chuck the whole mess, I reread the instructions and forgot to add the shortening. It helped a bit. Some of my pops fell apart while coating. Maybe they were not frozen enough in my impatience. My hearts would have been more perfect with the thinner coating. I had to slice the hearts down to size, but the coating masked the shape. I kept adding my pan back to the freezer to hold. I tried squeezing some coating from a squeeze tub but had difficulty. I had lots of decorating supplies and sprinkles, various colored sugars, laid out, but this project needed more speed in decorating than artistry. Once my pops solidified a bit I went back and added gold luster to them with a brush. I did not make forty pops. I saved half of the mix to just scoop up and eat plain throughout the week. I prefer my cheesecake plain, or with a light fruit. I though the candy coating was little overkill. Kids would love it perhaps. My final verdict:



Upon tasting them the second day to photograph, I was pleasantly surprised. It was like crack on a stick! I thought the candy crunch would turn me off, but it was rather enjoyable. And I learned to appreciate my molten lava pops a little more. Next time I'll do better. As my Mommy would say "they're are so ugly their cute!"
With all that's going on on with me, I'm glad I rose to the challenge. Despite my failure, I learned more about sugar craft and candy with this exercise. So thanks Deborah and Elle. But the other Daring Bakers and their creations.

PS: The Daring Bakers have a new forum.Some parts are open to the general public. Check it out.

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67 comments:

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

I think they turned out wonderful!
We really enjoyed that crunch!

Gigi said...

They colors are amazing! Especially funny was "...crack on stick"! It's true, it was very hard to stop eating them.

Pixie said...

Great work coco, love the lava color ;)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Great looking pops! They turned out great!

Cheers,

Rosa

KJ said...

I'm sorry they didn't turn out quite the way you wanted. But I think they still look great.

desie said...

well done. you shouldn't be hard on your pops, they look lovely. i like the colour.

zlamushka said...

this is the third ones I see today. maybe it s a sign, I should make some :-) ugly yet cute? I agree :-)

Deborah said...

Good for you for persevering!! I still have a hard time with dipping things in chocolate,even though I have done it quite a bit. Great job!

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Oh Coco I think they turned out beautifully! Great job on the challenge!

Mary said...

I thought the cheesecake didn't need the coating either and I most of what I ate came right out of the pan! I think yors look really cool. Not all cute and pretty, but definitely cool.

Kajal@aapplemint said...

these babies arent easy to coat !
love the lava colour. and your pops are much better than the ones i tried a month ago.

Gabi said...

I love your creativity!
I would agree- these are definitely in the "Messy" category of the book! :)

jasmine said...

Really like the iridescence...

j

BC said...

"Crack on a stick" is pretty accurate. hahahaha

Christine said...

I like the colors they are eye catching. I think they came out beautiful!

Veron said...

they look fantastic to me. "Crack on a stick" ha..haa...I agree with you there!

Megan said...

I've never used the colored wafers but now I'm tempted. I wouldn't say no to one of your cute crack balls!

Andrea Meyers said...

Crack on a stick! ha ha ha

They turned out very cute, and you did a great job persevering with the challenge.

Nemmie said...

I think they turned out great! And butterscotch, ahhhh. I am drooling.

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a wonderful job and these look so fun.

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

myriam said...

i cant believe i didnt think of pink cheesecake pops myself. they look adorable!

Anonymous said...

They are not ugly..LOL! they look great.

Jen said...

I think they look imaginative and wonderful - I just think the whole idea is a bit too over-the-top for me.

kellypea said...

Whoa! Total party pops! Those silver pops are snazzy! Yep, some of mine fell apart, too, but we had fun picking them out of the chocolate and licking our fingers! No calories, of course!

Dagmar said...

I think they look lovely, perfect for a party!

Helene said...

Don't sing the Uggly Child Blues yet, because they turned out lovely! Crack on a stick, ahaha!

Jerry said...

Love the crack on a stick comment! I am becoming addicted to them.

Lis said...

I don't think they are ugly at all.. I love the colors!! Crack on a stick!! HAHAHAHAHAH!

xoxoxoxox

Anonymous said...

Crack on a stick, I love it!

Katie B. said...

We are all our own worst critics!! Your pops are lovely and you should be proud!! Great job!

Chef Erik said...

Wow! That looks so yummy. I bet my lillte nephew would love it.

Jen Yu said...

Uh-uh honey, those are not ugly. They look pretty good to me and I like that yours are colored! How cool. And as long as they taste good ;)

Laurie said...

I love the colors..so "Glamorous"! :)
Also the butterscotch flavoring..yummm.

Unknown said...

These are the most unique pops I've seen so far, and I love how persistent you were.

Chris said...

I think these look out of this world! :)

Dolores said...

They're not ugly, they're *artistic*. And my taste group would agree, they're crack on a stick.

Dharm said...

As long as they tasted great! Guess we all had similar issues...!

G said...

Ohhhh, they're cute! Your commment on their ugliness reminds me of that italian cookie: Brutti ma buoni (ugly but good). Except yours are cute!

Anonymous said...

Oh so pretty! I love the gold dust.

Marq said...

Girl, you are not lying about them being "crack on a stick"! I've eaten enough to where my tummy AND my teeth hurt! :) I think that your pops look great. We are always critical of our own work. Next time add MORE shortening. I had the same issue and was a little worried about adding too much shortening....I'm glad I did! Just add it in intervals until you get the consistency you desire. Good Job!

Anonymous said...

LOL @ crack on a stick. I think my kids think so too.

I think the beauty of these is in the taste rather than the decoration. I like that they look homemade! (I say that because mine def do, I aint no food artist!)

Proud Italian Cook said...

Courtney, I agree, sometimes we are way to critical of our work. Everyone else see's it differently.I always like the color combinations you use. My scooping didn't work, I ended up rolling them like meatballs!!

Henny A. said...

Very cool colors on those lollipops! Great job!!

Emily said...

I LOVE crack on a stick! It really gives me energy.

The Caked Crusader said...

look pretty fine to me!

Mama Mia said...

your cheesecake pops are so PINK and yummy looking! I just joined daring bakers and ill be starting next month! yeay!

Karen Baking Soda said...

Woot! Look at those colors! Nice!
I thought too that after cutting and freezing it was going to be fun, nope, that was when the hard work started. You did a fine job!

L Vanel said...

Very festive and pretty looking! Cool!

April said...

I think that your pops turned out perfect!!

Big Boys Oven said...

such a deep coating of colors, I am sure my kids will love to have one or more!

Brilynn said...

Ha! I love "they're so ugly that they're cute". Glad you got the challenge completed!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

yes they remind me of Wrinkles the Dog that my daughter had or perhaps a Cabbage Patch Kid. My daughter dragged them everywhere and they were so cute in a way. They were much loved just like your cheesecake on a stick. It is not always in the frilly packaging that makes greatness:D

Cakespy said...

You totally rule the school, dudette. I would LOVE to take a bite of these pops. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? I don't care! I want your pops instead!

Anonymous said...

who cares what it looks like? it's cheesecake on a stick!

Renee said...

They look great! I love the idea of colored sugars.

Sara said...

hee hee! hot mess! crack on a stick! i think they look great.

Kelly-Jane said...

Lovely pops :) and you are so right - we had to be really speedy before the glaze set! Well done.

Chou said...

I'm still trying to make mine (I'm a bit time challenged at the moment), but I have to disagree with your ugly. I like yours. They look like little snowballs of fun.

Swati said...

Great work Glamah!! I am so impressed..All of you at Daring Bakers work so so hard..and the results are always amazing!! Lovely pops!!

Anonymous said...

Great job on the pops!

meokha said...

wow, those cracks sure are a treat for the eyes!

creampuff said...

Oooooooooo ... butterscotch extract! I love what your mom said about them!

Heather said...

Holy shit, lady, my comment will be lost in the sea of your millions of comments. Those look presh, and I want to eat at least 17 of them. But I will eat store-bought coconut sorbet instead, 'cuz I'm watching my calories. >:(

Christine said...

I love the pink color and the butterscotch sounds really good!

Half Baked said...

I don't think they're ugly at all! Crack on a stick, true ha ha:)

Candy Design Guy said...

Your Pops look great. Do you ever decorate with Merckens or Clasen melts?

glamah16 said...

All I use. Your product is cool!