This months Daring Bakers challenge was cheesecake lollipops. I was looking forward to making this months challenge because, well, its cheesecake, covered in chocolate, on a stick! What a great idea!
Cheesecake is one of my favourite desserts and I have made it a few times. This cheesecake recipe was different than the one that I usually make and I was looking forward to seeing how it turned out. The original recipe called for five bricks of cream cheese which was way too much for me so I reduced it to three. Unfortunately I did not have a pan that was big enough to hold my 8×8 inch baking pan so I was not able to bake it in a water bath. I was kind of looking forward to seeing how baking a cheesecake in a water bath would work out. Next time maybe. It worked out fine without the water bath and the cheesecake tasted great!
Assembling the lollipops was kind of fun. I could not find lollipop sticks so I used some small straws. They were ok but they really couldn’t hold the weight of the chocolate cover cheesecake. That was ok because once you picked them up they disappeared quite quickly. 🙂 I also forgot to pick up the vegetable shortening that the original recipe called for when I went grocery shopping. I tried using butter instead but the chocolate just did not get runny enough so I added some cream. It ended up being a chocolate ganache coating. It worked and that was what mattered. I decided to coat my chocolate covered lollipops in coconut, chopped almonds and chopped pistachios.
Given that I have made cheesecake and chocolate ganache before this challenge was came together fairly easily. It took a lot of time though with all of the cooling, chilling and freezing though. The results were well worth it. The chocolate covered cheesecake lollipops were really good! My favourite were the pistachio covered ones and they disappeared quickly. Overall I really enjoyed this challenge and its yummy results. It’s not too early in the morning for a chocolate covered cheesecake lollipop…
Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Lollipops
ingredients
- 1 batch cheesecake (see below)
- 1/2 pound chocolate
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- * lollipop sticks
directions
- Cover the cheesecake in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight.
- Scoop 2 ounces of the cheesecake, form it into a ball and place it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Insert a lollipop stick into the cheesecake ball.
- Freeze the cheesecake pops until very cold, about 2-3 hours to overnight.
- Melt the chocolate into the butter and heavy cream over a double boiler and turn off the heat.
- Dip the frozen cheesecake lollipops into the chocolate ganache and then into any decorations that you want and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Refrigerator overnight overnight.
Cheesecake
ingredients
- 3 8 ounce packages cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour (rice flour for gluten-free)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
directions
- Beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl until smooth.
- Beat in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time.
- Beat in the vanilla and cream.
- Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 inch baking pan.
- Bake in a preheated 325F/170C oven until the cheesecake is slightly golden brown on top, about 45-55 minutes.
- Let the cheesecake cool.
The pistachios do sounds great. Great job on this month’s challenge!!
Love the nuts and the coconut on them! Great job on these!
What a great challenge! I can make cheesecakes in my sleep, so this would have been sooo fun! They look fantastic. I have made cheesecakes with and without water baths and honestly, for me, the difference in taste/texture isn’t enough to choose one method over the other. Great job!
Somehow I just “knew” yours would turn out great! They look terrific!
Looks great!
oooh. i haven’t had a lollipop in like 5 years! looks good…so tempting. x
Uh, huh. You’ve saved me some, I trust. I’ll take the pistachio.
Seriously, fine job as usual, Kevin!
I like the coconut ones best- well done on the challenge!
I love them all covered in coconut and nuts. Great job rising to the challenge Kevin!!
omg, this looks FANTASTIC!! 😀
Kevin, you ROCKED this month’s Daring Bakers Challenge, for sure – such a fun way to enjoy one’s favorite dessert! :0)
I am dying seeing these all over the blogosphere this morning!
I love the way your pops came out! Amazing! Can’t wait to see what you do with next month’s challenge!
wow so cute! I just joined Daring bakers so I will be baking something up next month! yeay!
Kevin, yummy looking pops! What a great idea to cover them in pistachios!
Very unusual idea. Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts too. No doubt it tasted great!
Great job, I did nuts and coconut too! Next time will try pistachios though.
Beautiful picture! I was trying to figure out which one I’d want to try. I went with all 3 🙂
Wow – I like the idea of the coconut and nuts. You’ve done a good job of them!
Love the coverings! Never can go wrong with nuts or coconut!
gorgeous pops Kevin. very neatly done, very attractive.
Yes, this is definitely not a last-minute dessert, but worth the time. All of your varieties look great!
I had the same problem finding a pan to hold my 10″ cake pan. I ended up using a 9″ pan instead. Now you have me curious!
You did a fantastic job and those photos could be included in the book. Awesome!
Kevin, you stud! These are gorgeous. What a lovely job you did on the pops. I like the different toppings you used too.
mmmmmKevin so nice and yummy!!!! looks lovely!!! xxxxx Gloria
I love the pistachio topping idea! I didn’t think of that one. Lovely pops!
great topping ideas! good job, kevin!
You are an inventive lad! They look great! I want one! Are they all gone? Really?
these are so bite size! love it! esp the one with coconut! reminds me of lamingtons! and nuts! OMG! sold!!
i love all those pops. great choice on the toppings kevin.
Looks tasty Kevin, and this Daring Bakers thing sounds like fun.
They look great. I use the same stirring straws as my sticks, and it was entertaining to watch people try to eat them.
Yum! These look divine!
What beauties! I used nuts and coconut too. Great choice, hehe.
Those look awesome! I used all 5 bricks of cream cheese but it wouldn’t all fit in my 8×8 pan so I baked the rest of it in a loaf pan. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but it worked!
These sound great – I love them!
Kevin, they’re gorgeous!!!
I have given you a blogging with a purpose award on my blog. I really enjoy reading your blog!!
I love how you decorated your pops!
amazing. That looks fantastic! very creative indeed. Will be a hit with everyone if served in a party!
Great job, Kevin! Your pops look beautiful! Wasn’t this a fun one?
2 skewers of chipotle shrimps + 1 cheesecake lollipop will make me a happy girl 🙂
really beautiful job, and i love the photography here. 🙂
The pistachio one would be my favorite as well!
You rock! Those look fantastic.
Nice job Kevin! They turned out great 🙂
I want the one with pistachios!
I coated mine in pistachios too! It doesn’t seem to matter that you used a choc ganache, they look delish.
Ooo … coconut! That’s a brilliant idea!
They look delicious :)lfxkbtxp
These are delicious-looking.
We want some NOW.
Can you do mailorder to London?
I can tell you had alot of fun doing this one. It’s kind of like being a kid again.
Your pops are works of art! I love the incredible texture of the nuts – such a perfect contrast to the smoothness of the cheesecake.
Very pretty! Neat job! Well done!
Cheers,
Rosa
Gosh – I hope when I join DB, that the recipes will be as cute as the last 2!!! You did such a GREAT job executing!! I LOVE! Now, can you send some my way? hehe
Oh god… I’m dying! These look AMAZING!
What a great thing to make for a special day like a baby shower!
What a fun challange this was. Yours look great!
Yum, love the pistachio! Your pops look fantastic.
This was my first cheesecake made in a water bath, and I didn’t find it was all that different from cheesecakes made without a water bath.
Yum! Great combos, Kevin! Now I’m regretting not coating my balls with chocolate…
Wow Kevin, yours look great! Love the presentation and LOVE the pistachios!
Yum…alot of yum…some more yum…you go! I want to make these right now, then I want to eat them all, then sit and delight in their yumminess!
This is so cute. I’ll have to make these one day.
I really wish the dentist would give out lollipops like this. Maybe then I would actually go.
Kevin, Your photography is so good!
Your pops look yummy and perfectly shaped!
That’s really cute!!!
Your pops look so perfect! Nice going!
awesome..I like the coconut.
I agree, this was a fun challenge. Your pops look sensational! You always take such fantastic photos.
These look so yummy ! Excellent job Kevin.
Great pops Kevin…i too baked my cheesecake in an 8inch square pan 🙂
You’re right! I also discovered that chocolate covered cheesecake is a delicious breakfast treat. Great looking pops, Kevin.
This picture is BEAUTIFUL. New camera? I liked this challenge, too. I can’t wait to find out what the next challenge is!
Your cheesecake pops look terrific. I’ll bet the crunch of nuts made them even tastier. Good job!
I love the photo you took of your pops!! I’m eating the last one from my batch now… for breakfast!
I particularly like the pistachio-covered one. Nice job!
I’m with the seventy-some people before me, the pistachio ones look great. Great job!
Wonderful job on the challenge!!
My favs were chocolate and pistachio ones too. It was such a tasty combo. Your pops look delish!
it wasn’t hard but so fun ! I enjoyed it a lot as well 🙂
Your lollipos are perfect !
That coconut one has my name written all over it!
INCREDIBLE! I found this recipe in a cookbook called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey – all of the recipes in that book are absolutely PHENOM. This is definitely a favorite! 🙂