La Palette’s Strawberry Tart on page 374 was this week’s challenge. And it was, simply, divine. I think by it’s pure simplicity, it became extraordinary. It starts with a sweet tart dough, then a layer of jam (I used raspberry) and then some cut up strawberries. That’s it! Simple, fast, delicious. I served mine with a little Ready Whip and everyone was in heaven!
Ok. Cheesecake pops. Sounded a little sketchy to me at the beginning. I’m used to “French-style” (not that, I’m sure, it’s even remotely French) cheesecake which is rather soft. I couldn’t quite grasp how in the $%^# it was going to stay on a stick… But the freezer did help, heh. It took me a while to make these. Not because it was difficult, mind you. The cheesecake did just what it was supposed to and assembly went fine. It took a while, because, in a word, I’m lazy. I made the cheesecake on Saturday. Was gonna make the pops on Sunday. Didn’t happen. Ordered Chinese and watched a movie instead. Monday? nope. Tuesday? nope. Finally, on Wednesday I decided I’d rather have cheesecake pops than the cheesecake jerky I was going to end up with if I kept letting it dry out in the fridge. So rolling I went. Messy business. Decided to get a bowl of water and wet my hands before I shaped the pops. Massive improvement and end product had a much smoother look as a result. Now you ask yourself, did I freeze them for just an hour and then coat them? Hell no. A-#1 procrastinator here. That day? nope. Friday? nope. Saturday? yup, but only because we’re supposed to post on Sunday. If not, who knows when my lazy behind would have bothered.
Now, the coatings I am proud of. I have to say, I am not a cheesecake purist. Hubby is, but not me. Straight cheesecake is ok, but I prefer some chocolate or nuts or fruit involved. So, naturally, had to do lots to my pops. Made 4 different kinds.
1) Chocolate Strawberry - dipped in liquified strawberry jam then dipped in bittersweet chocolate
2) Double Chocolate - dipped in bittersweet chocolate then rolled in mini chocolate chips
3) S’mores - dipped in melted marshmallow fluff, rolled in graham cracker crumbs, then dipped in semi-sweet chocolate
And my personal favorite, cuz everything is better with peanut butter…
4) Peanut Butter and Chocolate - dipped in warmed peanut butter, dipped in bittersweet chocolate, then rolled in a mixture of chopped peanuts and pecans.
I must say, though, my pops are waaaay bigger than they are probably supposed to be. Golf ball size, I would say, at the smallest. The first couple were pop-size, but the super stickiness of my mildly dehydrated cheesecake was irritating so they slowly started to grow until the final pops were close to racketball size or just cut wedges of cheesecake. Supposed to be 30-40 pops. How many did I make? About…20. Was not feeling this challenge.
Had lots of fun dipping the pops though. Gave me some creativity outlet. And then, of course, there was the eating of the left over dipping supplies… spoons full of peanut butter, marshmallow and mini chips? Scrumptious. Yeah, and sooo on the diet.
I’m very proud of the end result. The pops were darn tasty and came out super cute, imho. Thanks to Elle & Deborah for the super challenge from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor!
Check out the other fab DBers!
Make your own! Just try not to be as lazy as me!
Cheesecake Pops
Makes 30 – 40 Pops
5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)
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 325 degrees F. Set some 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 a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. 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 and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.
When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose its shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.
Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.
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.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.
P.S. I didn’t post on the 26th (that would be early) the time stamp on my blog is all woogie and it doesn’t matter how many times I fix it it always goes back…
Perfect Party Cake from Baking from my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
Well, those of us at KBK BAkery just didn’t think one cake was enough, soo… we made 3! Since Easter was this month we opted to make cakes to take to Easter, and since we are just friends, and not related (pity that it is) that meant multiple cakes. Luckily, as will all Dorie recipes (goddess that she is), the cake came together flawlessly so making 3 was not a chore. We all went for the classic white with lemon zest for the cake, but the fillings and icings are all a little different.
The first cake was for Beth’s family. She chose strawberry preserves for her cake. To add a little extra Easter feel, she also added a touch of pink food coloring to her buttercream.
Very cute! The pink is a little hard to see in the photo, but it was a very Easter appropriate baby pink!
The second cake was for my husband’s side of the family. For their cake, I went with raspberry seedless (i love that it exists!) jam and I went with a marshmallow frosting. Marshmallow just seems to go with Easter… maybe it’s all those Russell Stover marshmallow eggs I ate growing up?
The last cake I made for my parents’ house. Both my mother and father are diabetic, so I wanted to try my hand at a sugar free version.
And with the exception of the fact that the cake didn’t rise at all the cake came out very well. My parents enjoyed it very much and my dad had fun taunting his coworkers with the leftovers at work on Monday, heh. The filling was sugar free raspberry, and the icing was buttercream made with Splenda, so the only sugar in the cake was the lemon juice and the coconut on the outside. It was, by no means, fat free, heh, but pretty darn close to sugar free!
I used the bunnies to tell the cakes apart. The sugar version had a red ribbon and the sugar free had a brown ribbon! Thank goodness for color coded rabbits!
For the Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, and then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).
To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.
To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer, cut side down, on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.
Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, and then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.
1 pound unsalted butter (at room temperature)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
1 (16 ounce) tub marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff brand)
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
Beat in one-fourth of the sugar until fluffy, and then repeat with the remaining sugar.
Beat in the vanilla, and then stir in the marshmallow cream until well blended.
Yield: 24 servings
