Cheesecake pops-Daring Bakers

I was so excited about this challenge that I actually made these in the beginning of the month. This recipe was so much fun to make, and I can't wait to see what my fellow daring bakers did with their pops. The challenging part about this recipe is dipping the pops into the chocolate. Because the pops were frozen when you dip it into the chocolate, the chocolate hardens very quickly. I had a hard time making the pops pretty!! Oh well..they were yummy anyway!! The recipe listed below is a half portion of the original. The original can be found at Deborah's Taste and Tell.

Cheesecake Pops
Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor

Makes 15-20 Pops
2.5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 ½ large eggs
1 egg yolks
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/8 cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
15 to 20 8-inch lollipop sticks
1/2 pound chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

1. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

2. 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.

3. Grease a 10-inch cake 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

7. 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.

8. Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Note:

• I used a springform pan, which wasn't recommended in the original recipe. The only thing you have to be careful about when using a springform pan is to make sure you wrap the bottom of the pan with foil so the water won't seep into your pan.
  
• It took about 3 hours for my pops to be frozen. I took them out in batches because they kept melting while I was dipping.
• Instead of scooping the cheesecake into little balls, I used a flower cookie cutter.