Daring Bakers POP! (Dairy-free cheesecake pops with recipe)

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Daring Bakers POP! (Dairy-free cheesecake pops with recipe)

I’ve had a lot of fun with every Daring Baker challenge I’ve participated in. I’m still an amateur baker and each month I’ve had to do something I’ve never done before.

First, I tackled my biggest baking fear – yeast. Next, was the first time I had ever made Swiss meringue buttercream (which I now make on a regular basis). In January, I made my first lemon meringue pie including my first time making lemon curd. And last month, I made my first layer cake.

This month is no exception for the list of firsts. Cheesecake. I happen to love cheesecake, but I haven’t had any since finding out I was lactose intolerant. I just figured cheesecake would be one of those things I wouldn’t have again without being in extreme pain (or taking an entire box of Lactaid crushed over the cheesecake).

With the help of the NEW Daring Bakers site, I was able to get my questions answered and made the cheesecake completely dairy free. And it’s delicious! The pops are so cute and an easy way to bring cheesecake to a party. Thanks to this month’s hostesses: Deborah from Taste and Tell and Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms. Be sure to check out the DB blogroll to see all the other cheesecake pops.

Cheesecake Pops
Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Me (halved the recipe and made it dairy free)
Makes ~35 pops
2 1/2 8-ounce package of Toffuti Better than Cream Cheese – at room temperature
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoon of flour
1/8 tsp salt
2 1/2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 Tbsp full-fat soymilk + 2 tsp Earth Balance margarine – melted, mixed and cooled to room temp
1/2 pound dark chocolate
1 tablespoon of shortening
straws & sprinkles

Preheat oven to 325F. 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 eggs and the egg yolk, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream mixture (milk + butter).

Pour the batter into 8-inch pan, coated with cooking spray. 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 ramekins. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes. (Mine took 50 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. (I refrigerated overnight.)

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls (My cheesecake was very firm. I just cut the cheesecake into squares and triangles) and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a straw 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 a double boiler (I use a bowl over a pan of boiling water), heat the chocolate and 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.

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. Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. (I let held the pop for a minute or so to let the chocolate set so that I wouldn’t have a “footprint” on my pops)

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

Dessert, Other

32 comments »

30 Responses to “Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake”

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1

CB — March 30, 2008 at 4:57 am

I love the idea of perfect party minicakes!! They look delish! Great job! That flour picture is so funny. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that – flour on the counter, on my KA, in my hair, on my face!
Clara @ I♥food4thought
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2

Nemmie — March 30, 2008 at 5:10 am

Yum! Love the raspberry/lemon combo, and the mini cakes are adorable 🙂
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3

Morven — March 30, 2008 at 11:36 am

Well done – what an innovative variation. They look so cute!
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4

Maryann — March 30, 2008 at 11:49 am

I can totally relate to the slippery effect.
Your cake looks beautiful!
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5

Sheltie Girl — March 30, 2008 at 12:09 pm

You did a lovely job on all your mini cakes.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
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slush — March 30, 2008 at 1:23 pm

Adorable! Your KA and mine would be best friends. ‘Chuck’ is always filthy. Poor guy. He gets cleaned up, just to be coated again. 😉
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Ben — March 30, 2008 at 1:27 pm

How cute! Making mini-cakes is a great idea. Next time I make this cake I will try that, I still have a HUGE cake in the fridge I need to eat :-/

Cheers!
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8

~Amber~ — March 30, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Great idea on the mini cakes. They are really cute. Great job. To the next challenge we go.
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Carrie — March 30, 2008 at 3:21 pm

beautifully done!!! love it!!!
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Jerry — March 30, 2008 at 3:59 pm

I love the little cakes! Plus the raspberries! Yummy!
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L Vanel — March 30, 2008 at 4:20 pm

The mini cakes look really amazing!
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12

Allergy Mom — March 30, 2008 at 4:46 pm

The minicakes are wonderful! Now, you’ll need my address to send one…Libby 😉
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Butta Buns — March 30, 2008 at 5:23 pm

Love the idea of the mini cakes, that’s so adorable!
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14

Bridget — March 30, 2008 at 7:16 pm

Mini-cakes are definitely more work than one large cake! They’re so cute though.
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15

Nikki — March 30, 2008 at 7:43 pm

What a cute idea! They look adorable!
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Gail — March 30, 2008 at 7:51 pm

I love desserts in miniature and your mini cakes look beautiful. I think I will most definitely be making mini cakes sometime in the near future – thank you for the wonderful idea!

~gail
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Claire — March 30, 2008 at 9:04 pm

I’m loving the mini versions! The cake looks fantastic. Mmmmm!
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Peabody — March 30, 2008 at 9:32 pm

I made mini ones too. I hate to tell you but it is way easier to frost a whole cake than mini ones. 🙂
Looks great.
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Beth G. — March 30, 2008 at 9:52 pm

Beautiful!! You did a gorgeous job :O)
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20

Namratha — March 30, 2008 at 11:08 pm

These individual cakes look pretty…well done!
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21

Lesley — March 31, 2008 at 12:10 am

Really cute idea to make individual cakes, I love that. Great job!
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jasmine — March 31, 2008 at 12:58 am

I adore your minicakes. V lovely.

j
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leafy bombshell — March 31, 2008 at 2:23 am

Oh! the minicakes are just the best idea ever. I probably should have done that with my oh-so flat cakes. How great.
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Ritsumei — March 31, 2008 at 3:57 am

Mini cakes -what a great idea! I think I’m going to have to try that here pretty soon. Looks like a delicious lot of fun. Especially the part where you get to eat the scraps. I think this cake was some of the best I’ve had.
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ruthEbabes — March 31, 2008 at 2:15 pm

What cute little mini cakes! Aren’t things just better when they’re mini?

Great work!
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Gabi — March 31, 2008 at 4:00 pm

I love the little cakes and the picture with the raspberry and lemon zest is so enticing!
Perfect!
xoxo
Gabi
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Jenny — April 1, 2008 at 1:14 am

Another messy baker here! And I love the mini cakes – I’m nice to see its as low-tech as cutting circles out of larger pieces rather than trying to bake a bunch of cakes in miniature pans.
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creampuff — April 1, 2008 at 1:55 am

Jen,

Your little cakes are gorgeous! I too love swiss buttercream … congratulations on a job well done!
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29

JMom — April 1, 2008 at 9:12 pm

wow, that takes some patience, putting all those cakes together! They are just the cutest though. ~ JMom
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Big Boys Oven — April 2, 2008 at 8:54 am

so petite and cute!