So this challenge is cheesecake lollipops (recipe). We don’t really eat a lot of dessert, so I had to wait until there would be guests to help eat all this (I halved the recipe, but still). I knew there was a lot of cooling/freezing time and that I should start the recipe a day or two ahead, but I had better things to do Friday night and I was busy all day Saturday and too exhausted by the time I got home. So Sunday morning, resolve to do it in a rush rather than put it off for next weekend (already committed to carrot cake next weekend for a bday). The first shortcut I took was not waiting for the cream cheese to reach room temp. I cut it up small and put it near the oven for a while, warmed up maybe 5 degrees or so, but couldn’t wait! The batter seemed a little lumpy, but I wasn’t too concerned. Had to get it cooked and cooling to be ready by 6!
I don’t have a regular 10″ cake pan, only a springform (and 8s and 9s) and since it always cooks without dripping, I didn’t think to check that it it would be watertight… so hot water leaked into the pan when I poured it into the larger roasting pan (with batter already in). I thought it might be automatically ruined, but I wasn’t about to go buy tons more cream cheese, so fuck it. I took the cake pan out and did my best to make a seal with layers and layers of foil and put it back in. Set timer for 20 (of 35-40m bake time) since I halved it. I ended up baking it longer than the original time (maybe 55m?) to get it set properly. Let it cool not quite the full time (another shortcut), but it was ok. Tried to make balls at first, but without a melon baller or ice cream scoop – shaping cheesecake by hand is just annoying – so I immediately simplified by just cutting squares (man, i’m good at shortcuts!). I varied the sizes quite a bit for variety and so people could choose a little or a lot, try different flavors, etc. The dipping and decorating was (no surprise) the most fun part, and I got into drizzling, mixing different toppings, etc. Everyone was amazed and loved them, so there’s a new sure-fire thing in my arsenal I guess, and though the technique isn’t difficult, all the waiting time makes it unlikely that I’ll do this too often. Also, even halved the recipe produced way more than I could use (even with company!) and I was giving them away for days.
2 1/2 eggs….
sort of lumpy batter in an improvised foil shield
done. lots of hot water coming out of every foil crevice. This part I’ll do differently next time!
I have neither the time nor the patience to make spheres. Plan B!
I was happy with chunky rectangles, but made a few more balls out of the scraps
with sticks in they looked like a winter forest…
melt crisco! get into my body!
mis en place – ready to decorate
This is going to get messy fast.
first round – coconut, almond
a combo.
add caramel, try drizzling… learned it works best with a spoon
realized i had raspberries in the freezer… got to crushing.
this was a good idea. everyone agreed.
decorated forest.
