Say Cheese! Cheesecake Pops - Daring Bakers April Challenge

When I found out that this months Daring Bakers Challenge was cheesecake pops I was excited. Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts to make. I've even won a second place in a local baking contest years ago when I was living in Tennessee. It was a white chocolate-raspberry swirl cheesecake. (and not to be out done, I won first place the following year with dark chocolate raspberry brownies)

For those of you who do not know who the Daring Bakers are, let me tell you. We are a group of avid cooks and bakers who all receive the same recipe at the beginning of the month. We have most of the month to make this recipe but we wait until the same day at the end of the month to post. Until that day, our challenge is a secret.

I planned to make the cheesecake a couple of weekends ago but my plans were set aside when we had to take Sophie to the emergency vet. Thankfully she's ok but I was wiped out so no baking. The following weekend was less hectic so the cheesecake was made and set in the fridge to await pop making.

I soon figured out that freezer side of my skinny side by side fridge was way too narrow to fit my cookie sheets. Rats! I had to improvise by using a smaller baking dish and freezing only eight naked pops at a time, letting them set up, moving them to another small baking dish and repeating the process until all 40 pops were formed.

Similarly, I also did this when Jim and I dipped them in chocolate. We could only do about eight at a time because of the skinny freezer space. But once we got a rhythm going all went smoothly. I had an assortment of toppings for the pops set on the counter and Jim stood command at the stove to dip.

We had an assortment of toppings like crushed macadamia nuts, coconut, crushed almonds, mini M&M's and shaved dark chocolate and some pops were just dipped without any extra topping. It took about 2 hours to get all the pops done dipped and back into the freezer. The next day I brought them into work for my staff. Needless to say, they didn't last long and my staff are looking forward to next month's challenge.

And to see other Darking Bakers pops check out the blogroll.

Chicken Tikka and Cheesecake

I decided to clean out the freezer today. Among the frozen stash were several packs of ground beef (good for a quick burger or mapo tofu), some frozen strawberries (margatira time!), 2 half used bags of edamame and lots of chicken.

After reorganizing most of the stuff, I pulled some of the chicken out to use for dinner. And as luck would have it, we had two small containers of plain yogurt in the fridge. I looked through a few recipes I had on hand and found one for Chicken Tikka.

I had all the ingredients so dinner was planned. It was so easy to put together and I'm sure we'll make it again. The flavors were bright and well balanced and the chicken stayed juicy and tender. Next time I will make up some kind of yogurt sauce or spicy sauce to dip it in.

For dessert, cheese cake with fresh blueberry sauce.

Chicken Tikka

¾ teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
2 cups whole-milk yogurt
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (1½”) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon black pepper ¼ teaspoon cayenne
5 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

Purée all ingredients except chicken in a blender until spices are well ground.

Put chicken in a large bowl, or divide between 2 large sealable plastic bags, and add yogurt mixture, stirring or turning to coat. Marinate chicken, covered and chilled (turning occasionally if using bags), at least 4 hours. (You can marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours if you like)

You can skewer the chicken and grill it or use an iron skillet grill pan to cook the pieces individually. Heat turning over once, until browned in spots and just cooked through, 9 to 12 minutes total.

I think I shall call him ...... "Mini Me"

Every year at the library we have "Volunteer Recognition" which is our way of gathering all our volunteers together to let them know just how much we appreciate what they do. This year we are holding this event in November and tying it in with the Thanksgiving holiday but calling it "Giving Thanks to our Volunteers."

Staff usually sign up to bring various homemade goodies. It adds a more personal touch to the affair. I looked at the sign up sheet and noticed that most of the staff were planning to make savory dishes so I opted for dessert. Cheesecake to be exact. On the sign up sheet I wrote, "Cheesecake, flavor to be determined." Now all I had to do was determine what kind......oh there are so many I could choose from.....traditional NY Style, chocolate, chocolate chip, key lime, pumpkin, pina colada, etc. But then it hit me.....Red Velvet. Yes, I would make a Red Velvet Cheesecake.

Last December, Southern Living magazine had a recipe for this cheesecake. I told my sister about it and she made it. Ever since, she's been asking me if I made yet. I hadn't until now. Go ahead sis, ask me.....go ahead.....
The recipe called for a 9-inch springform pan but all I had were 8-inch ones and mini ones. I used one of my 8-inch pans and decided to put the extra into one of the mini pans. This way I had a little cheesecake for Biscuit Boy and me. I have rarely had any leftovers when I bring a cheesecake to work which greatly disappoints Biscuit Boy but now I had a solution.


And how did it taste.....delicious. We ate half of the mini cheesecake and have the other half waiting for dessert tonight......mmmmm

Here is the recipe:

Red Velvet Cheesecake

1½ cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup butter, melted
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1½ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
½ cup whole buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
2 (1 oz.) bottles red food coloring
1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1 tbsp. granulated sugar; press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Beat 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese and 1½ cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Beat 1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese and ¼ cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cheesecake. Remove sides of springform pan. Garnish, if desired.

Paper Chef #6 Entry

Ricotta Cheesecake with white chocolate and strawberries in a graham cracker-marzipan crust

Yes, that's a mouthful of a recipe title, a very delicious mouthful. Thanks to Biscuit Boy for taking the photo's and being the official taster.

This was actually not my first idea for a recipe. The first idea I had was for a Napoleon filled with an almond paste-ricotta filling and slices of strawberries with white chocolate drizzled across the top. But I am a better cheesecake maker than pastry chef so I made my second recipe idea. A picture of a slice of the cake follows this posting.

Here's the recipe:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (7 oz.) tube of almond paste, grated
6 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tbsp. sugar
2 (15 oz.) containers of ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 strawberry jam

Garnish: white chocolate dipped strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

To make the crust: combine the first four ingredients together in a bowl, making sure the almond paste is well blended with the graham cracker crumbs. Pour into the springform pan and press on the bottom and up the sides. Set aside.

To make the filling:
In a mixer, combine the ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Beat until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, jiggle it to smooth it out. Drop spoonfuls of the jam around the top. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, swirl the jam around to marblize. Place in the oven and bake for 50-6- minutes or until the center is slightly firm to the touch. Cool completely.

Serve with white chocolate dipped strawberries.