This was certainly a fun challenge. Little, 2 oz bites of cheesecake on a stick, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with anything wonderful your heart could possibly desire. Some of the things I thought of (but did not necessarily have the ingredients for) are:

• edible glitter
• oreo crumbs
• chopped pistachios
• chopped pecans or walnuts
• chopped macadamias
• graham crumbs
• ‘nilla wafer crumbs
• grated chocolate
• grated white chocolate…

well you get the idea… I thought that these would be especially wonderful for a bridal shower or wedding dessert buffet. The cheesecake was straight forward and easy to make..no problems for me there. I think the hardest thing was waiting for the darn thing to chill enough to make the cheesecake balls!

As I noted below, I do not use crisco, so I used organic coconut oil instead.

Many thanks to the fantastic team of Elle ( Feeding My Enthusiasms) and Deborah ( Taste and Tell) for this fantastic challenge. And check out the Daring Bakers BlogRoll for more  cheesecake pops!

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, confectionery coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening *Note form Marye, I do not use vegetable shortening so I used organic coconut oil

(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 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.

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 confectionery chocolate pieces) as needed.

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

Images (c)2008 Marye Audet

Content (c) Marye Audet for baking delights 

Post from: Baking Delights

Image:Morguefile

Really, if you have been reading all along there isn’t that much to add. Making a wedding cake is not much different from making a birthday cake, only you have to deal with more layers and make sure that the construction is stable.

It is best if you work according to a written schedule. Weddings are a chaotic, hectic, stressful time and it is easy to forget to do something. Write it down! You may find the following schedule to be helpful.

Four months before the wedding:

Do your research and decide what shape, style, flavor and size of cake you want. Look at as many cakes as possible. Many hobby and craft stores carry the Wilton books and magazines that deal exclusively with wedding cakes. I like these because not only do they show excellent pictures, and have great instructions, they have a list of the tips and other items you will need to successfully finish your cake.

Order everything you need. Tips, decorating bags, pans, separator plates, icing colors, edible glitter…whatever you are going to need order it all at once. If you are using boxed mixes start buying them now as they come on sale. As a rule of thumb a box makes 6 cups of mix. I suggest using the 2-inch deep pans and not the 3-inch deep pans. Weight becomes a difficult issue to work around.

One box of cake mix will make:

2 8- inch layers

or

1 10-inch layer

You will need a box and a half to two boxes for any larger layers. Again, mixes vary so plan accordingly. Use this very helpful chart at Wilton.

3 months ahead

bake your cakes, wrap securely and freeze in heavy duty foil.

2 months ahead

Recheck your supplies and instructions for the cake you are making and order in anything you may have forgotten

1 week ahead

Make any melted chocolate decoration you may be making such as:

• scrolls
• monograms
• shells

4 days ahead

Remove cakes from freezer and allow to thaw completely. Keep wrapped.

Make icing and tint in all of the colors you will need. Fill your decorating bags. Practice techniques you are new at on a piece of parchment.

Icing Specifics:

These amounts do NOT include the icing needed for actual decorating.

2 8- inch layers-4 cups of icing

2 10-inch layers- 5 cups of icing

2 12-inch layers 6 cups of icing

2 14-inch layers 10 cups of icing

Remember that one batch of icing yields about 3-4 cups

3 days ahead

Ice your cake with crumb layer

2 days ahead

finish icing and decorating your cake. Set it up to make sure everything will work. Adjust as needed. Disassemble tiers and place in containers for transport.

Put together a container for any “911″ decorating you may need to do when you reassemble the cake. Put in bags with icing, any glitter or sugar, and decorating tips, and well as an offset spatula, and an icing knife.

Day before

Transport cake carefully. Assemble cake on cake table and make any adjustments, or fixes you need to make. You may want to leave the tiers unassembled and have someone you trust to do it just before the reception. Admire your work. Great job!

Day of the wedding

Check the cake, or have someone check it to make sure everything is o.k. Assemble the tiers if you have not yet done so.

Congrats!

Review

Wedding Cakes 1

Wedding Cakes 2

Wedding Cakes 3

Wedding Cakes 4

Wedding Cakes 5

More Cakes for Inspiration: 

Wedding Fantasies:The Most Awesome Cakes in the Universe- I did this post last fall, but it has some incredible cakes pictured on it!

Post from: Baking Delights

Image: Morguefile 

Buttercream is a luscious frosting, but if you are making your own wedding cake I would not suggest using it. Why?

Buttercream has alot of butter (duh!) and if you use it you must keep it refrigerated until just before the reception unless the building is very cool. While confectioners icing made with crisco is not as delicious, it is temperature friendly and you can set the cake up and not worry about it. In fact, you could set the whole thing up in the reception hall the night before the ceremony, and only check on it to make sure everything was still o.k. and your best friend’s cousin’s nephew didn’t run his hot wheels cars through it.

The confectioner’s frosting is also easy to decorate with, takes colors well, and holds it’s shape. Again, you can make your own wedding cake but you really aren’t going to want to take a lot of chances with it.

The best icing recipe I have found for wedding cakes is this one:

1 c crisco

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

1/2 tsp butter extract

1/4 tsp almond

1 lb confectioners

2 tbs cream

Mix the crisco and flavorings. Add the confectioners one cup at a time. Stop to scrape sides and bottom of bowl once in awhile. When all the sugar is mixed in the icing will be dry looking. Add cream, a little at a time, until you achieve the correct consistency. You want it to be slightly stiff.

3 cups

You can vary the flavors easily by adjusting the flavorings. Remember that if the flavoring has a color to it the frosting will not be totally white.

Review

Wedding Cakes Part 1

Wedding Cakes Part 2

Wedding Cakes Part 3

Wedding Cakes Part 4

Post from: Baking Delights

Choosing the shape of your wedding cake is not as easy as it used to be. Nearly any shape of cake will stack, and most will tier so no matter how you want your cake to be structured the shape is negotiable. If you have not read the first two segments, go back and look them over…

Wedding Cakes 1

Wedding Cakes 2 

Mostly you see round wedding cakes. But it totally does not have to be that way. As I mentioned in the Wedding Cakes 2 there are:

• round
• square
• hexagon
• oval
• heart
• petal
• paisley
• castle (yeah a stand up castle!)
• rectangle

There are probably more you an find with a little research. Not only can you use one shape pan in several sizes but you can mix and match to get a very individual cake. For example, you can use a rectangle cake as a base and then use round, square or oval tiers, or stacks on it. There are many variations, so keep that in mind.

Here are some links to cakes in different shapes to get your creative juices flowing.

Squares and Rectangles:

• elegant square offset cake- look how the layers were stacked on this. Rather than stacking them the same direction they turned some of the layers for a unique and elegant look.
• unique large cake without many stacks- this is a great idea. The cakes are arranged individually to look like gifts. This is great if you don;t want to do alot of stacking, and makes it easier to transport.
• square offset stack cake- in this cake they offset each layer at a different angle for a simple, contmeporary look.
• a romantic version of the same style cake- add some scrolls and red roses and this cake is more traditional.
• offset squares in alternating colors: the decoration is simple but because of the way color is used it looks very detailed.
• This adorable suitcase stack is made of rectangles: a great nontraditional cake for a couple with a sense of humor.

Round and Oval:

• unusual shaped round :this shape is created by cutting out part of a small round cake to fit when pushed against the bigger round.
• elegant round stack: cala lillies and black ribbon make a very classic cake.
• several round smaller layers :put together make up the bottom layer on this cake, while larger rounds are stacked and tiered. This gives it a deep scallop around that bottom that is unusual.
• round stacks and raised tiers make an eleganly traditional cake for many guests.
• traditional tiers for each separate size layer. This is really not as hard as it looks, and will not topple.
• offset oval stack: is elegant and simple. the beauty if from the unusual shape of the cake.

Shape Combinations:

• a combination of offset square and round stacks- this is a whimsical cake due to its decoration but a beautiful combination of round and square.
• you thought I was kidding about 400 cupcakes?
• more cupcakes.
• cupcakes: seriously, even I thought that I was kidding.
• offset round on a square base.
• this cake on a cakestand illustrates how beautifully a cake stand will work.
• squares with a round in the middle make a unique stacked cake.
• this stack is made up of round, hexagon and petal shaped layers. The end result is beautiful because of the simple color and design.
• this raised tier cake uses the castle cake pan as well as the round.

Heart:

• Classic tiered heart :ivory and red for Valentine’s wedding. Elegant and romantic.
• this is the most unique stacked heart cake I have seen. Just beautiful.

Petal:

• Victorian elegance: this draped cake uses a petal pan to make the drapes stand out.
• another petal design.

Hexagon:

• a simple stacked hexagon: real roses on a plainly frosted cake is simple but beautiful because of the shape.
• another simple stacked hexagon: but with a sweet, country look.
• another hexagon stack.

I tried to find pictures of the paisley cake but could not…sorry! I hope that these pictures have given you some ideas of your own.

Next…how to put the cakes together!

Image: Morguefile

Post from: Baking Delights