Easter is approaching and I wanted to use wheatgrass for some kind of presentation. We used to make lollipops all the time in the hotel where I worked last. Cookies in a stick, sugar lollipops, chocolate lollipops and this one was my favorite, cheesecake lollipops.
Growing up, we didn't celebrate Easter the same way Americans celebrate it. We didn't have an Easter bunny, or egg hunts or colorful eggs. For us Easter meant going to church on Good Thursday and having our feet washed during mass. To be honest, I couldn't tell you what that meant. The week before Easter was somber with church processions and a mourning environment. Or at least that's my recollection of it.
Monday after Easter Sunday was always great though because we used to eat "mokots", a brioche type of yeast bread topped with a hard cooked egg. I always looked forward to Easter just for that bread.
My mom was the best helper and taster during her visit
This is a very simple cheesecake recipe but the vanilla adds such a warmth and aroma. I used silicon mats, also called flexipans, to bake the custard in and once baked, froze them so they can pop out really easily. That's the beauty of silicon molds, you can bake in them, throw them in the freezer, they are really easy to wash... Endless possibilities.
If you do not have a silicon mold however, you can bake the cheesecake mix in any cake pan, sheet pan or cheesecake pan you have. Once baked and cooled, refrigerate the whole pan overnight. Remove the pan from the refrigerator and with a small ice cream scoop, make small balls. Place these balls on a sheet pan and freeze them so they don't fall apart when you dip them in chocolate. And while they are in the freezer, insert a lollipop stick and freeze again so they are hard solid when you want to dip them.
I know, I know, it sounds complicated but it really isn't!
Vanilla Cheesecake
450 grams organic cream cheese, room temperature
135 grams sugar
150 grams creme fraiche (or sour cream)
1 vanilla bean
2 organic eggs
15 grams cornstarch
30 grams organic heavy cream
Cream the cream cheese with the sugar in the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment. Make sure you scrape the bowl a couple of times to avoid lumps later on. Add sour cream, vanilla and the eggs one at a time. Add cornstarch and heavy cream. Mix until well combined and there are no lumps.
Pour mix into mini half sphere silicon molds. Place this silicon mold on a sheet pan. Place inside oven. Carefully pour some boiling water on the sheet pan to create a water bath. Bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. Let the pans cool and then place in the freezer and freeze until the cheesecake is frozen solid.
Remove the pan from the freezer. At this point, you must work quickly because we want to keep the spheres hard solid so they don't lose their round shape while we handle them. Make a ball with the half sphere cheesecake pieces and insert a lollipop stick in the middle. Lay these on the sheet pan as you work through all your pieces. Repeat this process with all the cheesecake we have baked. Place lollipops in the freezer again.
Melt some dark chocolate over a double boiler, remove from the heat and dip the frozen cheesecake in it. Dip into chopped pistachios. Keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them.
450 grams organic cream cheese, room temperature
135 grams sugar
150 grams creme fraiche (or sour cream)
1 vanilla bean
2 organic eggs
15 grams cornstarch
30 grams organic heavy cream
Cream the cream cheese with the sugar in the Kitchen Aid with the paddle attachment. Make sure you scrape the bowl a couple of times to avoid lumps later on. Add sour cream, vanilla and the eggs one at a time. Add cornstarch and heavy cream. Mix until well combined and there are no lumps.
Pour mix into mini half sphere silicon molds. Place this silicon mold on a sheet pan. Place inside oven. Carefully pour some boiling water on the sheet pan to create a water bath. Bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. Let the pans cool and then place in the freezer and freeze until the cheesecake is frozen solid.
Remove the pan from the freezer. At this point, you must work quickly because we want to keep the spheres hard solid so they don't lose their round shape while we handle them. Make a ball with the half sphere cheesecake pieces and insert a lollipop stick in the middle. Lay these on the sheet pan as you work through all your pieces. Repeat this process with all the cheesecake we have baked. Place lollipops in the freezer again.
Melt some dark chocolate over a double boiler, remove from the heat and dip the frozen cheesecake in it. Dip into chopped pistachios. Keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them.
Happy Easter everyone... eta Aberri Egun on bat pasa!
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→Vanilla Cheesecake Lollipops
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→https://mercymadame.blogspot.com/2008/03/vanilla-cheesecake-lollipops.html
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