Tinnie Cheesecake

I made my last trip (for awhile, anyway) down to see family this past weekend - and they were kind enough to make me a lovely lunch and shower the baby Robot with gifts :) I am spoiled and so is this child, I've decided. I'm spoiled mostly because my sister Miss Tinnie brought out the big guns, and made her awesome cheesecake.

This is The Best Cheesecake Ever. It is actually her version of one of those "kopy kat" recipes, a take on the Copeland's famous cheesecake recipe. I personally have never had the Copeland's version, but according to Miss Tinnie it is The Bomb. If it really does taste like this cheesecake, then I am a believer.

This version is dense and creamy but light, definitely not a baked cheesecake. It's a mile high and sits on a thick, awesomely nutty crust. It's the crust that gets ya. I begged for the recipe and Tinnie was gracious enough to share her version with me. And I'm sharing it with you. Err, it's probably safe to say she won't be sharing anymore recipes with me any time soon...

Tinnie Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Bisquick biscuit mix

3/4 c. flour

1 c. pecans, chopped

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

5 pkgs. (40 oz.) cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 c. sugar (make sure it's a "heaping" cup)

2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
16 oz. whipped topping

For crust:

Preheat oven 350 F.

Combine all dry ingredients, breaking up any large pieces of brown sugar. Add pecan pieces and melted butter and mix thoroughly. Press mixture evenly into a 10-inch springform pan. Place pan on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 13 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature.

For filling:

Cream together softened cream cheese and sugar and vanilla until smooth. Approximately 5 minutes on high speed, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Fold in whipped topping gently until mixture is smooth. Using rubber spatula scoop into pre-baked crust and smooth the top. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze overnight or at least 8 hours.

At least 30 minutes before serving remove from freezer and place at room temperature. Cut and serve with your favorite topping or plain.

Cheesecake Pops, Tiki-Style

It's Daring Baker time again! This month, we're making cheesecake. Cheesecake pops, that is: little chunks of cheesecake on a stick, dipped in chocolate and chilled. Yum! I will admit, a recipe with 5 blocks of cream cheese does make me hesitate for a second, but hey - it's only once a month that I indulge like this, right? Ahem.

We were given the opportunity to play around with this recipe, as long as we kept the cheesecake 'white'. I decided to get a bit tropical - for heavens sakes, when I made this it was freezing cold outside (and it is APRIL in KANSAS, it should be in the 70s). I thought some warm-thinking would maybe jump-start the weather around here.

Well, to me nothing screams 'warm and tropical' like tiki men and exotic flavors. Hence my theme! I made a pina colada cheesecake, using pineapple and coconut liqueur. I stacked my blocks of cheesecake on bamboo skewers (to get that true tiki statue feel), and dipped them in a coconut-spiked white chocolate. And the crowning touch: to decorate, I used yellow sparkling sprinkles and sugar-cast tiki masks.

Deborah and Elle hosted this month's challenge, and a big thanks to both ladies - the challenge was fun, and the cheesecake recipe is a keeper. The cheesecake is so smooth and creamy, so rich that the cheesecake is perfect for these little dipped bites.

Don't forget to check out the other cheesecake pops out there, compliments of my fellow Daring Bakers! We're hundreds strong, so I'm sure there are a lot of fun variations out there :)

Cheesecake Pops

(Recipe taken from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor)

Ingredients:

5 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 c. sugar

¼ c. all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

¼ c. heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

30-40 (8-inch) lollipop sticks

1 lb. chocolate, finely chopped (whatever type you want for dipping)

2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

Assorted decorations (sprinkles, sanding sugar, chopped nuts, etc.)

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 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 (*note: I baked mine for an hour, so keep in the oven longer if needed).

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 confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

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

Eggnog Cheesecake with Caramel-Rum Sauce

Oh eggnog.

We have a love/hate relationship, me and eggnog. I hate actual eggnog, I think it's the thickness of the drink (or the thought of raw eggs) that turns me off. Just the thought of drinking it makes me want to gag; I can't stand the stuff. However: the smell and taste I enjoy, so if offered a slice of eggnog pound cake or ice cream or cookies, I can't resist. And that is how it was with was recipe: eggnog cheesecake? Sure! I'll give it a try.


I actually came across an eggnog cheesecake recipe here, but there are dozens more all over the Internet. Each seemed to have its own complaints (not enough eggnog, too much rum, crust was flavorless, etc.) so I took bits and pieces from several different recipes to come up with what you see below. It was rather good, too: creamy and filling as any good cheesecake should be, with the distinctive custard-y nutmeg flavor that eggnog is known for. The caramel-rum sauce is rich and thick and is just perfect as a topping drizzled over each slice.


Eggnog Cheesecake with Caramel-Rum Sauce





Ingredients:
1 c. ground gingersnaps
3 Tbsp. melted butter
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 c. white sugar
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 c. eggnog
2 eggs
2 tsp. rum extract
1 pinch ground nutmeg
Sauce:
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 c. water
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. rum extract

Preheat oven to 325 F. In a medium bowl combine ground gingersnaps and butter. Press into the bottom of a 9-in. spring form pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a food processor combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and eggnog; process until smooth. Blend in eggs, rum extract, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into cooled crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to 250 F and bake for 45 minutes, or until center of cake is barely firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and immediately loosen cake from rim. Let cake cool completely before removing the rim.

For the sauce:
In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in water. In a medium saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp. butter. Stir in brown sugar and the cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and add 1 tsp. rum extract. Allow to cool.