Daring Baker's Challenge # 3 - Cheesecake Pops

I need a Stairmaster. I need one now. Because I am so addicted to these cheesecake pops! Who knew! I was actually rather "baking-shy" about this recipe. I had never made a "real" cheesecake before and I wasn't sure how well this was going to turn out.




I probably shouldn't have learned!

These cheesecake pops are so incredibly rich and heavenly! Oh my word! So good! They do take some time, so you need to plan ahead before making them, but they are worth it.




This actually turned out to be one of the easiest recipes I've tried as a member of Daring Baker's! Here are the changes I made: I halved the original recipe, I used sweet rice flour in place of the wheat flour, and I used additional vanilla extract for flavoring. Next time I make these pops I will reduce the amount of sugar used in the cheesecake since the candy coating is so sweet. I will also try using a lower-fat cream cheese, so the saturated fat content is not so high in the overall recipe. Other than that... these yummy pops were so delicious and worth every bit of the time spent making them!!

But you will need a Stairmaster. Now.




Cinnamon Bun Cheesecake Pops
Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy Gooey by Jill O’Connor

2 1/2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, brought to room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sweet rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (yes, a tablespoon!)
2 tablespoons evaporated milk or heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
toothpicks or 20 lollipop sticks (toothpicks worked fine!)
1 (12 oz.) package of Hershey's Cinnamon Chips
1 tablespoon Spectrum Palm Shortening

Directions:

• Position your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Set some water to boil.
• In your mixing bowl at low speed, beat together cream cheese, sugar, sweet rice flour, and salt until smooth.
  
• Add the whole eggs and the egg yolk, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in vanilla and evaporated milk or cream.
• Grease an 8" cake pan (not springform), and pour batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firmand slightly golden on top. 35-55 minutes. (The cheesecake will not "jiggle" when it is done, it should look and feel set if you gently touch the top!)

• 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 overnight.
  
• When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2 ounce balls and place them onto a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick or toothpick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops uncovered, until they are very hard, 1-2 hours or overnight.
  

• When cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the cinnamon chips. You can melt them over a double broiler, or if you are lazy like me, you can simply put them in a glass bowl along with the tablespoon of palm shortening and microwave them for 1 minute. Stir the melted chips and shortening until they are smooth and liquid.
  
• Quickly dip the cheesecake pops one at a time in the melted cinnamon chips, swirling quickly to coat.
  
• Place pops on a clean cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.
  
• Refrigerate pops for up to 24 hours, or until ready to serve!
  
• Enjoy!!

For a printer friendly version, click here.

Many thanks to Elle at Feeding my Enthusiams and Deborah at Taste and Tell for hosting this month's Daring Baker's challenge!
Great Job Girls!!!

Check out the Daring Baker's blogroll for a list of Alternative Baker's who are also gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, dairy free, etc...

Daring Baker's Challenge # 2 -- Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake

Finally, a Daring Baker's Challenge this gluten free, ginger lemon girl could handle! They really believe in a serious challenge every month, those pesky Daring Baker's! But I love it! It's fun to be given a secret challenge once a month to bake something that I most likely have never baked before! This month's challenge, hosted by Morven, is Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake.

Can we say SUGAR HIGH?

Oh my goodness. Yes!

Actually, as much as I love sweet desserts, Hershey's chocolate bars, and chocolate icing... I just can't take things SUPER sweet. I really can't. And this cake IS SO super sweet!!

It's a beautiful cake and it was relatively easy to convert to gluten free, but next time I will cut the sugar in half... or more. I also need to work on how to change the consistency of the cake. I think I may have added a bit too much xanthan gum, which gave the cake layers a very gummy texture. I also lowered the amount of fat from the original recipe. I used reduced fat cream cheese in place of 4 Tbsp. of butter. The cake was delicious (though incredibly sweet!)

The best part about this cake was that it created an instant friendship between myself and fellow gluten free bloggers and Daring Bakers: Natalie of Gluten Free A Go Go, and Esther of The Lilac Kitchen (Proud mama of a new baby boy!). We spent one Saturday morning baking our cakes and emailing each other back and forth on how our individual recipes were turning out, what we were learning, and if we needed help with anything! It was a wonderful and fun baking experience, which I hope the three of us will repeat on a regular basis!

The 2nd best part was that I learned how to make a true "hot" buttercream icing by following the directions exactly. Don't take any reduced fat shortcuts here, my friends. It just won't work! This buttercream has to be just that... full of full-fat butter for it to come together properly. I tried to make a reduced fat version the first time and it was not a pretty site. But once I got the hang of the icing, I felt like a baking queen. Watch out Martha Stewart! I've got the whole buttercream thing down pat, my dear! You've got nothing on me... okay, except for maybe all that crafty stuff...

Here is my gluten free rendition of Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake. I have lowered the original amounts of xanthan gum and sugar that I used. If you try this cake, please let me know how it turns out for you! Learning how to make the buttercream is definitely a skill worth having!






Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake
(adapted gluten free, lower sugar, and lower fat)


Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. coconut flour
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup low fat buttermilk
4 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 stick (4 Tbsp.) butter, unsalted, room temp.
4 Tbsp. reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp. lemon extract

Buttercream Ingredients
(Please don't faint!)
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (YES, 3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Finishing Ingredients
2/3 cup reduced sugar strawberry preserves, stirred vigorously, or warmed



Directions for the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 9" cake pans and line bottoms with round of buttered parchment paper or wax paper. Place pans on a heavy baking sheet.
2. In a medium sized bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. In another medium sized bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg whites. Put sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl and rub together until sugar is moist and fragrant.
3. Add butter and cream cheese. With paddle attachment, beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. Should be very light and creamy.
4. Beat in lemon extract, then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, still on medium speed. Beat in half of milk/egg mixture, then half of dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add rest of milk/egg mixture, beating until batter is homogeneous. Beat additional 2 minutes to make sure the cake is well aerated.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until cakes are well risen and springy. Toothpick should come out clean. Transfer to cooling racks and let sit for 5 minutes. Run knife around sides of cake, unmold and peel off layers of parchment paper. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

Directions for the Buttercream:
1. Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl. Fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk mixture constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove bowl from heat.
2. Working with the whisk attachment or a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
3. Switch to the paddle attachment and add butter one stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate -- just keep beating it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream.
4. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

Directions for assembling the cake:
Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper (under the cake, so that your cake plate doesn't get icing on it; you can pull these out when you are finished decorating). Spread layer with 1/3 of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about 1/4 of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you'll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to decoratively frost the sides and top of the cake.


For a printer friendly version, click here.


For another lovely, gluten free version of this cake, visit Sheltie Girl, at Gluten Free A Go Go.

Daring Baker's Challenge #1 - Lemon Meringue Pie

I would definitely call this Daring Baker's Challenge a challenge in the gluten-free and sugar-free baking world!

I joined Daring Baker's in December, but the month was so crazy, I didn't get a chance to Daringly Bake until now!

So the challenge this month was to make a Lemon Meringue Pie. To be honest, as much as I love lemons... I'm not a big fan of lemon meringue pies! They are too tart for my taste and they always seem to get soggy! I don't like soggy pies!

The biggest challenge for me was that I was trying to make this pie sugar free! Gluten free was no problem! I converted the pastry recipe and it turned out an amazing crust! I'll actually share that recipe with you today... BUT the lemon filling just threw up once cut!





I thoughtfully pondered over what sweetener to use for the lemon filling. I did not want to use Splenda, as I don't like the after-taste, and I really think it is a migraine inducer. I also didn't want to use any other artificial sweeteners for the same reason. I thought about honey, but I was afraid the honey flavor might overpower the lemon. I thought about agave nectar, but I was afraid I would have to use a very large amount to attain the sweetness I desired.

I finally settled on using brown rice syrup. I had not used it before, but it's a great natural sweetener... for most things! The only thing I didn't like about the brown rice syrup was that it actually has over double the amount of calories of regular granulated sugar (and still highly affects blood sugar levels), so I knew it would significantly impact the overall calorie count, which I really didn't want to do... But I decided to try it to see what would happen with the pie overall.





Well, my friends... brown rice syrup just didn't do the trick. While the pie filling tasted pretty good, it threw up all over the place once cut! It simply didn't set. The pie was also quite tart for my taste.

BUT despite my mis-adventures in this pie making experience... my curiosity has overwhelmed me! Once Michael and I finish up this sugar free month, I really want to experiment with a homemade Chocolate Meringue pie!

Here is my dear friend Kristin, who miraculously enjoyed this un-pretty pie!
She ate every bite!

************

Ginger-Lemon Pastry/Tart/Pie Crust:

Dry Ingredients:
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup millet flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup frozen butter, grated
1/2 tsp. agave nectar
1 egg yolk
2-4 Tbsp. ice water
1 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

Directions:
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another mix grated butter with egg yolk. Add dry ingredients a little at a time to egg yolk and butter. Mix vinegar with ice water. Add 2-4 Tbsp. ice water mixture to pastry mixture, just until dough begins to stick together and you can form a ball. Wrap ball in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes before using. Roll out at you would a normal pastry crust between two pieces of plastic wrap that have been dusted in sweet rice flour. Makes 1, 9" crust for a pie.


For a printer friendly version, click here.


**Sheltie Girl, over at Gluten Free A Go Go, did a fabulous job with her tart, and it is so creative! Check out her version of a Lemon Meringue Tart, complete with a gluten free recipe!