Joining a Club and Making Pops

I recently joined the Daring Bakers, an online baking club with monthly challenges. This was an unusual move since I'm not a real 'joiner'. More of a misanthrope who occasionally feels like getting drunk with other people. Joining tends to involve group activities centered around displays of athletic fortitude and I hate that stuff. But at least in an online club I would never have to complete a scavenger hunt or go paintballing. And although I also tend to bristle when there are rules and guideline that I haven't made up myself, I do like a challenge and I think that constraints are interesting and it is this part of my manifold personality that spontaneously signed all of me up.

This month we were supposed to make Cheesecake Pops. Little bits of cheesecake on lollipop stick dipped in chocolate. That's cute. I had wanted to make cheesecake for a while, so I was initially enthused. Plus I had a baby shower late in the month and that seemed like the perfect venue for a ridiculous cheesecake snack. But I'm pretty picky when it comes to cheesecake and there are only a few things I'm willing to entertain. One is a classic all white no-nonsense cheesecake with a graham cracker crust and the other is an apple toffee cheesecake with a hint of cinnamon. There was just no way I would be flexible enough to dip balls of cheesecake into chocolate. It just didn't fit into either of my approved categories.

But I still pretty much kept to the rules. I made the half the cheesecake recipe, but I did add a little hint of cinnamon. And I did include a sort of superfluous stick in there. A hunt for lollipop sticks wasn't really turning my crank, so Cadbury Fingers was my compromise. I baked and cooled the cheesecake as required. Stuck the biscuit sticks into them. Left them in the freezer overnight.

Then instead of chocolate, I caramelized some apple slices and slipped them under my frozen pops. I made a caramel sauce and scantily enrobed them. They sat on little gold papers. My flatmate's comment was "those look cumbersome". She was right.

They were really difficult to eat. Not at all like a lollipop. More like a really gooey wee square of cheesecake with a biscuit sticking out the top. I like the idea of dessert coming with a handle, but the cheesecake was glued down by the caramel so the biscuit was a useless apendage. But they did elicit a fair number of Mmmms.

I think it's fair to say that the biscuit here was more than unnecessary and I won't be making these again. The cheesecake, apple and caramel combo was pretty hot, though. That will probably be repeated. But in easy-to-eat full-cake form.

I had a quick glance around the other members of this club (there are hundreds) and theirs look prettier and easier to eat. They followed the rules. If you want to see what things were supposed to look like, you can find better examples here at the Daring Bakers' Blogroll.

I don't know if I'm going to be a valuable member of this community. I'll give it another month or so.

Comments

[Melora]

Great work.

[JacqueOH]

Mmmmm, the pops sound delicious! I agree about them being difficult to eat, the chocolate covered ones were a challenge too.

I enjoyed your writeup :)

[Sheltie Girl]

You did a wonderful job on your pops. They are beautiful.

Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

[Katie]

Awww. Thanks guys.

[JennyBakes]

Brilliant use of Cadbury fingers, wish I could find those easily in the states. Welcome to our "club," but I hope you find enough room to stretch your creative wings. I know I have. :)

[Barbara]

Those look incredible! What a great combination especially using the Cadbury fingers as sticks.

[Deborah]

I think your pops look great! Welcome to the Daring Bakers - I do hope you decide to stick around!

[lynne]

Your not-pops look great! I loved this blog entry.