Day 178 — Dark Chocolate Ice Pops

Since I’ve made ice pops out of two of those Philly chocolate cream cheese flavors, I figured I might as well finish off the trio:

I’ll be honest, I tried the dark chocolate flavor with some Nilla Wafers, and I really didn’t like it. It was too aggressively bitter tasting. But I figured diluted with some milk, it stood a chance at being good.

I mixed about a tablespoon of the cream cheese with about 5 ounces of milk, which made enough for three ice pops.

In ice pop form, this stuff is indeed delicious. Rich without being too much and flavorful without being bitter, they were fun to eat. I’ll be they’d be fantastic with some of those Nilla Wafers crushed up into them. (Yay! New pop idea!)

Day 173 — Nutella Brownie Cheesecake Chunk Ice Pops

I still have some of those brownie cheesecake bars that I made for Father’s Day, so I figured I’d use them in one more ice pop before I got rid of the rest of them (they’re really good, I swear, they’re just really rich and can only be eaten in small quantities).

Anyway, I decided to mix them with Nutella because it’s been a long time since I’ve made a Nutella ice pop:

I blended a tablespoon or so of Nutella with about five ounces of milk. Then I filled the molds with cheesecake/brownie chunks and poured the Nutella mixture.

These were, predictably, delicious, though the cheesecake went better with the chocolate base I used earlier this week. Still, a Nutella pop is never not going to be good.

Day 170 — Chocolate Cheesecake Chunk Ice Pops

So, Father’s Day was this past weekend.  As I usually do, I showed my appreciation for The Husband and his dad (my wonderful, wonderful father-in-law) by feeding them.  A lot.  I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast, a gorgeous steak dinner (well, ok, Husband did the actual steak cooking.  I made the sides), and for dessert, brownie cheesecake bars.  As you’d imagine, these were both fantastic and fantastically rich, so we have a lot left over.  And what better way to use up leftover cheesecake than in an ice pop?

I mixed up a pop’s worth of the basic chocolate ice pop base, then pinched off little chunks of cheesecake to throw in the mold as I poured.  I made my chunks a little too big and they got stuck halfway down, so the pop had less cheesecake in it than I’d planned.  Still, there managed to be at least a little bit in every bite:

Given the ingredients involved, this one was pretty much a sure-fire winner.  I was pleased that the cheesecake chunks didn’t really freeze solid.  They remained creamy and a little chewy and really had a lot of impact in the pop.  I don’t think I’d ever make a cheesecake just to make these pops, but they’re a wonderful way to use up leftover desserts.

Day 106 — Lemony Cheesecake Ice Pops

I know cheesecake week is over, but I had some base left over, and couldn’t resist trying again to make a really good lemon ice pop. Right now, it’s my ice pop holy grail — a creamy, lemony pop with nice flavor that actually pulls out of the Zoku successfully. I figured I had little to lose:

I had about 3 ounces of base left, and I started out squeezing the lemon juice slowly, tasting frequently to make sure I didn’t make things too sour. I ended up putting almost the entire lemon’s worth of juice into the mixture before I felt like it tasted ok. Then the lemon seemed to have make the base thicken, so I added another ounce or so of milk to make sure it was thin enough not to freeze.
Since this makes a boring-looking white pop, I also decided to have a little fun with decorations. I’d found this edible confetti at Target’s after-Easter clearance:

Aren't you so glad I only took a photo of the package header and not the actual confetti? Giving you a clear picture of what I did would only confuse you, anyway.

Since I forgot to take a photo of the actual confetti (doh!), I should mention that it’s an assortment of bunny, egg, chick and flower shapes. They feel almost like communion wafers, thick and dry. I pasted them onto the sides of the Zoku using the base mixture. The opaque base mixture. Sometimes I’m so smart I can’t stand it.

Anyway, once I unmolded the pop, I went over the decorations with water to melt the “glue” that was hiding them:

This pop didn’t turn out to be my holy grail. It was ok, but not great. It needs to be creamier and with a better balance of sweet and sour.  I’ll keep trying.

Coming up today or tomorrow –In response to Sarah’s request, a bonus post with some pop-making tips I’ve learned so far this year.  Stay tuned!

Day 105 — Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Pops

I really like the pairing of cheesecake with fruit. It makes me feel virtuous. So I had to end Cheesecake Week with a nice, fruity pop:

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to add frozen blueberries to an ice pop. They’re a staple in our house, especially in the winter. And they’re usually nice and small, which makes them perfect for dropping into the Zoku ice pop molds.

I tried to use a lot of blueberries, since I wanted that to be the dominant flavor of the pop, with the cheesecake playing backup. You can’t see how many blueberries are in the pop at first glance, but there were plenty:

I didn’t mean for the blueberries to end up all lined up in the pop like that, but that’s how it turned out and I kind of like it. And I kind of like this pop, too. It’s a totally different vibe from the more decadent pops I made with this same base, and a good illustration of the versatility of the ice pop maker.

Day 104 — Black & White Cheesecake Ice Pops

Happy Friday, y’all! For this penultimate post in Cheesecake Week, I decided to go with the tried-and-true: a chocolate and vanilla cheesecake pop.

My first batch of cheesecake base had started looking suspect, so I made a new batch today. You’ll note that in this batch, I replaced the vanilla yogurt with the sour cream I’d intended to use in the first place.

For the chocolate layer, I mixed a large tablespoon of that amazing Philly chocolate spread with about three times as much milk.

I was feeling lazy, so I poured the chocolate mixture directly from my little blender, through a funnel. The funnel and I had a slight disagreement, thus the messy bottom of one of the pops.

These pops are great. I suppose I should have created my own chocolate cheesecake ice pop recipe, but when the premade stuff is so delicious, it’s hard to work up the motivation.

Tune in tomorrow, for a fruity finale to Cheesecake Week!

Day 103 — Nutella Cheesecake Pops

You knew these had to happen, right?

I had to try to combine Nutella and cheesecake. I just had to. The trick was in finding a balance that would capture the richness of the two primary ingredients, while making a pop firm enough that the pops wouldn’t get stuck in the molds. As usual, I went with trial and error, which resulted in a vastly large batch of base. As it happens, that’s a good thing.

The recipe:

1 very heaping teaspoon (probably equivalent to a measuring tablespoon) of Nutella
2 ounces of cream cheese
1slightly heaping teaspoon sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar

To that, I added enough milk that I ended up with 12 ounces of base. I blended the whole shebang in my Baby Bullet (FYI, don’t buy a Baby Bullet. Great idea, tricky operation) and froze.

The Husband was greatly amused as I chanted “don’t stick, don’t stick” as I unmolded my pops. But it worked!

These were so, so good! The initial taste was all Nutella, but the finish (don’t I sound all wine-drinky and pretentious?) was definitely cheesecake. Basically, these pops are totally worth buying a Zoku. Try them now.

Day 102 — Brownie Cheesecake Ice Pops

I don’t know about y’all, but I adore the combination of cheesecake and brownies. The flavors and textures are so inherently compatible. So, of course this had to be part of cheesecake week:

I threw chunks of brownie in as I poured. And hoo boy, was this one good! Nice, chewy brownie interspersed with the creamy cheesecake pop. Heaven on a stick.

Day 101 — Turtle Cheesecake Ice Pops

Today’s pop might be the most decadent one I’ve ever made (though I think I’m going to top it later this week). Anyway, let’s get to it:

Cheesecake base, chocolate chips, coconut oil, chopped pecans, caramel sauce.

Anyway, I used the basic cheesecake recipe. While it was freezing, I melted the chocolate chips with the coconut oil (I used a really low proportion of the coconut oil, because I didn’t want the shell to go solid too quickly). As soon as I unmolded the pop, I dipped it into the chocolate, then immediately into the pecans. Then I drizzled the whole thing with the caramel sauce:

Is anyone drooling?

These pops were kind of over the top, though I mean that in a mostly good way. They were really, really (really, really) rich. To be honest, I couldn’t finish mine. That said, what I did eat tasted amazing. It’s a great combination of textures and flavors and surprisingly, the cheesecake flavor of the ice pop held its own against the chocolate and the caramel. This is one of those “make it to impress your friends” pops.

Day 100 — Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Pops

Back in January, I made a strawberry cheesecake pudding pop, using cheesecake flavored instant pudding. The pop was good, but I figured the “real” thing would have to be better. I was right:

Basic cheesecake pop recipe from yesterday, strawberries.

I sliced the strawberries up thin and crammed as many as I could onto the sides of the Zoku, then I poured my cheesecake mixture.

I had mentioned yesterday that I added additional cream cheese to my cheesecake base, and I’m glad I did. These pops were definitely more “cheesecakey” than yesterday’s pops. My only complaint is they’re still not very creamy.

If you make these pops, I’d recommend not eating them as soon as they come out of the Zoku. By chance, I got interrupted eating my pop and it sat for around 5 minutes. The time to soften really helped the taste and texture of these pops.