Cheesecake balls on a stick

This week in birthday land it’s the turn of the CCB (Caked Crusader’s Brother). My choice of birthday cake for him was shaped by his incontrovertible “Two Food Truths”:

1. Cheesecake is the best cake
2. All food tastes better when eaten from a stick
   
   

My choice? Cheesecake on stick! Result? Happy brother!

I used my trusted no-bake cheesecake recipe and simply changed the order of doing things. I made the cheesecake topping and put it in a bowl to set, only making the biscuit base when I was ready to roll the cheesecake balls in it.

If the butter was added to the biscuits, as you’d normally do for a biscuit base, I feared that it would be difficult to get an even layer around the cheesecake. So I deconstructed the process – get me! – and melted the butter, dipped the cheesecake ball in it, then in the biscuit crumb. It was very easy and created the desired finish....although I admit they do look a bit like scotch eggs!

Some cheesecake balls skipped the biscuit crumb stage but were rolled in chopped nuts and finished off with some melted chocolate:

I also made some strawberry puree to dip the cheesecake balls into:

It was simply a matter of blending some strawberries, adding sugar to taste, and then sieving out the seeds. If it’s too runny, heat on the hob until it reduces by half.

The key to making cheesecake balls is to work quickly and keep the mixture cool. If at any point it becomes sticky or tricky to work with pop it all back in the fridge for 20 minutes. I’m not sure the stick element was a great success – the cheesecake was too soft to hold firmly to the lovely lolly sticks I’d purchased but I found that cocktail sticks worked; the remedy would’ve been to pop them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes but I hate freezing things unnecessarily (chalk it up as another item on the list of weird things I have strong feelings about).

Finally, a word of caution – when you roll the first heaped teaspoon spoon sized ball of cheesecake you will curse me. Your hands will get covered and you will suspect the whole venture will end in failure. However....once that first ball is out the way and you have a sheen of cheesecake on your hands, the subsequent balls are easy to roll. Just apply gently pressure and work quickly!

Happy birthday CCB!

Method

Make cheesecake topping as per this recipe

Put cheesecake topping into a bowl or Tupperware that you can cover i.e. with clingfilm or a lid, and refrigerate for several hours or, better still, overnight.

Take heaped teaspoonfuls of cheesecake and roll into balls.

Place on baking paper, on a tray, plate, tin etc and put back in the fridge.

Blitz the biscuits (quantity per the recipe link above) in a food processor and tip into a bowl.

Melt the butter (quantity per the recipe link above) and tip into a bowl.

Take the cheesecake balls from the fridge and dip quickly in the butter, then roll in the biscuit crumbs.

Place on a clean sheet of baking paper and, when all are done, put back in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

If you are making a strawberry dipping sauce clean and hull the strawberries then blitz in the food processor.

Add icing sugar to taste.

Sieve to remove the seeds.

If it’s too runny, heat on the hob until it has reduced to a thick sauce.

Chill until required.

So they hold their shape, cheesecake balls are best served straight from the fridge.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.