Cheesecake Truffles

I went in a little over my head with the baking extravaganza. I thought Oreo Truffle Balls were easy enough, so I decided to tackle something I haven’t done before. Why? I’ve never made a cheesecake from scratch before in my life. It was a lot more difficult and time consuming than I ever thought. It’s not something for beginners to try, but then again I don’t consider myself a beginner. Bring on the challenge! Turns out…well, the cheesecake truffles turned out! I received positive reviews from everyone that tried one. Yay!! Just as a fair warning if you’re thinking about tackling this…it’s a long, two–day process and a labor of love. Yes, two days. It’s so worth it in the end, though.

Note: The cheesecake recipe is meant for one springform pan or two disposable pie tins. The crust is meant for the springform pan or one disposable pie tin.

Crust
Be sure to double if using two tin pie pans

Ingredients
2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp sugar
½ cup melted butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Using a food processor, finely grate up the graham crackers, and then add sugar.
3. Stir in melted butter until moistened.
4. Pour the mix into a 9–inch springform pan (3 inches tall) and press the crumbs into the bottom and 1 inch  up the sides of the pan.
5. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove and cool to room temperature.

Cheesecake

Ingredients
Four 8 ounce packages of cream cheese
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tbsp flour
5 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions
1.  Cream the sugar, cream cheese and flour with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy. [Note: I found it much easier to use my hand mixer for this step. It also helps if you add 1 package of the cream cheese at a time, cut up into smaller pieces.]
2.  On a medium–low speed, add eggs one at time. Mixing well with each additional egg.
3. On a low speed, add the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla extract until combined.
4. If using a springform pan, bake for 60–75 minutes at 325 degrees. If using two pie tins, bake each for approximately 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
5. Make sure to remove the pans before the center looks completely done. It should be kind of wobbly, and slightly more shiny than the edges. The middle should continue to bake a little while it sits and cools to room temperature.
6. Once chilled, if using the springform pan, separate the cheesecake from the sides of the pan by running a knife around the edges. It also helps to open and reclose the springform pan. If using the two pie tins, just cover the cheesecake with cling wrap.
7. Let the cheesecake chill in the refrigerator overnight. This helps it to continue chilling and firm up.

Finally, making of the truffles! I really did mean it when I said this was a two day process and a labor of love.

Ingredients
2 packages of baker’s chocolate
One 12 ounce package of chocolate chip morsels
Any kind of confection topping you would like (I chose sprinkles)
Melon baller/scoop
Graham cracker crumbs

Directions
1. Using the melon baller, scoop out pieces of cheesecake and roll them into balls. Place on wax sheet on a cookie sheet.
2. Roll the cheesecake balls in the graham cracker crumbs and place back onto wax paper. This helps with the stickiness of the cheesecake and forming of the balls better.
3. Pop back into the freezer/fridge for about 20 minutes.
4. While the cheesecake balls are hardening, start melting your chocolate.
5. Dip the cheesecake balls in the chocolate. [It helps to have two spoons while doing this—one to dip the ball with, one to pour chocolate over the top until it’s covered.]
6. Sprinkle with topping of choice.
7. Place back onto the wax paper. Once the cookie sheet is full, place back in the fridge to allow the chocolate coating to harden.
8. Congratulate yourself for making this tedious dessert and enjoy a cheesecake truffle. Or two.

I was able to get about 80 cheesecake truffles from this recipe.

—m.