Tried & True Tuesday: Cheesecake Truffle Bombs

.  Don't judge a book by it's cover.  An important lesson in life, no?  Well the same goes for this post.  Don't judge the cheesecakey deliciousness of this recipe by the oh-so-crap picture below.  Remember, my Tried & True Tuesday posts are of [quality] recipes I've made long before I ever knew the blogging world existed.  Hence, my photography is terrible [not that it's good in the first place!].

These Cheesecake Truffle Bombs are actually quite simple but fabulous nonetheless.  What we have is creamy cheesecake encased in the rich chocolate of your choice.  That's it?  That's it.  Sometimes the simple things in life are all we need.

I made these for a graduation party some years ago and I figured this Tried & True Tuesday post should highlight a treat perfect for the big night.  The big New Years Eve night, that is.  These goodies have it all: wonderful flavor, easy assembly, bite size [gotta make sure we fit in those dresses ladies ;) ], and wow-factor presentation fit for either a party or casual gathering.

So now that we have New Years covered, how was everyone's Christmas?!  Mine?  Well.  Lovely.  In every way.  As I mentioned before, my Christmas weekend began with the arrival of my parents in Omaha Friday afternoon, followed by a gathering of former softball friends and families.  Christmas Eve was very laid back, filled with football, some last minute shopping [cough, Tyler, cough], and our traditional pizza making.  Onto Christmas, we began the day with gift openings, which was followed by lots of eating, lounging, and basketball.  Overall, a very memorable couple of days with my loved ones.  Don't worry, I'll be getting some pictures up after our upcoming weekend in Arizona.  Yes, we're taking another trip.  More to come on that one though.

Happy Tuesday!  .

My Notes:

• Shape wise, you can cut the cheesecake into circles, squares, rectangles, or whatever other shape you can think of.
• It's best to make sure that the cheesecake is very firm and cold before dipping into the chocolate.  Otherwise the cheesecake bits can be hard to work with.
• Remember that you can use whatever combination of chocolate to dip the cheesecake in that you'd like.  One fun suggestion is dipping the cheesecakes into one chocolate and then dipping half of the cheesecake bit into another type of chocolate.  Pretty and yummy!

From A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

Cheesecake:

1 lb. cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

Pinch of salt

Chocolate Casing:

12 oz. milk chocolate

10 oz. semisweet chocolate

10 oz. white chocolate

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Line 8- or 9-inch square pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray with non stick cooking spray.  Place pan on prepared baking sheet.
2. In food processor, blend together cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, heavy whipping cream, and salt.  Pour batter into pan.  Bake 30 minutes or until set (cake should be firm to the touch but not dried out or curling in at the sides).  Cool well in refrigerator.  Cut cheesecake into desired shapes.  Place on parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for 1 to 2 hours.
3. When cheesecake bits are ready for dipping, melt chocolate(s) in individual bowls.  Using a fork, dip and turn each cheesecake in chocolate to evenly coat and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.  Decorate as desired.  Freeze briefly to set.

Yield: 24 to 32 servings