Project #1: Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

What could possibly be better for a first project than cheesecake stuffed strawberries!!!  

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Cheesecake with strawberries on top is my absolute favorite dessert so combining the two into easy access little bites is just ingenious.  Plus, since I'm all about combining all of my favorites, I'm going to add a little bit of chocolate to the mix to really make this a crowd pleaser. 


So... let's get this party started!




Step ONE- Prepare your ingredients:

-1 lb large strawberries  *After I rinse and dry them, I set them out to reach room temperature so that the chocolate will coat better
-8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat) *I cut my cream cheese into cubes to soften faster
-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-graham cracker crumbs
-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips *Recently, I've been using mini chips since they tend to melt faster and easier


Quick side note: Look at this bohemoth strawberry that was included!  It's almost as big as my hand!!  Dibs on this one!

Step TWO- Remove the tops of the strawberries with a paring knife.  

All of my strawberries were already pretty hollow inside, if yours aren't just take the paring knife and clean out a small cavity for the cheesecake.  

Step THREE- In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy.  

I used a large sized glass bowl with a hand mixer on the medium-high setting.  

Take a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl so that you are beating all of the cream cheese mixture consistently.

*Just make sure you beat until really creamy... the creamier the better!

All done and ready to fill :)

Step FOUR- Put cream cheese mix in a ziploc bag and cut the corner.  

I used a gallon size bag... it just gave me more room to maneuver the filling.

 *If in doubt- always start out with a smaller hole first.  You can always cut it larger if you need to.

Step FIVE- Fill strawberries with cream cheese mixture. 

*Because I only have two hands... I propped the strawberries in a muffin pan for easier access.

The bag worked perfectly at filling the strawberries without making a mess.

Yum... this is when you should sample one for quality control ;)

Step SIX- Sprinkle graham cracker crumbles on top.  

I used my fingers to sprinkle crumbs on each one but if you have a lot of strawberries... you could just shake them out of the bowl for quicker coverage.  




***You can choose to stop after this step if you want and you'll have a great dessert.  HOWEVER... to add an extra level of chocolaty goodness just continue on***


Step SEVEN- Melt the chocolate chips in a small saucepan on the stove.

Here is my setup.  Line a tray with wax paper to set the dipped strawberries on.  This tray will go into the refrigerator after you are done, so make sure it is sized to fit.

A double broiler works best for melting chocolate, but I didn't have one handy at the time.  Add 2 tblsp. of shortening to the chocolate. This helps it harden.


The key to melting chocolate this way is constant stirring.  Don't take your eyes off of it because it goes from looking like this...

...to this... in a minute!

I remove the chocolate from the heat when there are just a few tiny lumps left to melt.  This way, they will continue to melt without burning the rest of the chocolate.

Once done... I push all of chocolate to one edge of the pan to create a thick pool of chocolate to dip them in.  

Step EIGHT- Dipping the strawberries!

They were a little awkward to dip because of their size and the filling.  Usually you can just hold onto the top leaf of the strawberry to dip them but you can't do that with these.  I just tried to hold as close to the top as possible to get as much of the strawberry as possible covered in chocolate.

I hold the pan tilted with one hand and dip the strawberry with the other.


If you want... you can even dip the tip of the strawberry into the graham cracker crumbs to get a little more of the crumbs on there before setting it on the tray to harden.

Just set them on the wax paper lined tray in the refrigerator to harden (should only take about 15-20 minutes)

That's it!  Now you have an amazing dessert for a get together or just for a night in by yourself.  Go ahead... indulge a bit... mine sure didn't make it out of the house. haha.

Happy eating!!!