

Heck! It’s summer and I’ve been doing stuff.
Like 1.) making these delicious Mojito Cheesecake Pops that require no baking. And 2.) trying to speak coherently in front of an audience.

My friend Morgan once wrote a great blog post about that old quote“Do something that scares you every day”. In other words, don’t play it safe. Put yourself out there!
Much easier said than done.
I can honestly say the past couple of weeks have been filled with this sort of “scary” thing for me. The thought of being in the public eye pretty much ties my stomach in knots, but the desire to share my book has proved to be greater than my fear.

See my face there in the picture? I’m smiling, but I’m pretty much dying to claw my face off. When I get nervous my face gets itchy. Mosquito-bite itchy. And if I do break down and scratch I end up with welts all over my face. What’s up with that?!
Luckily I made it through without the welts. And I was truly grateful to have the opportunity to promote my book on the local news (thanks Mike!). The cooking demo was easier than I thought and it turned out to be a lot of fun!

I had a book signing! See my face up there (right)? Totally itchy. Talking in front of a group of people was much harder than I expected. Luckily all the people who came out were extra kind and didn’t seem to mind my wobbly start. And getting to speak to everyone individually was a real treat for me. I loved hearing about others’ love for baking and creative expression. Everyone seemed to have a great time and we ran out of books!
The lesson? It’s okay to be scared -itchy face and all- as long as you don’t let that fear hold you back.
I hope I can continue to take my own advise.

Something totally not scary? Cheesecake!
I used a store-bought New York cheesecake as the base for this recipe. I briefly considered making one from scratch, but why turn on the oven in summertime if you don’t have to?


These small bites are packed with tons of lime and mint flavor, and there’s nothing quite like biting into one and hearing the “pop” of the hardened chocolate coating. Especially when that chocolate coating is made from the Callebaut variety. I love usingBirchwarespoons as an elegant stand-in for a lollipop sticks. Plus, they are eco-friendly!
Mojito Cheesecake Pops
Makes 18-25 pops [click for printable version]
These pops have great summertime flavor! Although I chose not use rum as the Mojito cocktail does, you could add 1-2 tablespoons of light rum without the cheesecake mixture becoming too lax. Enjoy!
1 two pound ready-to-eat New York cheesecake
Zest of 4 limes, plus more for garnish
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
25 fresh mint leaves finely minced
18-25 small whole mint leaves for garnish
Large crystal sugar (optional)
24 oz. Callebaut dark chocolate (or two 12 oz. bags semisweet chocolate chips can be used)
- Crumble cheesecake (including crust) into a large bowl. Add lime zest and lime juice; stir to incorporate. Add minced mint and stir again until well blended. Cover and place in refrigerator until firm.
- Remove cheesecake mixture by the heaping spoonfuls and quickly roll into a ball between palms. They should be roughly the size of a walnut. This is a messy business, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with licking mojito cheesecake from your fingers when you’re done.
- Place cheesecake balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and insert birchware spoons or lollipop sticks upright into the center of each ball. Freeze until solid.
- Melt chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave at 30 second intervals until smooth. Remove cheesecake pops from freezer and dip each pop into chocolate until completely covered. Garnish each pop with lime zest, a mint leaf and large crystal sugar. Let pops dry on a piece of wax paper or parchment paper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Wow these cake pops are adorable! And they look delicious!
These look so tasty. I love how you used a spoon for the skewer! Also, how cool that you had a book signing! I bet you were great! Any idea if you'll be coming to Michigan? 🙂
Wow they look decadent and delish!! I always enjoy your interesting and artsy creations!! 🙂
Congratulations!
Those pops looks amazing.
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautiful!
You can always imagine the people visiting you as having itchy faces too since they are so excited and nervous to meet you in person! ^_^
Great idea for these pops!
Congrats! I'm sure you did great :).
I'm sure you were terrific! Congrats 🙂
Heather they look fantastic! Its winter here but I totally would eat one just to pretend its summer! That is my favourite ever combination!!
Heather you're famous! I Love it!! Congrats on all this exciting jazz!!
You had me a 'mojito' 😀
*at .. duh!
I could never do that. I took communications in high school so I could avoid the public speaking class. Turns out communcations involved speaking infront of your peers. Bugger 😛
Anyways, you totally don't have the mosquito-bitten-itchy-face look on you 🙂
Love the presentation! That mint looks tasty. Cheers to not playing it safe!
Christina
http://www.becauseofmadalene.com
So exciting, Heather! I can just imagine how nerve-wracking it would be to get up in front of people, and be on t.v. also! Way out of my comfort zone:) Awesome that you ran out of books:) These little cheesecake pops look yummy!
You go girl!
I wish I could come see you speak, then we could go get drinks after. LOL
It's definitely a good sign when you run out of books!
Mojito and cheesecake together must be illegal somewhere. These look awesome. As for speaking in public and in the media, practice makes perfect. Relax an go with it. This is your time.
oh my gosh you are so stinking cute! and i have to say, i'm really glad my face doesn't itch when i get nervous. nope, just turns the color of a fire hydrant and i sweat like a man. no biggie 🙂
Holy cow. I can't get over your perfect presentation!
http://www.eatblogpray.blogspot.com
xo
These look fabulous! Also, congrats on your awesome book tour!
Forget about the cheesecake pops (although they do look delicious): GOOD FOR YOU for being on TV and your book signing!!!!!!!!!! Wow, that is wonderful. Congratulations. Is there a link to see your clip on that show? If you can get it, or if it's on YouTube, let us know. I'd love to see it, and I'm sure others would as well. Again, congrats to you, Heather! All good things are coming to you now. 🙂
Best,
Gloria
Oh Heather these look so incredible and perfect for summer. A huge congratulations too not only on facing your fear but on the book tour. So exciting.
-Lisa.
Sweet 2 Eat Baking
I made cheesecake pops before & they were awesome! & i loved the spin you took! & the fact that you used wooden spoons!
Beautiful cake pops! You go girl 🙂
It looks like you had a lot of fun!!
These are gorgeous! I love the spoons too – they look so awesome. I get a knot in my stomach too when I think of all of you brave girls promoting your books! But it is totally AMAZING!
Heather you look JUST LOVELY, nothing else ! Don' t worry about anything, since we adore what you do. These cheesecake pops are great idea, and this is just too simple to make. Thanx to advise to use ready-to-eat cheesecake, otherwise it would end up too complicated for such a tiny stuff 😉 I am thinking of the pops to dip in a pink chocolate and cover tem up with sugar pearls; but do you think coloring the white chocolate with pink food color would work out well?
These pops are a great idea! I love the idea of using a premade cheesecake as a shortcut. Sometimes it's the smart thing to do! I love to see you getting out there, welts and all. Over time it will get easier. PLEASE come near Ohio????
Look at you all movie star-ish!
Love these pops…so so yummy!
oh my goodness, these pops looks amazing. My favorite flavors are mint and lime…this is totally something I can make!
I just got done reading your cookbook and I can't wait to try something, although now I really want one of these cheesecake pops. The book is wonderful and I hope you enjoy the spotlight, you are adorable and your inner artist really pours out. Thank you for not making the cheesecake from scratch if I had to add one more thing to my to-do list this summer I think I'd keel over.
-Gina-
I shared your mojito pops with my sister in Fl. She gets together with the girls to play cards,she can't wait to serve them !!
I work with a museum and I often throw a tea party together, guess what my next treat will be? thanks again for all your great goodies.
Very encouraging post, Heather! May you have many more blessings to come! Can't wait to make these pops!
I love the mojito flavor in these bites! And congrats on putting yourself out there 🙂 You are definitely rocking it!
These are beautiful! Congratulations on your success with the book 🙂
The cheesecake looks great.
Oh my, I don't think I have ever heard of someone dying from stage-fright, but I am sure it would happen to me. I get ridiculously nervous.
But I am glad things worked out for you. And the mojito pops look fantastic!
Wow, what a great idea and they look stunning! Congrats on getting through and your public speaking, I'd have run a mile!
OH my these look amazing!! Thank you for sharing!
These look AMAZING and you are totally AMAZING!! I enjoyed meeting you at your book signing. You are so cute and friendly that I didn't want to leave! Thanks so much for making me feel special and I can't wait to try this recipe!
PS- Did I mention you are amazing??? You totally are!!
I would love if you saw my blog! Thanks! The link is below:
http://1cupofsugar.blogspot.com/
Hi Heather. Your blog and book are so amazing and inspiring for a newbie blogger and first time author that I have nominated you for an award – check it out here: http://www.aliceinbakingland.com/awards-and-other-lazy-sunday-afternoon-doings/ Hopefully it'll gain you a few new readers from New Zealand xAlice
these mojito cheesecake pops are a perfect summer treat! 🙂
I made these and they were delicious! Mine didn't come out as pretty as yours. Congratulations on your book and tv apperance.
Mojito and Cheesecake. Ok. Im in 🙂
a-mazing!
I never get used to these things either, but I've hard you do it well! One of my best friends (Lisa The Bearfootbaker Baker) met you in Knoxville recently and she was over the moon! She gave me your book as a gift and I was bummed that she didn't know she'd be seeing you! I'd have made her take it to get signed! What I'm trying to say is tht you're doing GREAT!
as anyone even made and/ot tasted them?? All I read is how pretty they look.
"These small bites are packed with tons of lime and mint flavor, and there's nothing quite like biting into one and hearing the "pop" of the hardened chocolate coating."
What a nice little snack idea. It is great that all you need to do is pick up the spoon and pop it in your mouth.