Caramel Banana Cheesecake Shooters

I was experimenting in the kitchen today, and I created a yummy little treat I plan to make for Madison's college equestrian team.  They are competing in the first show of the season, and Madison was chosen as one of the riders for this show. We are so excited to go watch the team compete, and happy we are able to spoil them a little bit

Last year I purchased these little plastic push pop containers

to make transporting treats easier when attending the shows. These nifty push pops are perfect for layering cake and filling to create all sorts of delectable yummies! 

Because I've been on a caramel kick lately, I naturally came up with something to incorporate that flavor in the cake shooters.  I wanted to make a sort of caramel cheesecake, but I thought making a graham cracker crust would be a bit messy to eat out of the push pop, so I wondered if I could make a cake that tastes like a graham cracker.  allrecipes.com to the rescue once again. I went to the site and typed in graham cracker cake and up came this recipe... allrecipes.com Graham Cracker Cake  It had good reviews, so I decided to give it a go. I made the cake exactly as stated in the recipe, but I baked it in a 13x9" dish for about 35 minutes. The cake is really good and tastes just like a graham cracker- it is exactly what I wanted!

Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients

2 (8 oz) package cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 banana

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/3 cup whipped cream (I used Cool Whip)

Place cream cheese, sugar, banana. and lemon juice in a blender or a mixing bowl and mix until smooth (I prefer using a blender for this - it gets it very smooth). Fold in whipped cream until incorporated.  Give it a taste and adjust flavors to your liking. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes. Then store in the fridge until ready to use.

Caramel Topping

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 1/4 cups heavy cream - warmed

salt to taste

In a heavy weight saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar until it starts to melt and brown. This will take at least 5 minutes - maybe a little longer. Stir constantly so you don't burn the sugar (that would be bad). Once your sugar is starting to look a little brown and turning into crystallized chunks then you can add the butter. Keep stirring! Stir until you have a beautiful caramel colored smooth sauce. Be patient. It is worth the effort! Once you reach the smooth, caramel colored sauce remove the pan from the heat.  Be sure the cream is warmed all the way through. Add the cream about 1/4 cup at a time (be careful it will steam) and stir until well combined. Keep adding until all the cream is combined.  Salt to taste and enjoy the rich, smooth, creamy goodness. 

note: if the cream is not sufficiently warmed you may end up with chunks in your sauce. Not to fear - just put it back over mid-high heat and stir until all chunks are dissolved.

To make the cake shooters I used the push pop to cut cake rounds (if you don't have push pop containers you can make these in anything really and eat with a spoon). I whipped up some cheesecake filling and caramel topping.  Layer the ingredients as follows: 1 cake round, pipe in cheesecake filling, and drizzle caramel topping. Repeat until you fill the container. These are delicious right away, but pop these in the fridge overnight and enjoy them cold the next day - even better! Yummmm.

Next time I think I'll try using the graham cracker cake with a chocolate ganache and marshmallow meringue for a s'more shooter....