Baked S'mores Cheesecake—Prototype 2:
 
Okay, this time, let's go with regular ("full size") marshmallows and hope that they do not completely "disappear" into the batter. For this prototype, I was able to find such marshmallows at a (hopefully) better price (than what I paid for those used in the earlier prototype) at Whole Foods.

However, I did not shop for the graham crackers until roughly a few weeks later, at a Stop & Shop, where (unlike a few months ago) I did not succeed in finding the same grahams that I used earlier. I ended up settling for Annie's Homegrown Organic Cinnamon Grahams Whole Grain Graham Crackers, which contained somewhat less fiber (compared to the whole
wheat grahams used earlier). Due to these already featuring cinnamon, I modified the crust ingredients by adjusting the brown sugar downward and omitting the cinnamon which I myself added in the previous prototype.
 
2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese:
Prepare ahead of time (allow at least 24 hours) 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese.

Grease a 9 1/2" (or 9") springform pan, but do not wrap foil around it until just before the batter is added (spreading the crust in an already wrapped pan can result in greater disturbance to the foil, thus increasing leakage risks).

Graham Crust:
2 oz. melted, white chocolate
8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Completely blend the above ingredients first, then continue with the ingredient below, mixing it in quickly.
3 oz. cinnamon graham crackers, ground up (such as Annie's Cinnamon Grahams)

Place resulting crust mixture into bottom of the springform pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 8 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.

Chocolate Batter:
4 tablespoons melted/softened butter
3/8 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons arrowroot
40 ounces (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs

18 - 20 marshmallows (regular size)

Expect about 7 to 7 1/2 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once. Rather, this needs to be done in four installments.

Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the first batter installment.

For each of the first two installments, gently scoop about 2 1/2 cups of batter into the pan. Add about 9 or 10 marshmallows, ensuring that they are at least fully coated (they do not need to be fully immersed). After adding an installment, bake the pan with its contents at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. To reduce spillage risks, do not fill the tub all the way at this point, because the whole tub-and-pan assembly is going to need to be removed from the oven (in order to comfortably add contents to the pan) between installments.

After all this is done, there should be about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of batter left, with 50 minutes of baking time reached at this point (25 minutes for each of the first two installments). Now comes the third installment—carefully add about half of this remaining batter (do not add any more marshmallows at this point) on top of the pan's other contents. Try to fully coat the entire surface, especially wherever marshmallows may be showing, some of which may keep on floating to the top—but do not be too concerned about this. Next, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven, but with the temperature lowered to 300 degrees, for 15 minutes. Then take this assembly out and add the last of the batter (the fourth installment), coating the remaining exposed marshmallows as much possible. At this point, fill up the tub generously with boiling water. Resume baking at 300 degrees, for another 60 minutes (based upon usage of a 9 1/2" pan).

Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub, and add a border of milk chocolate chips around the edge of this cheesecake (see photo below). Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another two hours. After doing so, remove the cheesecake from pan and refrigerate.

S'mores Cheesecake—Prototype 2 (whole) S'mores Cheesecake—Prototype 2 (sliced)

Despite the larger size of the marshmallows, these still dissolved too much into the batter! Only a tiny visual presence could be detected.

But it did not take long for this cheesecake to disappear. It was gone, likely within 45 minutes, at Living Hope, among a not-so-small selection of snacks.
 

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