Baked Banana Cheesecake—Prototype 1:
 
A major challenge to this one was in the flavoring. I wanted real banana flavor, not artificial. While banana puree seemed like a great idea for the crust, I was concerned that if I used enough of this puree to get a sufficient flavor in the batter that this batter would end up being too wet. I needed a higher banana concentration with less water. I found a package of freeze-dried banana slices at Trader Joe's (nothing but bananas for the ingredients—what more could I ask for?) and used a blender to ground the contents to "banana powder" (which I then felt needed to be put to use immediately—refrigerating whatever was left over).
 
Crust:
2 oz. banana puree
1.5 oz. melted, white chocolate
4 oz. lowfat cottage cheese (such as Hood, no salt added), whipped
4 teaspoons skim milk
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds (blend in last, do it fast)

Batter:
2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted
2 oz. ground banana powder (see intro comments above for more info)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) of lowfat cottage cheese (such as Hood, no salt added), whipped
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Follow up gradually with a dry combination of:
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Completely mix all of the above ingredients used so far, then finally add:
2 eggs (last ingredient here)—aim to get these at least fully mixed in (yet without overbeating, if possible).

Make sure that the oven is preheated to 300 degrees. Use a bath. Bake for about 110 minutes. Cool off afterward. Then carefully remove from pan, and refrigerate.
 
Somehow, this was a reasonably decent banana cheesecake. The banana flavor could be detected.
 

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