Chocolate Cherry HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 2:

No need to add more cherry! No need to lower it either. But the quest was on for the filling to have a more reddish appearance. Repeat Prototype 1, but shift 1 ounce of the cherry butter from the crust to the filling (which would furthermore have more of a distinct cherry taste). This means 1 ounce of cherry butter for the crust, and 3 ounces of it for the filling.

Another change was to defer the crust's sugar until after the cottage cheese. In Prototype 1, there was a lumpiness problem in fully blending the semi-sweet chocolate mixture with the cottage cheese. This was likely caused by the cold cottage cheese being combined long after the chocolate was melted. What happened was that the chocolate mixture had an extended chance to cool back down, thanks in part to mixing the sugar into it before bringing on the cottage cheese. The mixing bowl used was metal, so microwave usage was not a suitable choice. A cautious use of a conventional oven would reheat the contents enough to produce a desired thorough blend. As for Prototype 2, a further step was to somehow preheat the metal bowl. One way of doing this was by heating it in an oven. Another helpful approach involved filling a sink with some hot water and placing the bowl of mixture there and blending the contents without getting any of the sink's water into the bowl.

Fast forward to the point after the top filling is spread over the crust! Place the completed pan in the refrigerator, and chill until the top filling is almost completely firm. But this time allow about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, due to a softer filling (because of it having more of the soft cherry butter), then cut into bars. Return these to the refrigerator, and chill until fully firm.

Chocolate Cherry HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 2

These bars fared well, and it seems that at least one of Lesa's friends liked this prototype better than the first one. I was fairly happy myself, at least with the taste, although the filling still looked too dark.

But despite the top lacking a bright red appearance, the taste was still great. Happy Valentine's Day!
 

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