Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 18:
 
With the latest refinements over my cheesecakes in general, I felt that I would make a "back-to-basics" chocolate cheesecake.
 
2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese:
Prepare ahead of time 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") 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).

Chocolate Crust:
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
3/8 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. finely ground All-Bran

Place resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 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

Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 105 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 105 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate.

Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 18

It looked like my chocolate cheesecakes have recently been turning into classics. This latest one, served at Living Hope Church in early November of 2013, was gone in what seemed to be less than half an hour—among a somewhat modest selection of snacks.

At a later point, I made this prototype again. But I felt that I would add a somewhat simple enhancement. I topped the cheesecake with a thin coating of melted, semi-sweet chocolate (about 2 ounces).


Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 18 (chocolate-topped, warm)
The chocolate was melted and placed on the still-warm cheesecake.

Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 18 (chocolate-topped, cooled)
This is the cheesecake, with the chocolate firmed up, after refrigeration.

Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 18 (chocolate-topped slice)
And here is a close-up of a slice.

The result was another very successful cheesecake at Living Hope in late April of 2014.

I repeated this now-classic prototype with a top border of chocolate chips and brought it to a mid-October 2014 event—for which I volunteered—at Barrington Baptist Church, in Rhode Island.

Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 18 (with chocolate chip border)
Prototype 18, bordered with chocolate chips and brought to Rhode Island.

A concert was performed there by a Christian parody band, ApologetiX. The cheesecake was enjoyed by many members of this band—and the drummer's wife, Eve (who was particularly enlightened by this recipe's more extensive details)—as well as some people from this church, including Holly, who had the main role in promoting this concert. We had a great time!
 

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