Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 19:
 
It has been better than two years since I last updated my chocolate cheesecake. The latest prototype presented here is based on my major cheesecake batter overhaul of 2015.
 
3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG):
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 8 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces of softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream 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
3/8 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. finely ground All-Bran

Place the resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.

Chocolate Batter:
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/8 cup cocoa powder
40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons altogether) arrowroot
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 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 (at this point, add a border of chocolate chips if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another 105 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate.

Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 19

I used milk chocolate chips for the border of this cheesecake. The batter included Philadelphia Neufchatel cheese.

The taste, I felt, was terrific! This prototype was very well received at my cousin Joanne's place, where I went for a Rosh HaShanah (5776) lunch. There was, if I remembered correctly, nearly a dozen people present, and the cheesecake ended up being roughly halfway consumed. Before I headed home, Joanne took about half of the remainder, and I brought the rest home.

For Memorial Day Weekend of 2017, I repeated Prototype 19 with Market Basket Neufchatel cheese (instead of Philadelphia, Market Basket's version being typical for usage in my cheesecakes around that time) and two borders of chocolate chips (Trader Joe's semi-sweet for the outer, Hershey's milk for the inner)—and brought this one to The Home Depot for my fellow associates to enjoy along with the store's tasty barbecue on the holiday itself.

Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 19 (2017 repeat)
 

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