Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 5:
 
With this one, maple finally gets the double-size treatment for the first time—and also a few updates (reflecting what was recently done with other flavors such as pumpkin) for Fall 2013.
 
2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese:
Prepare ahead of time 2 pounds of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers 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 16 ounces (1 pint) of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese.

Crust:
2 oz. melted, white chocolate
8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
1/2 cup maple sugar
1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring
2 oz. All-Bran, ground up

Pour this crust mixture into pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.

Batter:
4 tablespoons melted or softened butter
1 1/4 cups maple sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons arrowroot
40 oz. (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
2 teaspoons maple flavoring
4 eggs

Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a tub at 300 degrees for 100 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) 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 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate.

Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 5

I initially made this one with the intention of serving it at my church, Living Hope. But, due to the death and funeral of one of my relatives, I had to cancel my church plans. However, I got the idea of serving this cheesecake at a post-funeral meal which took place at my cousin Joanne's home. So I brought the cheesecake there, and my relatives and others ended up enjoying this cheesecake much more than I anticipated. A little more than 3/4 of it was gone by the time I left—that was even better than my "loaded" chocolate cheesecake (Prototype 17), which I brought to our annual cousins' summer reunion (at my cousin Robin's house) a few months ago, in the summer of 2013.

I brought some of the leftover to darts. However, Steve (Lesa's friend) commented that this cheesecake was "too heavy" on the maple flavor. I personally felt that the taste had just the right balance. Maybe Steve had a far better ability than me to pick up the maple's presence. But perhaps this could also reflect individual preferences. I personally like a very generous amount of maple syrup on my pancakes, because I really want to pick up that maple flavor. However, others like Steve may prefer a very light amount. Anyway, I felt no real urge for the future to "tone down" the maple, which I tended to regard as a relatively mellow flavor.

About a year later (October 2014 to be more specific), I made this prototype again and this time served it at Living Hope. The cheesecake was gone in about half an hour, among a somewhat small selection of snacks (but also with many women away on a church-related retreat).
 

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