Baked Neapolitan Cheesecake—Prototype 3:
 
Three years have passed since I made my last Neapolitan cheesecake. That one was presented to my fellow Home Depot associates at a Labor Day cookout. That was "pre-COVID". And now I would be doing a "post-COVID" update here, to bring to the 2022 Home Depot cookout for this early September holiday.
 
3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-1YG):
Prepare ahead of time 16 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from one 32-ounce container of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 16 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 of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 16 ounces (two 8-ounce packages) 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).

Crust:
2 oz. melted, white chocolate
8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 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 20 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.

Vanilla Batter:
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (7/12 cup) granulated sugar
13 1/3 oz. (1 2/3 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 eggs (brown recommended, large)

Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter on top of the crust and bake all this in a hot water tub at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes. Afterwards, take the tub-and-pan assembly out of the oven and promptly add the next batter indicated below.

Strawberry Batter:
1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup Nestlé Strawberry Nesquik drink mix (the same amount of mix that would be needed as if to make 2/3 quart of the drink itself)
13 1/3 oz. (1 2/3 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above)
2/3 to 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon heat-resistant red food coloring
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 eggs (brown recommended, large)

Carefully scoop this on top of the vanilla batter (it is best to do this around the edge of the pan and let the strawberry batter flow towards the middle) and return the tub-and-pan assembly to the oven, still at 325 degrees. Resume baking for about another 30 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Afterwards, take the tub-and-pan assembly out of the oven and promptly add the final batter shown below.

Chocolate Batter:
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (7/12 cup) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
13 1/3 oz. (1 2/3 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above)
2/3 to 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 eggs (brown recommended, large)

Carefully scoop this on top of the strawberry batter (again, it is best to do this around the edge of the pan and let the chocolate batter flow towards the middle) and return the tub-and-pan assembly to the oven, this time at only 300 degrees. Bake for about 65 more minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off the oven and cool the cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with the oven door slightly ajar, for about an hour. Afterwards, remove the cheesecake (still in its springform pan) from the oven and tub and continue to cool it down at room temperature for another two hours.

After cooling down at room temperature, remove the cheesecake from its pan and refrigerate.

Neapolitan Cheesecake—Prototype 3

This one ended up being a successful hit among my fellow co-workers at the Danvers East Home Depot.

However, I felt that the chocolate layer was too rubbery (hopefully not as bad for the strawberry or vanilla ones), and that the crust's cinnamon was too dominant over at least the chocolate and strawberry batter flavors (which seemed to be why I outright omitted this spice from my most recent single-flavored strawberry cheesecake—and why I did not use any cinnamon at all, from what I best recall, in any of my single-flavored chocolate ones). My plans for next time: Cut the xanthan gum to 3/8 teaspoon for the chocolate batter (doing likewise for the strawberry and vanilla ones also a good idea), and skip the cinnamon for the crust.
 

Back to my bushy homepage