Baked Neapolitan Cheesecake—Prototype 5:
 
In a number of recent cheesecakes, I boosted the white chocolate chips for a firmer crust. The latest Neapolitan prototype presented here features this increase, to 4 ounces.
 
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:
4 oz. melted, white chocolate
8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
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
3/8 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
3/8 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
3/8 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 5

For some reason, it seemed like I ended up allocating too much of the 3-cheese blend to the strawberry layer and too little of it to the chocolate one. Also, despite using more white chocolate chips, the crust turned out very mushy. What led to that problem?? Was it a fluke? I did not know. Was at least one of the ingredients defective?

Both the allocation and mushiness problems seemed mysterious to me. Perhaps I overlooked something and did not know it at the time? Did I measure something incorrectly? I needed to come up with a more cautious strategy going forward. One of my considerations was that for next time, pre-bake the crust for 30 minutes, not 20, and if the crust turns out too puffy, well, that's "tuffy"! Better puffy than mushy! At least aim high on the bake time if the crust pours into the pan too easily (which it did for this most recent effort).

Again, like last year (and previous years), I baked a Neapolitan cheesecake for a Labor Day cookout at my workplace, The Home Depot. This most recent prototype was brought there in early September of 2024.
 

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