Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 16:
 
Big changes for this one! Say "Hello" to yogurt cheese (and because of its tartness, "Goodbye" to the lemon juice). I also opted to go with a plain crust as well. See the plain cheesecakes (mainly Prototypes 5 through 8) for more info on the reasons behind these changes. I also decided to replace the white whole wheat flour with all-purpose, in order to find out whether this substitution would improve the taste.
 
Crust:
1.5 oz. melted, white chocolate
8 oz. lowfat yogurt cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up

Do NOT pre-bake the crust. It should be more than firm enough at this point.

Batter:
2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon rum extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) nonfat yogurt cheese
2 cups light eggnog
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs

Bake, with tub, for about 70 minutes at 300 degrees, then cool off for about 70 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate.
 
This one came out quite tasty. I felt that using all-purpose flour, as opposed to white whole wheat, did indeed have a noticeably favorable impact on the taste. In a way, I felt a little bad, because that meant sacrificing some fiber. But I had to face some kind of trade-off. If I really wanted this extra fiber, I would have to put up with the "ho-hum" tinge as well. But as long as I had that Bran-Buds-based crust, I was already getting plenty of fiber anyway. Given that, it looked like the usage of white whole wheat flour, as opposed to all-purpose, in the batter wasn't going to provide a big percentage jump in the fiber for the cheesecake overall. But using the all-purpose would likely make a big improvement in the batter's taste.

On the other hand, the Oakhurst eggnog used here also had a big role in making this cheesecake taste great. Perhaps an even better test for the all-purpose flour, particularly in conjunction with yogurt cheese, would be a plain-flavored cheesecake.

I made this prototype as, among other things, an early birthday present for Lesa. In addition to her enjoying it, her friend Steve loved it as well. As with Prototype 8 of my plain cheesecakes, Steve happily commented about a lemon presence in the flavor, even though I used no lemon juice (and I could not, from what I best recall, pick up a lemon-like flavor myself). Again, I had to explain to Steve the tart characteristic of yogurt, a type of food which he told me he (somehow) did not like. I mentioned to him my not really liking eggs. Yet those were in the cheesecake as well. If one does not like a certain food by itself, that person may still greatly enjoy a different food prepared with that disliked ingredient. Combinations of various ingredients, whether liked or not, can result in a tasty sum!
 

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