Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 27:
 
It has not been easy trying to obtain a firm-enough eggnog cheesecake. I decided to try something very different—concentrate that watery eggnog! I made some simplifications for the time being as well. This included the cheese base for this recipe being cottage all the way, and I didn't bother with the rum extract either.
 
Eggnog Concentrate:
Place 2 cups of eggnog into the upper pot of a double-boiler. Very slowly heat the contents (this can, and probably should, be done on the lowest burner setting—more importantly, try to get the eggnog's temperature to settle between 165 and 180 degrees during this process). Stir often, cooking this eggnog until it is almost down to about 1/4 of its initial weight. Then let this cool off (at least a little).

Batter:
24 oz. (about 3 cups) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Eggnog concentrate (see above)
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
3 eggs

Place into greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan, and bake in tub at 300 degrees for 90 minutes. Shut off oven afterwards, leaving door slightly ajar, for 60 minutes. Next, remove pan containing cheesecake from tub and oven, and let cool at room temperature for 120 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate.

Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 27

I ended up going way overboard with the xanthan gum. Thoroughly mixing it in with the wet contents was a nearly hopeless nightmare. The batter ended up being so thick that spreading it (not just pouring it—I had to carefully spread this stuff as well) into the pan was difficult as well. I could not get the batter fully leveled there.
 

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