Chilled Eggnog Pie—Prototype 2:
 
Wow! It has been quite a few years since I last made a chilled eggnog cheese pie. Maybe that was around 2010, but I cannot fully remember at this point. Here we are, in late February of 2022, as I make up this latest prototype. I have had some tricky issues with the baked eggnog cheesecakes, particularly with their flavor. I somehow felt the taste just didn't quite measure up to a decent eggnog experience that I was looking for, despite the many tweaks that I have done over the years. As of this writing, it looks like I have done 29 (!) different baked prototypes for this flavor. That is an awful lot—it seems to somehow signify a long struggle that I had gone through.

In light of all this, I felt that I would take a
break from the baking and chill out for a change—and apply what I have learned from those baked eggnog cheesecakes to the latest chilled version presented below.
 
Crust:
1 package (or prepared) 8" graham cracker pie crust

Batter:
8 oz. (about 1 cup) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese
8 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese")
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of eggnog
1 tablespoon xanthan gum

Pour batter into crust and chill for at least 2 hours.
 
The flavor was great (in fact, the eggnog may have been a little too dominant—after all, this was meant to be a cheese pie as well, so the cheese presence mattered too). The filling was barely stable (I had contemplated adding another teaspoon of xanthan gum—worth planning for next time). The crust, on the other hand, broke up too easily—and at times in wrong places. So much for packaged crusts (that's what I used for this pie)! But in light of my proposal to use more xanthan gum in the filling the next time around, I considered giving the packaged crust (because of its convenience) another try.
 

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