Baked Plain Cheesecake—Prototype 10:
 
Modify the cheese blend. Cut the flour further, and bring back the arrowroot. Cut the amount of crust in half, making some minor adjustments along the way.

These were some highlights of the changes for this plain prototype, following a smashing success from the 4th prototype of my pumpkin cheesecakes.
 
2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese:
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 8 ounces (1 cup) of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese.

Crust:
1 oz. melted, white chocolate
4 oz. (1/2 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1.1 oz. Bran Buds, ground up

Pour this crust mixture into pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.

Batter:
2 tablespoons melted or softened butter
5/8 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/3 tablespoons arrowroot
1/4 teaspoon salt
20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Pour on top of crust. Then bake in tub at 300 degrees for 60 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan), cool (outside of oven and tub) for an hour, remove from pan and refrigerate.
 
The taste was terrific! This was, in a way, a flashback to Prototype 8, but without the excessive fragility. Prototype 10 had the firmness that I was more accustomed to, plus the tartness and sweetness seemed just about right on target. And the height wasn't too short either. This one already seemed very promising before I baked it. It looked like I utilized what was hopefully just the right amount of all-purpose flour and arrowroot. I hardly found any "ho-hum" tinge in this prototype.

Some of my relatives had the opportunity to enjoy this cheesecake, and the reception was quite enthusiastic. A few weeks earlier, some of them also experienced the fourth prototype of my chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. But at least one of my cousins (Fran) told me about liking even better this latest plain-flavored prototype presented here. I also brought this cheesecake to darts. While Lesa wasn't "in the mood" that night, perhaps for any desserts, Steve raved about it. He even felt that the tartness was just right (even though he particularly loved lemon-flavored cheesecake).

I hardly felt any reason at this point to improve upon the baked, plain-flavored cheesecake—give Prototype 10...a TEN! The basic formulation here would set the trajectory for many other flavored cheesecakes to come.
 

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