Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: Uses two 8-oz. packages of Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese Crust: Melt: 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate Add: 2 oz. Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (softened) Add: 2 tbsp. sugar Add: 1 tbsp: skim milk Mix together. Add: 1/2 package (i.e., 8.8 oz.) of Kellogg's All Bran Bran Buds Mix together. Press into 13" x 9" pan (a good idea is to line it with wax paper first). Refrigerate, at least until reasonably firm. Filling: Soften: remaining 14 oz. of Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese Add: 4 oz. creamy peanut butter Add: 3/4 cup sugar Mix together. Add filling on top of crust and spread out. Refrigerate until firm, then cut into squares. Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 2: Still uses two 8-oz. packages of Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese Crust: Melt: 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate Add: 4 oz. (INSTEAD OF 2 oz.) Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (softened) Add: 2 tbsp. sugar Add: 1 tbsp: skim milk ADD: 2 TEASPOONS OF VANILLA Mix together. Add: 1/2 package (i.e., 8.8 oz.) of Kellogg's All Bran Bran Buds Mix together. Press into 13" x 9" pan (a good idea is to line it with wax paper first). Refrigerate, at least until reasonably firm. Filling: Soften: remaining 12 oz. (INSTEAD OF 14 oz.) of Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese Add: 4 oz. creamy peanut butter ADD: 2 OZ. SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE (MELTED) Add: 3/4 cup sugar Mix together. Add filling on top of crust and spread out. Refrigerate until firm, then cut into squares. SUMMARY OF DIFFERENCES FOR PROTOTYPE 2, COMPARED TO PROTOTYPE 1: Crust gets 2 teaspoons of vanilla, plus 2 additional oz. of cream cheese. Filling gets 2 less oz. of cream cheese. In other words, 2 oz. of the cream cheese gets shifted from the filling to the crust. Filling also gets 2 oz. of melted semi-sweet chocolate. Originally, the aforementioned 2 oz. of chocolate for the filling was supposed to be shifted from the crust's allocation (resulting in only 10 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate for the crust), but this step was forgotten. So the crust still got a full 12 oz., all of this chocolate being mixed in and the crust being made up before the error of forgetfulness was discovered. So a separate allocation of 2 oz. of chocolate was used for the filling (resulting in a total of 14 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate for the entire recipe, instead of 12 oz. as originally planned). It is hoped that next time, the step to take 2 oz. from the 12 oz. allocation of melted chocolate will NOT BE FORGOTTEN. Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 3: What Prototype 2 was meant to be. In other words, a grand total of 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate was used for the entire recipe. Memorial success won out this time as the crust got only the intended 10 oz. of the melted chocolate (and the filling still got the remaining 2 oz.). However, a new concern was triggered by eating these bars perhaps a day or so after they were prepared. The Bran Buds lost their crunch! It is likely that the moisture from other ingredients rendered them more chewy and/or soggy. The result was a texture that did not seem to feel great when eaten. Somebody suggested using Splenda (sucralose) instead of sugar to suppress the crunch's loss. Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 4: Repeat Prototype 3, 12 oz. total of melted semi-sweet chocolate and all, but with a new approach. Give up on the crunch. But avoid the unsatisfactory texture of the seemingly soggy Bran Buds as well. All of the ingredients, both for the crust and for the filling are ultimately mixed together before being put into the pan. But...the Bran Buds are finely ground in a blender to a flour-like texture first, before being added to the other ingredients. Here is a suggested sequence (with the quantities repeated for convenience): Soften: two 8-oz. packages of Philly 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (and set aside) Grind: 1/2 package (i.e., 8.8 oz.) of Kellogg's All Bran Bran Buds (and set aside) Make sure the Bran Buds are finely ground to a flour-like texture (use a blender or food processor). Measure: 3/4 cup PLUS 2 tbsp. sugar Add: 1 tbsp: skim milk Add: 2 Teaspoons of vanilla Mix together. Add: 4 oz. creamy peanut butter Mix together. Melt: 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate Combine this with the sugar/milk/vanilla/peanut butter mixture (quickly, while the chocolate is still melted). Next, add the softened cream cheese to the above mixture, and mix well. Finally, add the powdered Bran Buds to this mixture, and blend well (plenty of effort needed here as the texture becomes stiff). Spread all this into a 13" x 9" pan (a good idea is to line it with wax paper first). Refrigerate until firm, then cut into squares. Expect a somewhat fudge-like texture. Please keep in mind that sugar was used in this prototype (not Splenda). Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 5: While Prototype 4 had a decent taste, its single-mixture appearance might have been too mysterious for some. So it's back to the two-layered approach, but with some major changes: The peanut butter goes to the bottom, and the chocolate (all of it!) goes to the top. And baking (!) is added as well. First, the crust. Start with the first 8-oz. package of the softened cream cheese and blend it with the 4 oz. of creamy peanut butter, the 1 tbsp. of skim milk, the 1/2 package (i.e., 8.8 oz.) of Bran Buds, finely ground, and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Press it all into a 13" x 9" pan (lined with wax paper). Then bake this crust at 350 degrees (preheat the oven first) for 10 minutes. Next comes the filling, a blend of the second 8-oz. package of the softened cream cheese, the entire 12 oz. of melted, semi-sweet chocolate, the 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. of the sugar. Spread this filling evenly onto the crust in the pan (cooling it off first is not necessary, and was largely skipped here). Then return the pan to the 350-degree oven for another 10 minutes. Remove and let cool afterward, for about an hour, then place into refrigerator, and let the recipe firm up there before cutting into squares. One of the challenges was deciding how much of the recipe's total sugar to allocate to the crust, which was initially going to contain only the peanut butter and the ground Bran Buds, along with the crust's small share of the sugar. However, this mixture was determined to be way too dry. Ultimately, some of the cream cheese (likely all of which was originally planned to be allocated to the filling) was gradually added to get the moisture up. And this was done, unfortunately, after the peanut butter and the Bran Buds powder got mixed together earlier. So blending in the cream cheese was difficult. Some heating assistance was needed, therefore the mixture got a little "microwaving" in order make the cream cheese hopefully more workable. The milk, originally planned for the filling on top, also got switched to the crust on the bottom in order to contribute to the moisture. So the filling got "robbed" of all of its milk, half of its cream cheese, plus some of its initial share of the sugar (to compensate for the cream cheese shift) in order to "pay" the "thirsty" crust. To bake this crust was also a late decision, in hopes of possibly enhancing the blend for a better firmness, in light of the cream cheese's late addition (and therefore difficulties in blending) to the crust. The filling's stiffness led to the additional baking (in hopes of the filling evening out more). It should also be noted here that the peanut butter used in this prototype was unsalted (salted varieties were likely used in at least some of the earlier prototypes). The result of all this is a lightly-colored crust on the bottom, along with dark-colored filling on top, in keeping with the looks of many popular, square-shaped, baked goods. Furthermore, the peanut butter's light, brown color matches the crust exclusively containing it. And the filling's dark, brown color does a good job of reflecting the chocolate solely allocated to this upper layer. Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 6: A repetition of Prototype 5, but with some challenging reallocations (and additional, yet minor changes)! Shift 4 ounces of cream cheese from the filling to the crust (2 tablespoons of sugar were also supposed to be transferred along with this cream cheese in the filling-to-crust shift, and probably was indeed done, but the memory of this action is not 100% certain). Sequential details (combining order) for crust: 12 oz. cream cheese 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 tbsp. skim milk (blend the three wet ingredients above before adding the two dry ones below) 1/2 cup plus (hopefully) 2 tbsp. sugar 8.8 oz. Bran Buds (ground up, of course) Sequential details (combining order) for filling: 12 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 2 teaspoons vanilla (should have added this one last, instead of at this point, because it quickly stiffened the chocolate) 4 oz. cream cheese 1/4 cup (hopefully only this amount) sugar Now things get really challenging. Press only HALF the chocolate filling into the 13" x 9" wax-paper-lined pan (if necessary, apply a minimal amount of broiler heat to facilitate the spreading). Then firm this up by chilling it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the freezer, and add the crust mixture on top of the lower chocolate layer. Press it down firmly, then return the pan to the freezer for another 20 minutes. Next, take the pan out of the freezer and press the remaining half of the chocolate filling on top of the crust layer. This step was too difficult, because the chocolate hardened too soon. Got to cut down next time on the freezer duration that follows the crust addition (seems like the filling absorbed the crust's cold temperature too quickly). Just make sure that the crust is packed as firmly as possible. But not all was lost, thanks to a quick heat application (broiling the pan in the oven for about a couple of minutes). Spreading the top filling suddenly became extremely easy. Next, it's "back to cool" time, but this time the pan goes into the refrigerator, not the freezer. Far more than enough time required for firmness passed (probably about two hours) before the contents of the pan were cut. Unfortunately, the chocolate filling tended to break up badly during the cutting phase. Applying some oven heat helped a little, but not enough.   Here is some further background for Prototype 6. Laurie (a cousin of Lesa, who herself had provided excellent home care for my dad in his later years) made a number of recommendations for my Bran Buddy Bars (I think Laurie was probably also the one who suggested using Splenda back around Prototype 3). More specifically, she felt that the crust texture of Prototype 5 was too dry. She had two suggestions. One was to split up the chocolate filling into two parts so that these would form the top and bottom layers. The crust would go in between them. This approach would result in a bite that was more moist to the touch. Her other suggestion was to shift more of the cream cheese from the filling to the crust. She advised perhaps shifting as much as all the cream cheese to the crust, but I was concerned that taking too much cream cheese from the filling would result in the chocolate layers being too firm. This excessive hardness could also contribute, along with the thinness of these layers, to the chocolate filling cracking up too easily. So I made a decision to take only half of the filling's Prototype 5 share of the cream cheese and transfer it to the crust. Since I felt that some matching sweetness should also go along with this reallocated cream cheese, I also made plans to transfer 2 tablespoons of sugar as well. Seeing that the chocolate filling was disintegrating on me during the bar-cutting process, I am glad that I didn't raid any more cream cheese from it. But I hope to come up next time with a better way to cut the bars non-destructively. So what was the feedback on this prototype from Laurie? I had to wait a long time for this one (due to her absence at the time that I served these bars), but I was finally told by Lesa (who saved some bars for Laurie's later consumption) that she "liked them" (hopefully, according to what I best recall hearing).
	Chocolate Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: After having made Prototype 6 of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars, it was time to try a chocolate-only version (which is largely based on that prototype). For the crust (featuring cocoa, along with additional milk, sugar and vanilla) start with... 1/4 cup skim milk, heated and combined with... 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Fully dissolve this in the milk, then blend in... 12 oz. cream cheese. Then add... 1 cup sugar. Blend thoroughly, then add... 2 teaspoons vanilla (next to last ingredient here). Blend this in, then finally mix in... 8.8 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Sequential details (combining order) for filling: 12 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 4 oz. cream cheese 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla (last ingredient here!) Note that only cream cheese, sugar and vanilla (identical amounts on this one!) are used for both the crust and filling. Press half the chocolate filling into the 13" x 9" wax-paper-lined pan (if necessary, apply a minimal amount of broiler heat to facilitate the spreading). Then firm this up by chilling it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the freezer, and add the crust mixture on top of the lower chocolate layer. Press it down firmly...but do NOT return the pan to the freezer afterward (the crust mixture was already fairly stiff). Instead, proceed directly with pressing the remaining half of the chocolate filling on top of the crust layer, applying broiler heat as needed (be careful, and do not overheat). For some reason, spreading the filling (top and bottom) was not all that easy this time. Apply a final shot of heat, this time BAKING briefly (instead of broiling), hopefully to get the chocolate filling layers, especially the bottom one, to adhere better to the crust. Cool the pan until it can be comfortably touched, then put it into the refrigerator. Refrigerate until firm, about 60 to 90 minutes. For the sake of cutting, do not refrigerate for too long (the idea here is to prevent the filling layers from cracking up or coming apart). There was still some disintegration here, but hopefully not as badly as in the aforementioned Prototype 6 of the chocolate peanut butter bars. Despite omitting the peanut butter, the taste of the chocolate-only bars was still close to that of the chocolate peanut butter ones. This was probably due to whole wheat (of which bran is a particularly important characteristic) tending to have a "nutty" flavor.   Laurie loved these chocolate ones a lot! This time she was present when I served these Bran Buddies, and I got an overwhelmingly great response from other people as well (along with preferences for this recipe over the chocolate-peanut butter versions). Lesa's partner Steve pleaded for me to not change this prototype. Thus I felt like I hit a big winner with this one. Furthermore, the taste seemed less "nutty" and more "chocolaty" at the time I served these guests (nearly 3/4 of a day after my somehow perceiving a nuttier taste as I was cutting these bars). So it looks like I have managed to accomplish a prototype to greatly please the crowds. But the filling's excessively thin layers still made my work difficult. It was time for me to bring up a sizing issue at this point. In many of my earlier chocolate peanut butter prototypes, I made full recipes and used a 13" x 9" pan. However, for later prototypes and this chocolate-only version, I went with only HALF recipes (in order to reduce excessive leftover problems that I had to deal with). Because of this, I switched to a 9" x 9" pan. So why did I in these notes list the measurements based on FULL recipes in the later prototypes, despite making half-size batches? It was likely to make proportional comparisons much easier. But there was a catch, something that hopefully hardly mattered in the earlier prototypes. But it would indeed matter in Prototype 6 of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars and Prototype 1 of the Chocolate ("only") Bran Buddy Bars, due to the 2-layed chocolate filling approach. The 9" x 9" pan used in the half recipes was NOT half the size of the 13" x 9" pan used in the full recipes. The smaller pan was proportionally much larger! Shall we do the math here? Both pans are 9" wide. So in keeping with the full recipe proportions, if the full-sized pan is 13" long, then the smaller pan's corresponding dimension for the half recipes should be only 6 1/2". But the measurement here is actually 9". How much bigger is that? 9" / 6.5" = about 1.38. That's about 38% too big! Therefore, the layers are stretched out considerably thinner in a 9" x 9" pan when a half recipe is used (about 28% of the thickness is diminished). Got 6.5" x 9" pan (for half recipes)? Such a pan could improve the thickness of those excessively thin chocolate filling layers by about 38%, and this can be helpful in reducing disintegration problems. An even sweeter idea for full recipes is to use the 9" x 9" pan instead of the 13" x 9" one. Now we're talking double-thick filling layers that we can work with, compared to the half recipe-9" x 9" pan combination (about 44% thicker and easier than the full recipe-13" x 9" pan combination, by the way).   Chocolate Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 2: Repeat Prototype 1, but substitute whipped lowfat cottage cheese for the lowfat cream cheese. And this time, thicken up! Use a full recipe (instead of half), and put it all in a 9" x 9" pan. The bars looked (and tasted) great in their thicker form, but there were still some disintegration problems, likely due to the timing of my cutting these bars after refrigeration. All this painstaking preparation, off to a late start, was getting well into the wee hours of the morning, and I wanted to get to bed. So I finally did so shortly after putting the finished recipe in the refrigerator for a firm chill. Therefore I did not get around to cutting up the bars until at least four or five (too many) hours afterward. Applying some quick oven heat helped a little. All this happened on a very eventful weekend, so my schedule was a bit crazy, but I wanted to make some Bran Buddies to bring to a friend's house for a Shavuot celebration on the Sunday of that weekend. Many people there liked the recipe. A number of days later, I also presented these thicker bars to Lesa and Steve, who enjoyed these as well as the earlier prototype (Steve was particularly enthusiastic about these chocolate-only bars).
	Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 7: This was sort of a new one, featuring three distinct layers and a new ingredient: white chocolate. Due to this prototype being made after Prototype 2 of the Chocolate (only) Bran Buddy Bars, whipped cottage cheese (lowfat, of course) replaced the cream cheese as well. Sequential details (combining order) for lower filling: 6 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 2 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 1/8 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Sequential details (combining order) for crust: 14 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 2 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 tbsp. skim milk (blend the three wet ingredients above before adding the two dry ones below) 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Sequential details (combining order) for upper filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 2 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1/8 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Tip: 1/8 cup of sugar weighs 1 ounce, so if a measuring cup of this size is not available, try using a kitchen scale instead. Note a 2 ounce swap—2 ounces of the peanut butter being switched from the crust to the upper filling (mainly to give this filling more of a peanut butter color), and 2 ounces of cottage cheese (the upper filling's entire Prototype 6 share in its corresponding cream cheese form) being switched from the upper filling to the crust. Also note that the white chocolate replaces the semi-sweet on the top layer. The pan procedures were similar to those of Prototype 6 (20-minute freezer exposures, etc.), and the full recipe was actually used here—not half—along with, however, a 9" x 9" pan (see the comments above on Prototype 1 of the Chocolate Bran Buddy Bars for further info on this issue). The cutting was done after probably about an hour and a half of refrigeration (i.e., that occurred right after the top layer's placement). There were still some disintegration problems, mainly with the semi-sweet chocolate filling layer. However, the resulting cut bars were each transferred to an individual-sized piece of wax paper, re-assembled with the the broken filling sections, then heat-treated (semi-sweet side up, under the broiler), and this approach ended up working out quite well. The bars were then transferred back to the refrigerator for re-hardening. "Integrated" success was hopefully attained at last! I made these bars in honor of Lesa's birthday.
	Chocolate Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 3: Let's face it. To make a batch of three-layered (filling-crust-filling) Bran Buddies has certainly become so time-consuming. And the lower layer of filling breaking up upon cutting these bars (after chilling) only added to the difficulty. It was time for some kind of compromise. Retain only the top filling layer, and merge the lower one into the crust. While this would result in the relatively dry crust being at the bottom and hence more likely to hit the eater's tongue (sorry, Laurie), at least this reformulated crust would be somewhat moister. Furthermore, the bars wouldn't be as messy to handle (the dual-filling-layers version tended to melt easily in one's hand). So Prototype 2 gets repeated, but the ingredients for the bottom filling layer get combined with those of the crust mixture. Here are the details: Crust: 1/4 cup skim milk, heated and combined with... 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Fully dissolve this in the milk, then blend in... 14 oz. lowfat cottage cheese, whipped. Then add... 1 + 1/8 cups sugar. Blend thoroughly, then add... 6 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 1 tablespoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here). Blend this in, then finally mix in... 8.8 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Filling: 6 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 2 oz. lowfat cottage cheese, whipped 1/8 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Press the crust mixture into a 9" x 9" wax-paper-lined pan. Then firm this up by chilling it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the freezer, and add the chocolate filling on top of the crust layer, carefully applying broiler heat as needed. When the pan is cool enough to be comfortably touched, put it into the refrigerator. Chill until the top filling is almost completely firm, about 60 to 90 minutes, then cut into bars. Return these to the refrigerator, and chill until fully firm. What a difference dealing with the filling being only on top! There were hardly any disintegration problems. Another helpful factor had to do with the timing of cutting these bars, which was after maybe about an hour (or a little longer) of refrigeration. At that point, the filling was slightly soft (hence just right for cutting). I no longer had to wait for some kind of bottom filling layer to get considerably hard (hard enough to avoid getting squished out under the pressure of cutting the bars, but also prone to easily getting broken up as well). And this prototype was still a great success, particularly at the Sports Page, a place frequented by Lesa, Steve and their friends for playing darts, singing karaoke or just hanging out—where I have brought in many past Bran Buddy prototypes in addition to this latest batch of chocolate ones (Steve loved 'em)!
	Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 8: How about doing to the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars the same kind of thing that was done for Prototype 3 of their chocolate-only counterparts? In other words, merge the lower, dark, chocolate filling layer into the crust mixture, but retain the peanut butter filling layer on top. While this method would make the recipe simpler, another helpful idea involved an extremely minor shift for the sugar. More specifically, the total sugar used here amounted to 3/4 of a cup plus 2 tablespoons. The distribution of this ingredient on Prototype 7 was: Bottom filling: 1/8 cup Crust mixture: 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Upper filling: 1/8 cup But efforts to measure 1/8 of a cup had been a challenge, due to lack of a measuring cup in this size. Some claims out there have somehow indicated this amount as being equal to 2 tablespoons. However, a closer check would reveal 1/8 of a cup to be more than that, but it wouldn't be by much. In fact, the difference was negligible enough to make a minor change in how the sugar would get measured out for this prototype. By merging the two lower layers based on the above info, the sugar allocation would be: Combined bottom filling/crust mixture: 1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup plus 2 tablespoons Upper filling: 1/8 cup Due to the small enough difference between 1/8 of a cup and 2 tablespoons, a tiny allocation swap could be made, and the recipe total for the sugar would still be 3/4 of a cup plus 2 tablespoons, as follows: Combined bottom filling/crust mixture: 1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup plus 1/8 cup Upper filling: 2 tablespoons Hence the sugar for the combined lower mixture would now add up to an easier-to-handle 3/4 of a cup (and measuring this ingredient for the upper filling would be easier as well)! Here, then, are the simplified details: Crust: 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 2 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 tbsp. skim milk (blend the above three ingredients before adding the next four ones below) 3/4 cup sugar 6 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate (be sure to quickly stir this one in while it is still melted) 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here!) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 2 oz. unsalted peanut butter 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Press the crust mixture into a 9" x 9" wax-paper-lined pan. Then firm this up by chilling it in the refrigerator (not the freezer this time—it has been determined that refrigeration is sufficient) for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the refrigerator, and add the peanut butter filling on top of the crust layer. If broiler heat is needed, be very careful. Use just enough to make the filling spreadable (too much heat can brown the filling). When the pan is cool enough to be comfortably touched, put it into the refrigerator. Chill until the top filling is almost completely firm, about 60 to 90 minutes, then cut into bars. Return these to the refrigerator, and chill until fully firm. Looks like I overdid it with the broiler heat, as the filling on top got slightly browned. But the outcome was not a disaster. However, I cut up the bars a little on the late side, so there was some filling disintegration, although very little. A cautiously quick heat treatment would fix that. Lesa greeted me with a thankful kiss, immediately picking up one of these bars as I walked with a plate of them through the entrance door into the Sports Page, where she was playing darts. It didn't take very long to empty the rest of this plate. That's another treat that was "on target".   Seems like something went wrong when I tried to compare 1/8 of a cup to 2 tablespoons for this prototype. Chances are, I was using a small cup that indicated a measurement of 2 tablespoons—a quick, convenient way to make such a measurement, rather than using a single measuring tablespoon twice. A few weeks after making this batch of bars, I did some additional research on the Internet in regard to the question of how many tablespoons were in 1 cup. I kept on getting 16 as the answer here. This would mean that 1/8 of a cup would equal only 2 tablespoons—not more than that, as I thought earlier! But I wondered why I came up with such a different evaluation. So I took some measuring spoons and cups, did some further research, and determined that the "2 TBSP COFFEE MEASURE" which I very likely used in the earlier comparison was, in fact, deficient (no, this supposedly was not from a coffee can, but rather part of a regular set of measuring cups). Maybe this particular cup was meant for heaping, not leveling. So after checking with the other measuring utensils, I have finally arrived at the conclusion that 1/8 cup = 2 tablespoons.
	Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bran Buddy Bars—Prototype 1:   This one is my answer to Mrs. Fields! Around the time that I produced Prototype 8 of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars, I was visiting a shopping mall and passed by a Mrs. Field's outlet, whose tasty treats included chocolate/peanut butter "Dream" bars. Chances are highly likely that I had such a bar in the distant past—and greatly enjoyed it. The price, be it financially or nutritionally, was likely on the high side. A great idea popped into my mind on my more recent visit—how about a Bran Buddy version? And so I quickly began to brainstorm a recipe that would be derived mainly from Prototype 7 of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars, labor-intensive as they were. But I also gave a lot of thought to the crust of Prototype 8 (and/or the crust of the chocolate-only bars) as well, due to that crust having a dark brown appearance. This would come close to matching the Mrs. Field's bar's thick bottom layer—on top of which went an obscurely thin chocolate layer, followed by a somewhat thicker peanut butter layer, then finally an easily visible chocolate one (these top three layers seemed to have a filling-like appearance). However, my version would skip the obscure chocolate layer immediately below the peanut butter one. Visually, it did not matter much, but there would be a lot less work involved. So the plan was to start with Chocolate Peanut Butter Prototype 7 and relocate the chocolate filling from the bottom and put it on top of the peanut butter one. That was easy to determine. Figuring out how to darken the crust (which would now be on the bottom) was much more of a challenge. One option considered was to make it like that of Prototype 8. This would therefore call for a second occurrence of ingredients of the chocolate filling. This additional set would be merged into the crust. But there were at least a couple of issues. The total amount of cottage cheese for this recipe would be 18 ounces. Since I was not using this perishable ingredient for anything else, I would have preferred being able to buy a container of cottage cheese in this amount. Such a size was not available, at least in my knowledge (I was able to find containers at least in 8, 16 and 24 ounces). And I had some concern about the idea of adding another 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, in light of my trying to keep the fat down. I finally decided on a reasonable compromise for the crust. I also decided to give the peanut butter filling more of a peanut butter appearance.   These Bran Buddy Bars just keep on getting better and better. What does this mean? They're getting devoured more quickly! Because of this, the actual recipe was increased by 50% and put into a 13" x 9" pan. However, the normal size recipe is presented here (remember to use a 9" x 9" pan if using this one!) for the sake of reference. Some helpful tips are provided as well. Grind the Bran Buds ahead of time, then set side. Next, whip the cottage cheese ahead of time, then place in refrigerator until it is needed. Sequential details (combining order) for crust (lower layer): 1/4 cup skim milk, heated 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Fully dissolve this in the milk. 2 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 2 oz. unsalted peanut butter 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar 14 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here). Blend this in, then finally mix in... 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Sequential details (combining order) for peanut butter filling (middle layer): 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 3 oz. unsalted peanut butter 3 tbsp. sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Sequential details (combining order) for chocolate filling (upper layer): 6 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 2 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 2 tbsp. sugar Note the added peanut butter (along with a corresponding increase in sugar) for the peanut butter filling. "Hey, wait a minute! Wasn't the chocolate filling supposed to include 1 teaspoon of vanilla??" As a matter of fact, yes. Unfortunately, this late step was forgotten. Here are some additional tips. Melt the entire recipe's semi-sweet chocolate, i.e., 8 ounces, before adding any of it to the crust. More specifically, add the 2 ounces to the milk and cocoa powder mixture—quickly, of course. Immediately afterward, take the cottage cheese from the refrigerator, and add 2 ounces of this to the remaining 6 ounces of melted chocolate (return the remaining cottage cheese to the refrigerator). Blend these two together, reserving this mixture for the chocolate filling—set it aside and be sure to protect it against spoilage (since it may be a long while before the mixture is needed to complete the filling, refrigeration is recommended until then—at which point the contents can be reheated). After setting this mixture aside, continue with the crust (adding peanut butter, etc.). And here's another tip: 1/4 cup of cocoa powder has been determined to weigh 1.2 ounces (so if this is what the normal-sized recipe calls for, a 50% increase would require an additional .6 ounce, i.e., 1.8 ounces altogether). Chill until the top filling is almost completely firm, about an hour, then cut into bars. Return these to the refrigerator, and chill until fully firm. There were hardly any disintegration problems (looks like one hour of refrigeration before cutting was the way to go), and these bars were a terrific hit at the Sports Page. Steve told me that he had two of them ("for energy") before shooting his round of darts—and he beat his competitor! Lesa told me that the away team loved these a lot. Maybe I should nickname this prototype the Bull Shooter's Special.
	Change of name from Bran Buddy(-ies) to HiFi Buddy(-ies)   The way that I came up with the name Bran Buddy/Buddies is derived from the name of the key ingredient used in these recipes: Kellogg's All-Bran Bran Buds—or "All Bran Bran Buds" as I often expressed it (Kellogg's itself being the trademark owner of the All-Bran and Bran Buds names). I have also used the Bran Buddy expression for some other Bran-Buds-containing treats that I have thrown together, not just these bars. But it was for good reason that I used this kind of naming on all of these recipes. Yes, they obviously contained bran from the Bran Buds. But they were also very delicious—high in fiber, yet surprisingly delectable or "decadent" (as some would say). I somehow perceived a "nutritious and very delicious" kind of treat like this as a "buddy"—as in friend, pal, ally, etc.—this word being, of course, derived from "Buds" in Bran Buds. While I have succeeded in getting many people turned on to these recipes that were both nutrition-friendly and taste-friendly, at least one person suggested that I drop "Bran" from the name, due to the likelihood of scaring off some other potential tasters. This would pose a challenge to me, due to my having used the "Bran Buddy" form for a few years. But another term had been on my mind throughout those years as well—Hi-Fi. Why? As I was growing up, "Hi-Fi" (or "HiFi," or "hi-fi," or "hifi") had a nice ring to it, at least for me and many other people of my generation. Hi-Fi was an abbreviation for High Fidelity, a term describing high-quality audio. In more recent times, this wording has somehow given way to "Hi-Def" or High Definition, a term still applicable to audio, but a lot more easily associated with video (particularly HDTV's, i.e., high-definition televisions, with wide, flat screens). However, what I had in mind was the idea of "Hi-Fi" standing for "High Fiber", at least within the context of my Bran Buddy concoctions. So I thought that I would change the name of my high-fiber treats to "Hi-Fi Buddies" (or "Hi-Fi Buddy Bars"). This sounded good to me, and I felt that it would sound good to many people from my generation as well (hopefully in addition to those people older than us). Many of us who grew up rockin' out to "hi-fi stereo" systems in the 1970's would acquire a significant desire for fiber as we got older. But what about those younger than us? These people may not yet be as concerned about getting enough fiber, and "Hi-Fi" and "High Fidelity" may sound too old to them. But at least "Hi-Fi" easily rhymes with "Wi-Fi", which itself stands for "Wireless Fidelity" (a bonus is that the "Fi" part still stands for "Fidelity"), and this Internet-related term is something that these younger ones can much more easily relate to. So as long as the rhyme is there, perhaps "Hi-Fi" will still have at least a somewhat decent ring with these people too. Furthermore, even though they might not have a particularly big appetite for fiber these days, they still may like the high-fiber snacks anyway. When someone hears the wording "Hi-Fi Buddies", that may bring up images of some kind of audiophile community. "Ah, the joys of high-end electronics!" Anyway, I have come to conclude that switching to this new naming arrangement, with "Hi-Fi" standing for "High Fiber" in this context, was a good move.
	Chocolate Cherry HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: Given that chocolate and cherry are a popular Valentine's Day combination, let's make some HiFi Buddies for this romantic holiday. This particular recipe uses cherry butter, a pasty-textured cherry spread available (at least as of this batch's production) at Whole Foods Market. This recipe is based mainly on Prototype 8 of the chocolate peanut butter bars. However, the cherry butter directly replaces the peanut butter. Due to exchanging this peanut butter for a sweeter ingredient, the sugar is omitted from the filling as well. The details are as follows: Crust: 6 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 2 oz. cherry butter (combine quickly with the chocolate above while it is still melted, and blend in the next two ingredients shortly afterward) 3/4 cup sugar 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 1 tbsp. skim milk 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here!) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 2 oz. cherry butter 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Press the crust mixture into a 9" x 9" wax-paper-lined pan. Firm it up in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or freezer for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from whatever cooler was used, and add the cherry filling on top of the crust layer. Tip: if the filling is stiff, microwave it a little to soften, before it gets put on the crust (this is better than the broiler heat approach). Place the pan in the refrigerator. Chill until the top filling is almost completely firm, about 60 to 90 minutes, then cut into bars. Return these to the refrigerator, and chill until fully firm. I had difficulty detecting a cherry presence upon eating these bars. This may have been due to some cold symptoms which I had (which, by the way, moved me to be extra careful in regard to sanitary handling procedures). But these bars went over very well at Living Hope Church, where many people there could taste the cherry. However, I still wondered about that flavor's strength, whether it was too weak. But a few days later my cold symptoms dropped off significantly, and my cherry detection picked up a lot better. At that point, I reasoned that I did not need to add more cherry flavor. I had gotten additional favorable comments from Lesa's friends. The balance between this flavor and the chocolate seemed to be on target. For me, personally, whenever I took a bite, the flavor actually varied throughout the chewing process, with cherry dominating at the beginning and chocolate doing so at the end.   Chocolate Cherry HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 2: No need to add more cherry! No need to lower it either. But the quest was on for the filling to have a more reddish appearance. Repeat Prototype 1, but shift 1 ounce of the cherry butter from the crust to the filling (which would furthermore have more of a distinct cherry taste). This means 1 ounce of cherry butter for the crust, and 3 ounces of it for the filling. Another change was to defer the crust's sugar until after the cottage cheese. In Prototype 1, there was a lumpiness problem in fully blending the semi-sweet chocolate mixture with the cottage cheese. This was likely caused by the cold cottage cheese being combined long after the chocolate was melted. What happened was that the chocolate mixture had an extended chance to cool back down, thanks in part to mixing the sugar into it before bringing on the cottage cheese. The mixing bowl used was metal, so microwave usage was not a suitable choice. A cautious use of a conventional oven would reheat the contents enough to produce a desired thorough blend. As for Prototype 2, a further step was to somehow preheat the metal bowl. One way of doing this was by heating it in an oven. Another helpful approach involved filling a sink with some hot water and placing the bowl of mixture there and blending the contents without getting any of the sink's water into the bowl. Fast forward to the point after the top filling is spread over the crust! Place the completed pan in the refrigerator, and chill until the top filling is almost completely firm. But this time allow about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, due to a softer filling (because of it having more of the soft cherry butter), then cut into bars. Return these to the refrigerator, and chill until fully firm. These bars fared well, and it seems that at least one of Lesa's friends liked this prototype better than the first one. I was fairly happy myself, at least with the taste, although the filling still looked too dark. But despite the top lacking a bright red appearance, the taste was still great. Happy Valentine's Day!
	Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: Let's take a good look back at all these "Buddy" bars. Chocolate and peanut butter "shared" their "rule" with each other for the first few recipes. Then chocolate got to have a recipe all to itself. Later on, this popular flavor teamed up with cherry early in a year as Valentine's Day approached. But peanut butter never got to have such a bar recipe all to itself...until now. Okay, white chocolate is used here, but this stuff is relatively neutral, at least compared to its darker, brown counterparts. In fact, many feel that this white ingredient should not even be called "chocolate". Possible alternative names have included "white candy". What can one officially call this thing? Maybe "neutral confection"? Still, for now, let's call this ingredient "white chocolate", whether it really is chocolate or not. Anyway, in light of this ingredient being so neutral that many flavorings added to it have easily dominated this white stuff, it should be reasonably safe to say that peanut butter is the sole flavor ruler (or at least easily the dominator) of this recipe described here. So what do you do for such a nutty prototype here? Looks like Prototype 8 of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bran Buddy Bars is a good starting point. The changes are extremely simple and only need to be made in the crust: delete the semi-sweet chocolate, and increase the peanut butter by 4 ounces and the sugar by 1/4 cup. That all! The results: Crust: 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 6 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 tbsp. skim milk (blend the above three ingredients before adding the next three ones below) 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here!) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 2 oz. unsalted peanut butter 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Use a 9" x 9" pan, of course. Delicious peanut butter flavor, although these bars seem to have a taste that may be too sweet for at least some people.   Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 2: If the above recipe was too sweet, perhaps this was the case only with the filling. However, the crust seemed like it could use a little more sweetness. So let's repeat Prototype 1, but shift all of the filling's sugar to the crust. In light of a 13" x 9" pan being used for Prototype 2, the amounts shown below reflect this bigger batch: Crust: 24 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 9 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 + 1/2 tbsp. skim milk (blend the above three ingredients before adding the next three ones below) 1 + 1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp. sugar 1/2 tbsp. vanilla (next to last ingredient here!) 13.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Filling: 9 oz. melted, white chocolate 3 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1/2 tbsp. vanilla (last ingredient here!) Repeating what was just stated, a 13" x 9" (not 9" x 9"!) pan was used, and the ingredient amounts shown here reflect this. Some tips are worth noting here. Vigorously stir the filling immediately after adding the vanilla, because this last ingredient causes the filling to get stiff. And (for all Bran/HiFi Buddy Bar recipes) stir, with even more intense vigor, the crust mixture immediately after adding the Bran Buds for the same type of reason. It is advisable to dump this entire amount of Bran Buds "powder" on top of the other crust ingredients, and then blend the contents as quickly as possible, before this dry, ground-up bran absorbs a lot of the moisture from the wet ingredients, thus rendering the crust very stiff.   I think that I improved the taste with this one. Happy Easter!
	Banana HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: Let's go bananas with this one! Plan ahead by taking two medium-to-large sized bananas (enough to make 8 ounces of puree) and let them get ripe. Then peel and puree them (a blender or food processor is recommended here) just before using in the recipe that follows: Crust: 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 6 oz. banana puree 1 tbsp. skim milk (blend the above three ingredients before adding the next three ones below) 1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here!) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 2 oz. banana puree 1 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient here!) Fit all this into a 9" x 9" pan, and chill until firm.   Looks like banana puree was too thin to let the filling get firm. Even when I put this recipe in the freezer, as opposed to the refrigerator, this still did not work out well enough. Therefore, I took the pan out, let it sit at room temperature for perhaps about a half hour, then dumped the whole thing into a bowl. And I blended the crust and filling together (this took considerable effort)! Then I put this combined mixture back into the pan and placed it all into the freezer. After perhaps at least roughly a couple of hours, I cut up the bars from it.   Even then, the bars tended to be very soft when allowed to be at refrigerator temperature. Although the texture seemed to resemble cookie dough, the taste (at least to me) was very delicious—a nice, "melt in your mouth" experience and a terrific banana flavor.
	First you mix, mix, mix, some Fluff and peanut butter, add ground-up Bran Buds, and have a... Fluffernutter HiFi Buddy Bar! Anybody remember the "Fluffernutter" jingle for Marshmallow Fluff? If you lived in the Boston area around the 1960's or the 1970's, you probably do. Well, that's my variation on this jingle...and on the Fluffernutter recipe itself, a fairly simple sandwich. Let's give this baby-boomer classic the Bran Buddy treatment.   Fluffernutter HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: This is the simplest HiFi Buddy Bar recipe yet—there is only one layer, and these bars should keep for a very long time at room temperature (no refrigeration needed). The sequence suggested by the song's lyrics are crucial. According to the original tune, the peanut butter went on the bread first, and the Marshmallow Fluff was added afterward. For the Hifi Buddy Bars, it's a different story, so pay close attention. Sequential details (combining order) for single layer: 1 jar (i.e., 7.5 ounces) Marshmallow Fluff (or other brand of marshmallow cream, if you cannot get the Fluff brand) 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter (mixture will become very stiff after combining the first two ingredients) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (last ingredient here!) Mix hard! You are dealing with a very stiff mixture. Then press it all into a 9" x 9" wax-paper-lined pan. Get it leveled off, and expect a thin layer. Once this is done, cut into bars and enjoy! This one was thin and chewy, and the peanut butter could be detected. The marshmallow flavor was not nearly as much present, but these bars were still a nice hit.   Fluffernutter HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 2: Those bars need to be made thicker and softer. This means increasing the recipe, but also giving the marshmallow cream a proportionally higher boost—which increases its flavor as well. Sequential details: 1 large "tub" (i.e., 16 ounces) Marshmallow Fluff (or other marshmallow cream) 6 oz. unsalted peanut butter 13.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (last ingredient here!) Mix hard, press into 9" x 9" pan, level off, cut into bars, enjoy some, store the rest at room temperature (chilling will result in stiffer, harder bars). The bars were indeed softer this time, although the peanut butter's presence seemed a little lacking.   Fluffernutter HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 3:   With this prototype, I discovered that the square glass dish ("pan") that I had been using all along in many of these Bran Buddy/Hi-Fi Buddy recipes was, in fact, highly likely of an 8" x 8" size (at least according to the numbers etched thereon and confirmed by tape measure, combined with my failing to locate an alternative similar-looking dish), rather than 9" x 9". What about the bigger, rectangular glass dish ("pan") that I also likely used? I could not find any dimensions etched into this one, although I did see "3QT" (which I assumed to mean three quarts). So I took out my tape measure and came up with about 8.5" x 13.5", as opposed to 9" x 13". Hopefully, the differences aren't too big, especially for the larger rectangular dish. Nevertheless, for this Buddy Bar prototype and later, I felt that I would state 8" x 8" every time the square dish was used—and stick with mentioning 13" x 9" for the rectangular, out of simplicity (particularly since that was close enough in area to 8.5" x 13.5"). Okay, enough of this size discrepancy discussion on these Pyrex dishes—bring on the bars!   Increase the peanut butter...slightly. Sequential details: 1 large "tub" (i.e., 16 ounces) Marshmallow Fluff (or other marshmallow cream) 7 oz. unsalted peanut butter Tip: Heat these first two ingredients, blend well, then (if needed) heat again just before adding the last ingredient. This should help ease the stiffness somewhat. 13.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (last ingredient here!) Mix hard and quickly, press into an 8" x 8" pan or dish, level off and cut into bars (store at room temperature).   Nice taste. A great hit at the Sports Page, at which point we also celebrated Lesa's birthday.
	Lemon HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototypes 1 & 2: The ingredients are the same for both of these prototypes. The difference is in the ways that the filling is handled. Crust: 5 oz. lemonade concentrate, thawed 1/3 cup sugar 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese (blend the above three ingredients first before adding the Bran Buds) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (blend this into the above mixture as fast and "furiously" as possible) Filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 1 oz. lemonade concentrate, thawed Spread the crust mixture into an 8" x 8" pan, then add the filling on top, and chill until firm.   As for how much "concentrated" the lemonade concentrate was, the directions—on the can it came in—would have called for 4 and 1/3 cans of water, in order to make the lemonade drink itself. Thus a 12-ounce can would need 52 ounces of water (in order to make 64 ounces of lemonade). Of course, I did not use water, because I was not making this drink. Instead, I used the concentrate for Buddy Bar flavoring purposes. For Prototype 1, I chilled the crust for perhaps about 10-20 minutes before adding the filling. The way that I prepared the filling itself involved microwaving the lemon concentrate and white chocolate together. At times the concentrate seemed to boil. I aimed for a soft liquid, and it looks like that is what I got. But after pouring this onto the crust, I failed to cover the entire surface, probably due to the crust's chilliness cooling the filling too soon. So I heat-treated the recipe with broiler heat in order to get a hopeful filling distribution before I resumed chilling. As a result, the filling turned out a bit hard and crusty, almost like hard candy. So for the second prototype, I microwaved the white chocolate alone, carefully trying not to get it too hot. Then I added the lemonade concentrate, making sure beforehand that it was warm (but not hot). I mixed these two ingredients very quickly, hoping for sufficient softness, before adding this to the crust, which this time I did NOT chill beforehand (in fact, I slightly heated this crust in order to have it a little warm in preparation for placing the filling on top of it). Instead of dumping all of the filling at once onto the middle of the crust's surface, I placed this melted topping in small amounts around the edges and worked my way towards the center. However, the surface looked too uneven, so I very sparingly applied broiler heat (about 60 seconds), then tilted the pan for a more even distribution. Even then the filling appeared to have a somewhat unblended look (perhaps due to the water of the lemonade concentrate not blending well with the fat content of the white chocolate?), but I did not want to push any further with heating. So I placed the pan in the refrigerator for about an hour. I afterward cut up the bars (with plenty of ease this time around) and returned them to the refrigerator for additional firming. The outcome: The topping's softness was just right—a pleasant firmness that I had been used to with my Buddy Bar recipes—without the abnormal crunch. So I learned a new lesson: Steer clear of overheating certain chocolate mixtures (such as white chocolate and water-based drink concentrates).   The amount of lemon flavor (at least in my opinion and hopefully those of many others as well) was just right (for both prototypes). Jude, a close friend of mine (and sister of a guitar player who performed in a cover rock band with my drum-playing brother back in their high school days), immensely enjoyed these bars, especially the second prototype, possibly as her favorite HiFi Buddy Bars of all time (or at least up to this point).
	Orange HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: This one is easily based on the Lemon HiFi Buddy Bars. There is only one difference: orange juice concentrate replaces the lemonade concentrate that was used in the lemon recipe. Simple enough. Here are the details for quick reference: Crust: 5 oz. orange juice concentrate, thawed 1/3 cup sugar 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese (blend the above three ingredients first before adding the Bran Buds) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (blend this into the above mixture as fast and "furiously" as possible) Filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 1 oz. orange juice concentrate, thawed Spread the crust mixture into an 8" x 8" pan, then add the filling on top, and chill until firm (cut them about an hour after chilling).   These orange-flavored bars look nearly identical to their lemon counterparts. One may be compelled to add orange food coloring, at least to the filling. However, my personal preference is to avoid artificial colors. The bars were delicious, though, and many other people enjoyed them too.
	Orange HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototype 1: That's right: "Balls" is correct. This is a new approach. All the Crust and all the Filling ingredients of the Orange HiFi Buddy Bars recipe are combined together into a single mixture. Note that the total amount of orange juice concentrate used is 6 ounces. Also, the Bran Buds should be the last ingredient—blend together all the other ones first. The resulting mixture may be a bit too soft at first, so refrigerate this in order to get it a little more firm. Then take a little bit of the mixture at a time, forming it into a ball, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and place it onto wax paper. Repeat this until all the mixture is used up. This should result in about 24 balls. Refrigerate at least about an hour. Nice orangey taste!
	Pumpkin HiFi Buddy Bars—Prototype 1: Are you ready for some football ("American football" to many of those who live outside the USA)? While this sport is a major part of the autumn season, pumpkins are largely associated with this time of year as well, and pumpkin pie, in particular, is a popular treat (especially around November). Here's a HiFi Buddy version! Crust: 4.5 oz. pumpkin butter (available at Trader Joe's) 1/3 cup granulated sugar 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese (fully blend the above three ingredients first before adding the Bran Buds) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (blend quickly into the above mixture) Filling: 6 oz. melted, white chocolate 1.5 oz. pumpkin butter Spread the crust mixture into an 8" x 8" pan, then add the filling on top, and chill until firm. Another terrific hit! Looks like this one became Jude's new favorite (even ahead of the lemon ones). In fact, she had been looking forward to these for a long time (perhaps since about a whole year ago, assuming that she likely suggested a pumpkin flavor back then). Furthermore, these bars went very quickly when I brought them to the Sports Page.   Buddy Balls variation: Simply combine all of the Crust and all of the Filling ingredients of the Pumpkin HiFi Buddy Bars recipe into a single mixture. Then form this into balls, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and chill for at least an hour.
	Chocolate HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototype 1:   The Orange HiFi Buddy Balls turned out to be a great idea. So why not apply this same approach to Prototype 3 of the Chocolate Bran Buddy Bars: Combine the crust and filling mixtures together, and form into balls. The chocolate ones in this particular shape reminded me of chocolate truffles, although that's not what these Buddy Balls are. But warm one up in the microwave, and the result is a still deliciously soft, chocolate texture!   12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate. Heat only until it just becomes fully melted, then mix in... 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Heat this mixture a little more, then blend in, as thoroughly as possible... 1/4 cup skim milk. Heat this mixture a little more, mix it more thoroughly, then gradually combine... 16 oz. lowfat cottage cheese, whipped. Then add... 1 + 1/4 cups sugar. Blend thoroughly, then add... 1 + 1/3 tablespoons vanilla (next to last ingredient here). Blend this in, then finally mix in... 8.8 oz. finely ground Bran Buds. Mix quickly with vigor. Let resulting mixture sit for at least 5-10 minutes, perhaps even in the refrigerator. Then form into balls. Refrigerate until firm. Makes about 24 (each one close to 1 1/2" in diameter, based upon about 2.1 to 2.2 ounces per ball).   Mmmm (especially when warmed up)! The truffles shape (and additional similar characteristics, at least if these "Buddies" are heated) has caused me to come up with this alternative name: "Bran Buffles" (or "Hifi Buffles", although I like Bran Buffles better, perhaps due to alliteration reasons). Alright, what is "Buffles"?! My mind somehow came up with this by contracting "buddy" with "truffles", and this wording has stuck!   Orange-Chocolate variation: Replace the 1/4 cup skim milk with 3 ("touch of orange") to 4 ("possibly overwhelming orange") ounces of orange juice concentrate.   I think that 3 ounces of orange juice concentrate is just about the right amount here. These went over very well at the Sports Page.   Chocolate HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototype 2:   I updated these bran balls to a yogurt cheese version. I sought out plain, nonfat Market Basket yogurt, because I trusted this store brand. But I could not find this exact product stocked at the Market Basket store where I was shopping at the time. So I settled for a vanilla version. Because of this, I reduced the amounts of vanilla extract and sugar added by the Buddy Balls recipe in an effort to compensate for the vanilla and sugar already included in the yogurt.   12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/4 cup skim milk (heated and combined with the cocoa powder) 16 oz. nonfat vanilla yogurt cheese (derived through straining from 32 oz. of nonfat vanilla yogurt, preferably Market Basket) 7/8 cup sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla 8.8 oz. finely ground Bran Buds (last ingredient, mix this one in quickly with vigor) Let resulting mixture sit for at least 5-10 minutes, perhaps even in the refrigerator. Then form into balls. Refrigerate until firm. Makes about 25-30 (each one close to 1 1/2" in diameter, based upon about 2 ounces per ball). I prepared these for New Year's Eve as 2013 arrived and brought them to the Italian Community Center in Beverly. Steve's main comment on this recipe: "intense chocolate". Another guest described this one as "decadent". I also served these treats the following Friday night at Congregation Sar Shalom, my monthly Messianic Jewish congregation, where they were well-received. Even though no cottage cheese was used in this prototype—just yogurt as the cheese-type ingredient—I did not find any excess tart problems whatsoever with the resulting recipe.
	Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototype 1:   Or is that "Peanut Butter [HiFi/Bran] Buffles"? How about just "Peanut Buffles" ("Butter" somewhat contracted into "Buffles")? Anyway, this one is simply a matter of combining all the ingredients of the "Bars" version. Note that the total ingredient proportions between Prototypes 1 and 2 of the Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Bars are the same. The following recipe contains the sum of the Prototype 1 Bars, which is a regular-sized recipe (its Prototype 2 counterpart being 50% larger).   6 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. unsalted peanut butter 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 1 tbsp. skim milk 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla (last ingredient just before the Bran Buds) 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (make sure that all the other ingredients are thoroughly blended first, then quickly combine this one using a serious amount of intensity, expecting stiff results) These is no need to let the resulting mixture sit for long. It gets very stiff rather quickly. Form this into balls, and refrigerate until firm. Makes about 24 (each one close to 1 1/2" in diameter, based upon about 1.9 to 2.0 ounces per ball).   These Balls reminded me of peanut butter fudge. They went over very well at the Sports Page.   Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototype 2:   In Prototype 1, the peanut butter favor is rather on the strong side. I had an idea of making HiFi Buddy Balls which would combine the peanut butter mixture with its chocolate counterpart (i.e., Chocolate HiFi Buddy Balls, above), somewhat like a marble cake. However, I felt that the peanut butter was too dominant. This flavor is reduced for Prototype 2.   Repeat Prototype 1, but... Reduce peanut butter by 2 ounces, to 6 ounces Reduce sugar by 3 tablespoons, to 15 tablespoons (1 cup minus 1 tablespoon)   I felt that this provided a better balance when combined with the chocolate HiFi Buddy Balls mixture (see Chocolate Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Balls, below, for more details). NOTE: Even if the peanut butter flavor were to still be too strong, I had already come up with a contingency plan to further reduce the peanut butter to 4 ounces, and also reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup.
	Chocolate Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototypes 1 & 2:   The peanut butter flavor somewhat overwhelmed the chocolate in Prototype 1. The flavors seemed to be more balanced for Prototype 2. Take your pick.   For both prototypes, prepare a bowl of the mixture for Chocolate HiFi Buddy Balls, Prototype 1. For Prototype 1 of these combination balls, prepare a bowl of the mixture for Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Balls, Prototype 1. For Prototype 2 of these combination balls, prepare a bowl of the mixture for Peanut Butter HiFi Buddy Balls, Prototype 2. From the bowls of both of these flavors, take equal amounts from each one—about one ounce from each mixture is suggested—and roll them together into a single ball. The result is a somewhat marbled pattern (about a two-ounce, 1 1/2" size). Repeat this until the bowls are empty. There will probably be some extra mixture left in one of the bowls after the other one is empty. Simply take double amounts (such as about two ounces) from the surplus bowl and form into balls solely in that flavor. The yield should be close to 4 dozen balls. Many years ago, back around the early 1980's, I overheard some co-workers referring to another co-worker as "Buffy", but to me, that sounded like a great name for a pet, particularly a fluffy one, such as a cat (supposedly because of "Buffy" and "Fluffy" rhyming with each other). In fact, I did have a long-haired cat at the time, named Patches, who I greatly enjoyed, and she easily came to mind when I heard the word "Buffy". Patches was a multi-colored cat with colors like brown, black, orange and white, and it wasn't long before I felt compelled to somehow apply the name "Buffy" to her. At some point, I was baking chocolate-chip, marbled "Bundt" cakes. Due to these being multi-colored somewhat like Patches, I ended up calling my such recipes "Buffy" cakes. Fast forward to these more recent times and my HiFi, or Bran, Buddy Balls. With the chocolate versions, I somehow came up with "Buffles" ("buddy" + "truffles"). Subsequently, I ended up creating a batch of "Buffles" that were "marbled" or "multi-colored", somewhat like my "Buffy" cat of late. In light of "Buffles" (and also "Buddies") being very close to another "funky" word—"Buffies", I ended up with the idea of these alternative names for this multiple-colored recipe: "Bran Buffies" and "HiFi Buffies" (singular "Bran Buffy" and "HiFi Buffy", of course)!
	Maple HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototype 1:   For some time, I had been dreaming of making these balls in a maple flavor. I quickly threw together this recipe shortly after being invited by a friend from Beverly's Living Hope Church to a Mother's Day cookout a little later that Sunday. This recipe includes two ingredients that are particularly challenging to shop for—maple flavoring (try Whole Foods Market) and maple sugar (at least if it's granular, which is what I prefer, as opposed to the molded "candies"). If you happen to be driving in Vermont, stock up on some of this sugar (check around for prices, because maple sugar can be very expensive). When you get back home, store it in the refrigerator, rather than at room temperature, in order to help prolong this ingredient's shelf life.   6 oz. melted, white chocolate 16 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese ("no salt added" recommended) (When combining the two above ingredients, start off by blending just some of the cottage cheese—perhaps close to half of the total amount—with all of the white chocolate, using heat along the way, so that this chocolate does not solidify back up. Once it is thoroughly "dissolved", no additional heat should be needed upon adding the rest of the cottage cheese.) 1 cup maple sugar 2 teaspoons maple flavoring 8.8 oz. finely ground Bran Buds (mix this in last, and mix it fast) This small, simple list of ingredients only yields about 18 two-ounce balls, so increase the proportions if more balls are desired.   The hosts at the cookout, Eric and Mary Beth, as well as some guests, expressed their appreciation for this HiFi treat. I enjoyed it myself and felt that the maple flavor in particular was sufficient—that's pretty good for a first prototype here.
	Eggnog HiFi Buddy Balls—Prototype 1:   After having failed a few years back to come up with a decent, eggnog-flavored Bran Buddies recipe, due mainly to a lack of sufficient firmness (the information on my pitfalls and unsuccessful recipes has more details), I felt that I would try a yogurt cheese version, which would also involve white chocolate. I reasoned that these two ingredients, when used together, might finally produce a firm enough mixture (in light of the eggnog also being used), which I would be able to shape into balls.   12 oz. white chocolate 1 pint light eggnog 16 oz. yogurt cheese 1/2 cup granulated sugar 8.8 oz. Bran Buds, ground up A key tip here is using a double boiler or something similar, rather than a microwave oven, not only to melt the chocolate, but also to heat up the eggnog, thus evaporating it a little as well. Cook and fully blend these two together. The sugar and yogurt cheese need to be mixed in at some point as well, but make sure that these first four ingredients are well mixed (and cooled down if still hot) before the Bran Buds are added. After mixing in these Bran Buds, the resulting mixture should thicken a little. Then place the bowl or pot (cooled down) of mixture into the refrigerator for at least a few hours (perhaps no less than six). This should enable the mixture to get somewhat stiffer. The longer the mixture sits in the refrigerator, the firmer the mixture should be. When it is stiff enough, form it into balls, about 2 ounces each, or roughly 1 1/2" in diameter.   These turned out just barely firm enough and had a nice taste. I made them especially for Lesa, because of her love for eggnog. Unfortunately, I was afterward informed that she could not safely eat these treats due to their containing wheat, which I learned was bad for an allergy (or other medical condition) that she had. However, a few other guests at the Sports Page gave these HiFi Buddy Balls a try.

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Awesome, Rawkin' Egg "Nawg" Pancake Batter: Combine a 50-50 blend of Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake (& All Purpose Baking) Mix and egg nog. (Do not add eggs, because the egg nog already contains some.) Expect batter to be thick. Gradually add water (or more egg nog) to produce a suitably thin consistency. Tip: If the pancakes are very hot, cool them slightly in order to better enjoy the egg nog flavor.

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Additional Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake & All Purpose Baking Mix notes: Using a scale for weighing, instead of a measuring cup: 1 cup of this pancake mix (packed down) = 7 ounces (Unless otherwise specified, eggs are optional, but not really necessary.) Chocolate version: Add 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the aforementioned cup of pancake mix. Add semi-sweet chocolate chips as well (about 3/8 cup should suffice) for a great chocolaty taste. Chocolate chip cookie dough version: Fold 3 1/2 ounces of this cookie dough, finely chopped, into the batter prepared with the aforementioned cup of pancake mix (in other words, first combine the pancake mix with water and/or other liquid ingredients, then add the cookie dough afterwards). Orange version: Add 2 tablespoons of grated orange peel (rind) to the aforementioned cup of pancake mix, and instead of adding water to this mix (per package instructions), substitute orange juice. Lemon version: Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to the aforementioned cup of pancake mix, mix together, then add water until desired consistency is obtained. Almond version: Add 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons of almond extract to 6 ounces (rather than 7 ounces) of the aforementioned pancake mix for a "touch" of almond flavor (or use 1 tablespoon each of the granulated sugar and almond extract for an easily strong enough almond presence). Cinnamon roll version (my attempted answer to an IHOP limited-time offer from the past): Using the aforementioned cup of pancake mix, prepare pancakes the regular way with water, but also prepare these two toppings as well: 1. Cottage cheese (not cream cheese) icing (mix together 1/2 cup of whipped cottage cheese, 2 tablespoons of confectioner's sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla) 2. Cinnamon "filling" (mix together 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, and just enough maple syrup to obtain a thick liquid consistency) Use both of these to top off the pancakes. Cookies+creme version: Add about 7 ounces of chocolate sandwich cookies (with vanilla creme centers), broken up, to the aforementioned cup of pancake mix (a helpful example would be 28 Oreo Thins cookies). S'mores version: Add about 7 ounces of graham crackers, ground up (or broken up), to the aforementioned cup of pancake mix, along with about 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips (such as Hershey's) and about 1/2 cup of miniature marshmallows (packed down).

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Barbecue Latkes: Prepare latkes according to the potato latkes package, but whatever amount of water this package calls for, replace 1/3 of it with barbecue sauce. For example, if using Streit's Potato Pancake Mix, and the package says to add 2 eggs and 2 cups of water to the mix, go ahead and use the 2 eggs, but add only 1 1/3 cups of water, along with 2/3 cup of barbecue sauce, to the mix. Buffalo Ranch Latkes: This is similar to the barbecue latkes recipe. However, instead of using barbecue sauce, use an equal amount of a 50-50 blend of wing sauce and ranch dressing. By utilizing the above example, 2 eggs and 1 1/3 cups of water, along with 1/3 cup of wing sauce and 1/3 cup of ranch dressing, would be added to the mix. Aish (Hebrew for "fire") Latkes: Using the recipe for Barbecue Latkes, above, add one teaspoon of Mad Dog 357 hot sauce (or some other very hot sauce) to the mixture.   WARNING! Mad Dog 357 hot sauce, at a Scoville rating of 357,000 units, is NOT for the faint of heart! Warn those to whom you might serve these latkes. I—and my web site, Roarbush.com—disclaim responsibility for this fiery food and all other recipes presented on any of these web pages (including, of course, my recipe scrapbook).

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Matzah Pizza Stack (or "Matzone" or "Matzah Calzone"): Top 7 planks of matzah with sauce prepared from one to two 6-ounce cans of tomato paste (probably closer to two cans, as the tomato flavor could hardly be detected with only one can on an earlier try—in fact, make that two full cans). Spice up this sauce beforehand according to taste (e.g, with Italian seasoning, oregano, crushed red pepper). Sprinkle some hard, grated cheese (optional) on top of the sauce. Add pepperoni (optional), 16 slices per plank, to 5 of the planks. Using 2 8-ounce packages of shredded cheese, divide this cheese among all 7 planks. Bake and/or broil the topped planks until cheese is melted. Assemble these 7 planks immediately afterward, toppings-sides-upward. Add an 8th plank of matzah, a plain one, on top of all this. Let the resulting stack sit until the moisture from the lower contents has softened the 8th plank on top. Then cut into desired sizes and serve promptly.

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Basic Bran-Buds-Based Pie Crust: For one 9.5" pie plate (expect crust to be somewhat thicker than normal) Mix: 8 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Optional (useful for eggnog pies): 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 cup eggnog Then add: 4.4 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Mix quickly and vigorously. Then press into pie plate and refrigerate. Suggestion: Line pie plate with a circular piece of wax paper on the bottom.

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Chilled Eggnog Pie—Prototype 1: For one a 9.5" pie plate, prepare a Basic Bran-Buds-Based Pie Crust, and include the optional ingredients for eggnog pies. Then for the filling, combine 2 packages of instant vanilla pudding mix (I used Trader Joe's, each package being a 3.39 oz. size) with 3 cups of light eggnog (I used Hood). Mix well, let the resulting mixture thicken a little, then pour it into the crust, and chill (preferably for at least three hours). Note: One variation is to increase the eggnog to 3 1/2 cups, but the filling may be a little runny when the pie is sliced (unless it is served frozen). 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.   Chilled Eggnog Pie—Prototype 3:   Okay, I felt that if this was supposed to be a cheese pie as well as an eggnog-flavored one, perhaps less eggnog should be used. And that is what I did this time around. Due to the reduction of this liquid, I decided not to increase the xanthan gum. Instead, I wanted to see if the eggnog reduction was sufficient to get this pie more stable to my liking. So I kept this stabilizer at 1 tablespoon. I also adjusted the vanilla a little downward.   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 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/3 cups of eggnog 1 tablespoon xanthan gum Pour batter into crust and chill for at least 2 hours. The texture of this pie's filling was considerably better. And I could still readily pick up the eggnog taste as well. Furthermore, this time the crust did not fall apart too easily (perhaps the filling's improved stability was helpful).

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Chilled Pumpkin Eggnog Pie—Prototype 1: I used a somewhat smaller pie plate (perhaps a little over 8.5") for this recipe. The pumpkin part of this one is largely based on the Pumpkin HiFi Buddy Bars (Prototype 1), but there is a slight shift in regard to the pumpkin butter. First, prepare this crust, and press it into the pie plate: 2 oz. pumpkin butter (I used Trader Joe's) 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar (this equals 1/6 cup) 8 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese (fully blend the above three ingredients first before adding the Bran Buds) 4.4 oz. Bran Buds, ground up (blend quickly into the above mixture) Next prepare this "lower" filling, and spread it onto the crust (try to get the filling almost to the top of the crust): 3 oz. melted, white chocolate 1 oz. pumpkin butter Note two things here: 1. This is, generally speaking, half of the Buddy Bars recipe. 2. Some of the pumpkin butter has been, proportionally speaking, shifted from the crust to the "lower" filling (so the crust only gets 2 oz., not 2.25 oz., and the filling gets 1 oz., as opposed to .75 oz.). Chill all this until the pumpkin filling is firm. Make the "upper" filling: 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix (such as Trader Joe's) 1 3/4 cup light eggnog (such as Hood) Mix these, let the mixture stiffen a little (perhaps about 5 minutes), then pour it onto the other contents in the pie plate, and chill the whole thing for at least three hours. The result of this one: The eggnog filling was sort of runny (and would easily slide off the rather slick pumpkin filling), as well as overwhelmed by the pumpkin flavor. Maybe this is because eggnog tends be mild, while pumpkin, at least when used in dessert recipes like this one, tends to be a lot more spicy. Furthermore, the color of the pumpkin filling was nearly identical to its eggnog counterpart (I had hoped for a decent difference, in order to be able to more easily distinguish this recipe from an eggnog-only pie).

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Baked Key Lime Pie—Prototype 1:   What do you do when you have more than half of a bag of key limes left over from making a key lime cheesecake? You make a key lime pie. At least that's what I did, in the summer of 2022, after looking over some recipes over the Internet. I checked out a few of them, and, based on those, I made up my own version.   Batter: 3 eggs (brown recommended, large; note—both yolks and whites are used here) 1/2 cup key lime juice 3-4 teaspoons grated key lime zest (peel) 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk Pour the batter into a graham cracker pie crust (about 9") and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Afterwards, remove the pie from the oven and cool it down at room temperature for about an hour, then refrigerate until firm. So how did it come out? I felt the filling was sort of too soft (better bring on the xanthan gum next time!), and the taste was either not quite sweet enough, or—more likely—had too much lime zest (I leaned toward a tightly packed tablespoon, which would perhaps pass for 4 normal-compression teaspoons—anyway, it would probably be better to back off a little on the zest for next time). The sweetness was actually not all that bad, and I felt that this first prototype was still reasonably enjoyable. Decent key lime flavor—it's a good start! In light of my having in early February of 2023 a few eggs on hand that needed to be used up soon or go to waste (the cost of eggs being outrageously high at that time!), I decided to make another lime pie. In this case, I repeated the above recipe with "regular" limes (not "key"—okay, "key lime" is in the "official name", but I really did not want to start a separate recipe series for the regular limes; maybe I should have called this recent, "keyless" one something like "Prototype 1.2", ultimately an interim "stepping stone" for a future second "keyed" prototype). I also used only 1 tablespoon of zest—not too tightly packed! And I reduced the lime juice to 1/3 of a cup. I added 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum as well. The results were nicely improved. I felt that the sweetness was just right. And the firmness wasn't so bad either, although the knife that I used in order to slice the pie still came out quite messy. That prompted me to consider using a little more xanthan gum next time.   Baked Key Lime Pie—Prototype 2:   Let's give this pie a June 2023 retry! I zested and juiced almost a dozen key limes (nearly 1/2 of a one-pound bag) for this one. I cannot remember if, upon baking this pie beforehand, I included a cookie sheet. I have noted it for the latest pie presented here.   Batter: 3 eggs (brown recommended, large; note—both yolks and whites are used here) 1/3 cup key lime juice 1 tablespoon grated key lime zest (peel) 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk 1 teaspoon xanthan gum Pour the batter into a graham cracker pie crust (one of those retail, ready-to-use crusts that come in "pie tins", about 9") and bake on a cookie sheet at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Afterwards, remove the pie from the oven and cool it down at room temperature for about an hour, then refrigerate until firm. The filling's texture turned out great! It was firm enough—not excessively messy with the knife used for slicing—yet not rubbery. It looks like I got the amount of xanthan gum just right.

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Pecan Pie—Prototype 1:   Featuring a graham cracker crust.   Filling: 2 eggs (brown recommended, large) 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (Tip: blend these three above ingredients first, before adding the other ones below.) 2 cups light corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 oz. chopped pecans (about 1 cup, after chopping) Evenly divide the filling into two graham cracker pie crusts (about 9") and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until center of filling reaches 200 degrees). Afterwards, remove the pies from the oven and cool them down at room temperature for about an hour, then serve, store or refrigerate.   I felt that the pecan filling layers ended up being way too thin. How about using the recipe's entire filling in one pie next time, not two?   Pecan Pie—Prototype 2:   Let's try this again, but with just one pie.   Filling: 2 eggs (brown recommended, large) 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (Tip: blend these three above ingredients first, before adding the other ones below.) 2 cups light corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 oz. chopped pecans (about 1 cup, after chopping) Pour (carefully!) the entire filling into one graham cracker pie crust (about 9") and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until center of filling reaches 200 degrees). Afterwards, remove the pie from the oven and cool it down at room temperature for about an hour, then serve, store or refrigerate.   The filling ended up coming out way too soft! It was hopelessly unstable, even when refrigerated. The taste was alright, but what a mess!   Pecan Pie—Prototype 3:   Let's build up the stability! More xanthan gum—and some additional baking time.   Filling: 2 eggs (brown recommended, large) 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons xanthan gum (Tip: blend these three above ingredients first, before adding the other ones below.) 2 cups light corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 oz. chopped pecans (about 1 cup, after chopping) Pour (carefully!) the entire filling into one graham cracker pie crust (about 9") and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes (or until center of filling reaches 200 degrees). Afterwards, remove the pie from the oven and cool it down at room temperature for about an hour, then serve, store or refrigerate.   The filling was much more stable this time, but its texture, while firmer, seemed kind of like that of a thick, gooey/goopy paste. Maybe what I really needed was another egg (and possibly a small decrease in the xanthan gum).

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Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 10.1:   Prototype 10.1?? What's that?? The batter for this recipe is derived from a line of cheesecake prototypes that I made back around the late 1980's. The crust is derived, scaled down to a one-third recipe—with extremely small deviations on the cottage cheese and Bran Buds—from that used in Prototype 3 of the Chocolate Bran Buddy Bars. More specifically, around 1987 or 1988, I began experimenting with a "Baked Cheese Pie" recipe in a cookbook from the American Heart Association. This initial recipe was not chocolate flavored, but supposedly meant to be plain, although it actually turned out too lemony. I referred to it as "Prototype 1". From there, I went through a number of different cheesecake prototypes, with a few different flavors, incrementing the "prototype" number as I went along. "Prototype 4" was my first chocolate attempt (it ended up having way too much cocoa powder). A number of prototypes later, I had a much improved chocolate cheesecake, "Prototype 10", and continued on with additional flavors. I hardly gave consideration to the crust, as I wanted to focus on the batter. The recipe presented here uses this "Prototype 10" batter, but with a relatively minor swap. The original version used margarine. The updated version presented here uses butter instead. Since I am adding crust, I felt that I would also implement a minor variation for the prototype number. "10.1" is the result. This one is a baked recipe (as opposed to "refrigerate until firm").   Crust: 2 oz. melted, semi-sweet chocolate 4 teaspoons skim milk, heated 4 teaspoons cocoa powder. Fully dissolve this in the chocolate and milk, then gradually blend in... 5 oz. whipped, lowfat cottage cheese. Then add... 3/8 cup granulated sugar. Blend thoroughly, then add... 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here). Blend this in, then finally mix in (quickly and vigorously, all at once)... 2.9 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Press this crust mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan (such as removable-bottom or spring-form). There is no need to press the crust up the pan's sidewall. Batter: 2 cups lowfat cottage cheese 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 2 eggs 7/8 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup skim milk 1/4 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons cocoa powder Blend all these ingredients together thoroughly, particularly the butter and eggs (an electric mixer or food processor may be needed for this), then pour this batter into the pan (on top of the crust, of course). Promptly place this into the oven—preheated at 300 degrees—and bake for 100 minutes (or until cake tester comes out clean). Remove from oven, cool down to about room temperature, carefully remove from pan, and refrigerate (perhaps at least three hours is a good suggestion at this last step). Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 10.2:   This is a tastier version. The crust is somewhat richer, due to inclusion of the "filling" ingredients of the Prototype 3 Chocolate Bran Buddy Bars. Essentially, what goes into this cheesecake's crust is a one-quarter recipe of the Chocolate HiFi Buddy Balls (Prototype 1). Remember, that's a quarter recipe, not a third, as I felt that the crust needed to be cut down a bit. Another change is the addition of vanilla to the batter. Despite this batter modification, I have chosen to keep the "10" in "Prototype 10.2" rather than up this number to 11. Not only is this more in keeping with the 1980's prototype numbering, but the vanilla addition is an extremely small change anyway—small enough that I would rather consolidate this modification with that of the crust, resulting in a ".2" (up from ".1") after the "10".   Crust: 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate. Heat only until it just becomes fully melted, then mix in... 1 tablespoon cocoa powder. Heat this mixture a little more, then blend in, as thoroughly as possible... 1 tablespoon skim milk. Heat this mixture a little more, mix it more thoroughly, then gradually combine... 4 oz. lowfat cottage cheese, whipped. Then add... 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Blend thoroughly, then add... 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here). Blend this in, then finally mix in... 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds. Mix quickly with vigor. Press this crust mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan (such as removable-bottom or spring-form). Batter: 1/2 cup skim milk 2 tablespoons melted butter 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 7/8 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups lowfat cottage cheese 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs Blend all these ingredients together thoroughly and pour into pan. Promptly place into 300-degree oven (preheated), and bake for 100 minutes (or until cake tester comes out clean). Remove from oven, cool down to about room temperature, carefully remove from pan, and refrigerate. Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 10.3:   I felt that the crust's texture was somewhat too dry on the previous version. While the Chocolate HiFi Buddy Balls may have been moist enough, baking their same set of ingredients for a cheesecake was apt to produce dry results. So I needed to find a "wetter" approach for the crust.   Repeat the previous version, but make these changes for the crust: Boost semi-sweet chocolate by 1 ounce, to 4 ounces. Boost skim milk by 1 tablespoon, to 2 tablespoons.   I think that this one is almost on target. I felt that the crust could use a little more moisture.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 10.4: Repeat the previous version, but boost the crust's skim milk by 2 tablespoons, to 1/4 cup. Tip: Immediately after adding the Bran Buds to the crust's other ingredients, act real fast! Get the Bran Buds soaked and mix quickly, yet thoroughly. The resulting crust mixture should have a thick, liquid texture. But this is not going to stay this runny for long. So before it hardens, dump it into the bottom of the pan, and tilt this pan in various directions until the mixture has coated the entire bottom. If necessary, carefully spread this mixture (using something small, such as a finger) to close any remaining gaps, but be as quick as possible. Give the pan a slight shake as needed to help level out the crust.   The crust's texture was considerably better.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 10.5: The quest is still on for crust improvement! Repeat the previous version, but boost the crust's skim milk, by 4 teaspoons, to 1/3 cup. Increase the granulated sugar as well, by a tablespoon, to 3/8 cup for a tastier crust. Finally, use the bath approach for this cheesecake (i.e., wrap foil around the pan, and place it in a hot "tub"—see Baked Eggnog Cheesecake, Prototypes 8 and 9, below, for more info).   A huge improvement for the entire cheesecake, especially the crust! "Tubbing" makes a world of difference! Could it be that the bath separates the pros from the rest? Maybe I should become a "tub-thumper" for cheesecake baking (not quite the "Chumba-cheese-wamba-cake" variety, inasmuch that my non-bath cheesecakes got "knocked down" upon removal from the oven after "getting up" in the baking process—but the bath approach would "keep" the batter "down" throughout...so..."When we're baking, we'll be winning, if we're bathing—Cake gets knocked down, but it gets up at first, if cake you're gonna keep un-bathed/Oh, bain marie, bain marie, bain marie").   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 11:   The crust's sugar and, especially, its milk got boosted in the last few prototypes. I felt that the cocoa should be given a little boost as well. Cutting down the batter's salt (see Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 10, for more info on this change) also seemed like a good idea. With this change affecting both the crust and the batter, and in light of my wanting to revert at some point to whole-numbered prototype designations, I felt that I would move the Baked Chocolate Cheesecake designation beyond the "10.x" series and call this version "Prototype 11", rather than "Prototype 10.6". By now it was time to get out of the "late 1980's cheesecake prototype numbering system" and bring things up to date for this 21st century scrapbook. Upon checking my 1980's cheesecake prototypes, it looked like 7 of them were specifically chocolate ("Prototype 4" through "Prototype 10" under that arrangement), and I did not (from what I best recall) get involved with crust experiments back then. If I were to resume prototype numbers solely for the chocolate batter in this 21st century scrapbook (i.e., pick up on the chocolate batter where the 1980's experiments left off, calling the first chocolate cheesecake prototype of this scrapbook "Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 8"), then "Scrapbook Prototype 10.1" could be thought of as "Prototype 8" (butter replacing margarine), "Scrapbook Prototype 10.2" (as well as "10.3", "10.4" and "10.5") could be thought of as "Prototype 9" (1 teaspoon vanilla being added), and "Scrapbook Prototype 10.6" (this current recipe here, which I wanted to rather call "11") could be thought of as "Prototype 10" (salt being reduced to 1/4 teaspoon), the integers 8, 9 and 10 all being in sequence with the 1980's chocolate experiments. But the "10 series" designation had already been in use by the Baked Chocolate Cheesecake "21st century scrapbook system", so that would present a problem in calling this latest version "Prototype 10" here. What if I were to further bump up the number each time for changes made solely to the crust (not to the batter)? That's 3 "crust-only" modifications ("10.3", "10.4" and "10.5"), so this recipe's proposed "Prototype 10" designation could instead be "Prototype 13". The batter votes for a not-so-eligible "10". The crust, not wanting to be "counted out", casts its ballot for a more-eligible "13". The midpoint would be "11.5", but I wanted only an integer. Since the batter dominated over the crust, I thought it would be a good idea to move from "11.5" to the nearest integer in the batter's direction, and this resulted in yet another reason to go with the number "11" (in addition to it being the lowest eligible integer here). So "Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 11" it is for this particular version in this 21st century recipe scrapbook. For now, I felt that this number was a reasonable compromise. Should I make subsequent variations for Baked Chocolate Cheesecake (whether for the batter only, crust only or both of them), the plan would be to use "12", "13", "14", etc.   Repeat Prototype 10.5, but... For the crust, boost cocoa powder by 1 teaspoon, to 1 1/3 tablespoons. For the batter, reduce salt by 1/4 teaspoon, to 1/4 teaspoon. The latest update for the ingredient lists... Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 1 1/3 tablespoons cocoa powder 1/3 cup skim milk 4 oz. lowfat cottage cheese, whipped (no-salt-added recommended) 3/8 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here) 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Batter: 1/2 cup skim milk 2 tablespoons melted butter 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 7/8 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups lowfat cottage cheese, whipped (no-salt-added recommended) 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs   This one went over very nicely at the Sports Page, and Steve, in particular, could hardly stop raving about this Prototype. Of all the treats that I brought—for him, Lesa and others in their company to enjoy—this seemed to be one of his favorites, perhaps even his #1 favorite, at least up to this point. I myself felt that both the filling and the crust were terrific!   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 12:   Inasmuch as the crust had a nice chocolate taste to it, I wanted a richer cheese presence as well. I decided to swap out the 1/3 cup skim milk, replacing it with an additional 4 ounces—i.e., about 1/2 cup—of cottage cheese. It was a painstaking experience for me to arrive at this amount. But not only was this easier than attempting an equal "1/3 cup for 1/3 cup" exchange (or boosting the cottage cheese by an oddly 2 2/3 ounces!), but the amount of liquidity (or moisture) for the overall mixture would hopefully remain close (replacement of 1/3 cup of a thin, wet ingredient with about 1/2 cup of a somewhat thicker one).   Repeat Prototype 11, but... For the crust, eliminate the skim milk, and boost the whipped cottage cheese by 4 oz., to 8 oz.   This resulted in a thicker crust. I think the taste may have indeed been slightly richer, perhaps with the cottage cheese's flavor barely being present—not easily detected, due its mild characteristic.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 13:   Back in the 1980's I aimed to get my chocolate cheesecake to taste very much like that of a certain brand that I enjoyed at the time: Alden Merrell. My efforts back then were for a healthy answer to a high-fat treat. Inasmuch as I came close, tartness was one of the taste issues that I was grappling with. My earlier prototypes included lemon juice and lemon peel, which I ended up outright eliminating in the later chocolate cheesecakes at the time. My goals have shifted more recently, and I reasoned that tartness had an important contributing role to the cheesecake flavor, particularly when using cottage cheese, whose taste I felt was relatively mild. In light of my giving lemon juice a try in my latest combination "chocolate-and-peanut-butter" cheesecakes—with successful results—I thought that I would utilize it here in this latest chocolate-only prototype as well. In another move to better ensure the cheese presence in the batter, the cottage cheese was boosted as well. To compensate for this, I also increased the flour. In fact, the chocolate batter of Prototype 13 here is identical to that of Prototype 3 of Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake (see below), with the only exception being the amount of flour (I used slightly more in the latter recipe, due to its deeper height in the baking process). The chocolate crust is the same for both recipes!   Repeat Prototype 12, but make these changes for the batter: Boost whipped cottage cheese by 4 ounces (1/2 cup), to 20 ounces (2 1/2 cups). Boost flour by 4 teaspoons (1/12 cup), to 1/3 cup. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Bake this cheesecake for two hours (at 300 degrees, with hot water bath), then remove from oven, and allow about two hours for cooling before removing from pan. NOTE: If using a 9 1/2" pan (instead of 9"), cut this baking time to 110 minutes. The batter had a delicious cheese presence. It also had a nice tart taste, without being excessive (and I felt that the sweetness wasn't deficient either). This prototype went amazingly fast at a church event that involved only a small crowd. This is a very popular one. I think that I have baked this particular prototype more than once using an older 9" pan in the past. I have more recently started using my newer, 9 1/2" Frieling pan on this cheesecake.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 14:   It had been a while at this point since I initially made Prototype 13. Yogurt cheese would make its chocolate cheesecake debut with the 14th prototype. This recipe would also be, to the best of my knowledge, the very first one in my entire recipe scrapbook to be done outside of my home—with the only exceptions likely being some pancake recipes, at least the chocolate version, done a number of times over the past few years at my cousin Rachel's house in Vermont (as well as at my own place) and one of the Fluffernutter HiFi Buddy Bar prototypes, being prepared elsewhere in my hometown probably about 3 years ago. Not only would Prototype 14 of my chocolate cheesecakes be the very first item in my recipe scrapbook that I produced outside of New England—it would be prepared and served at my brother Eric's house in Tahoe—more specifically, in California! This was done at a cousins reunion held there in late August of 2012. To help make things easier, I skipped the crust—but I nearly doubled up on the batter. I also made modifications based upon some recent yogurt cheese efforts, such as with Prototype 8 of my plain cheesecakes and Prototype 16 of my eggnog ones.   Batter only: 4 tablespoons melted/softened butter 6 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 32 ounces nonfat yogurt cheese 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Pour into buttered 9-inch springform pan, place into hot bath and bake for the first 30 minutes at 325 degrees. Then lower temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 45 more minutes. Cool outside of oven and bath for about 1 1/4 hours, then refrigerate. For a nicer touch, place semi-sweet chocolate chips, flat-side-down, in a circle around the cheesecake's top surface at its outer edge shortly after removal from the oven (avoid burns—be careful not to touch the pan's hot sidewall while placing the chocolate chips). At first, I got the impression that this cheesecake had a very long way to go in its baking when I checked it at, from what I best recall, about 50 minutes. But at 75 minutes this one was nearly overflowing the 9" pan that Jean, Eric's wife, provided to me (my trusty, 9 1/2" Frieling—a gift from them and their daughters—was back home). I thought that the oven at the Tahoe house may have been using convection to speed up the baking. Anyway, I quickly took the cheesecake out. It was perhaps around this point that the idea of chocolate chips entered my mind. I found some Nestlé's Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips lying around and was pleasantly surprised that they were "all-natural" (at least according the package's claim). So I put a "ring" of them on my cheesecake while it was still hot, and these chips sat nicely on the top surface. While a number of guests at the reunion expressed appreciation for this prototype, I felt that the taste was rather somewhat too tart, at least for a chocolate cheesecake (I personally still liked it, but I—and probably the other guests—would have enjoyed it considerably more if the taste wasn't so tart). Normally I used the Market Basket brand of yogurt back home, and this brand would strain so well that I would have to add back some whey to get the weight I wanted. But at Tahoe, I used a different brand whose name I could not remember (from what I best recall, it was organic—a bonus), and this seemed to strain relatively slowly. I started with 64 ounces (in the form of two 32-ounce containers) of plain, nonfat yogurt, allowed about 24 hours of straining time and ended up with considerably more than the 32 ounces of yogurt cheese that I was targeting. So I had some left over. Perhaps if I allowed much more time (which I wasn't in a position to do), more whey would have drained out, and maybe the resulting cheese would have been a little less tart, but I wasn't sure. But I also reasoned that while tartness was good with certain cheesecake flavors such as plain, lemon, orange and other citrus varieties, perhaps I needed to ease up on it when dealing with flavors such as chocolate. Another thing that I considered was that this bought-in-California brand of yogurt was perhaps more tart than Market Basket's. Anyway, having given thought to Lesa's friend Steve commenting about "lemon" tastes in my recent yogurt cheese prototypes made back at my home in Massachusetts—Market Basket yogurt usage and all—despite my not adding any lemon juice or other specifically-lemon ingredients to them, I contemplated a partial return to cottage cheese—such as a 50/50 blend of this cheese and yogurt cheese—for future cheesecakes.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 15:   After more than half a year, I felt that I would make another chocolate prototype. This one reflects updates such as those included in Prototype 5 of my chocolate peanut butter cheesecake, (e.g., arrowroot, yogurt-cottage cheese blend).   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 1 1/3 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/8 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Place resulting mixture in 9 1/2" (or 9") pan. Chocolate Batter: 4 tablespoons melted/softened butter 3/8 cup cocoa powder 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 1/2 teaspoon salt 40 ounces (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 100 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (a border of chocolate chips can be added at this point) continue to cool down at room temperature for another 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I had been decorating the top of some my cheesecakes with semi-sweet chocolate chips for some time. For this latest prototype, I felt that I would add alternating "white" chocolate chips to liven things up a bit. But they were so small, roughly half-height, compared to their semi-sweet counterparts, so I doubled up on the whites (both kinds of chips used here came from Trader Joe's). This one tasted terrific! The amount of tartness was just right—not too much, not too little. There seemed be a nice balance of "tang", sweetness and chocolate. Even though the gathering for refreshments (after worship services) in Living Hope Church's fellowship hall was not a full-fledged community/communion meal, there was a somewhat moderate amount of snack competition. Anyway, Prototype 15 was devoured in probably less than 15 minutes (Gaynell, in particular, called this chocolate cheesecake a "favorite"). I myself, finding the taste of this particular treat to be extraordinary, got an urge to hasten plans for making another one in the future.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 16:   This repeats Prototype 15, but with a couple of changes that I made to the chocolate crust, as reflected in Prototype 8 of my cookies+creme cheesecake. And for the batter, I boldly decided to try a new trick—some really cool, dark stripes and swirls, using chocolate syrup. I felt that this would give the cheesecake a more tantalizing look.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/8 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Place resulting mixture in 9 1/2" (or 9") pan. Chocolate Batter: 4 tablespoons melted/softened butter 3/8 cup cocoa powder 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 1/2 teaspoon salt 40 ounces (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Chocolate syrup (Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo recommended), about 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) altogether Expect more than 7 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once (otherwise, the syrup, which is also added here, may end up floating—or perhaps sinking—too much to a single level, due to density differences). Rather, this needs to be done in four installments. Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the first installment. Minimize the foil's disturbance in order to minimize its leakage risk. For each of the first three installments, scoop about 1 3/4 to 2 cups of batter into the pan. Then add about 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup (close to 1 1/3 ounces by weight if using the TJ's brand recommended above). The best way to do this is to squirt some thick, parallel stripes of it throughout the pan (the TJ's syrup, as of this writing, comes in a squeezable bottle with a squirt nozzle). Then pull a knife in perpendicular directions through these stripes in the batter (just deeply enough for the installment being added) in order to produce a wavy, swirl pattern (see photo below for an example). (Top view of finished cheesecake, with a suggested pattern) Use extra care in the later installments when adding batter (i.e., gently scoop it) into the pan. After adding an installment, bake the pan with its contents at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. To reduce spillage risks, do not fill the tub all the way at this point, because the whole tub-and-pan assembly is going to need to be removed from the oven (in order to comfortably add contents to the pan) between installments. After all this is done, there should be about 1 3/4 to 2 cups of batter remaining, with 45 minutes of baking time reached at this point (15 minutes for each of the first three installments). Now comes the fourth installment—add the batter and syrup in the same way as with the earlier three installments. But try to place (and swirl) the syrup as neatly as possible on top, because this is what is going to end up being exposed. So appearance is particularly important for this final installment. Next, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven. At this point, fill up the tub generously with boiling water. Resume baking, but with the oven temperature lowered to 300 degrees, for about another 75 minutes (based upon usage of a 9 1/2" pan). Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub, and—if desired—add a border of chocolate chips around the edge of this cheesecake. Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another two hours. After doing so, remove the cheesecake from pan and refrigerate. This cheesecake fared well at Living Hope Church and was gone probably within 45 minutes (almost all of it within 30), amidst a very modest selection of snacks. However, I was rather surprised that the chocolate syrup hardly made distinct appearances inside the batter. Maybe it somehow got too easily dissolved. But the cottage cheese's curds didn't. What happened was that I took a chance on a mixer, rather than a blender, to accomplish this, but the mixer was not thorough enough. Some white specks could still be seen in the batter and crust. Nevertheless, I found the taste of this chocolate prototype to be irresistible. For the sake of inner appearance, I have given thought to using more chocolate syrup, in the form of thicker, unswirled stripes for the inner installments—and a blender for the cottage cheese—next time.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 17 (7-Way Chocolate):   Now things are really getting chocolaty here—a chocolate cheesecake (interpret that as chocolate batter and chocolate crust, of course) with chocolate syrup and double-chocolate sandwich cookies (chocolate cookie outsides with chocolate creme in the middle)—and don't spare the chocolate chips (two kinds) border! Did you count all that? I counted seven. That's one loaded cheesecake! Although I tried to pursue a fairly exact Oreo-like taste in my all-natural quests for a vanilla creme sandwich cookie in the past (see Cookies+Creme Cheesecake for more information), I made no effort to approximate Oreo's chocolate creme version. Why? Oreo's vanilla creme sandwich cookies have stood the test of time. This classic has become one of America's top cookies. On the other hand, I have reasoned that its chocolate creme counterpart did not have anywhere nearly as much "seniority". With this later Oreo product being not much older than competing brands (perhaps even being younger in some cases?), I felt that I should not regard it as an established standard by which all other brands are to be compared. In light of this, I chose to simply consider a natural brand without performing any comparison tests against Oreo. As long as the natural brand's taste was good enough, that would be my choice. In fact, I bought two natural brands for consideration—Newman-O's and Joe-Joe's. After taste-testing both, I could not come up with a preference for one brand over another. So I used both of them on a 50-50 basis in this cheesecake—at least for the first time that I prepared Prototype 17. Note also the crust's Bran Buds being replaced with regular ("Original") All-Bran, as well as the batter's omission of salt. These changes are derived from recent updates that I have done on other cheesecake flavors.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/8 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 oz. finely ground All-Bran Place resulting mixture in 9 1/2" (or 9") pan. Allow mixture to get firm. See note in comments below for more information on this. Chocolate Batter: 4 tablespoons melted/softened butter 3/8 cup cocoa powder 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 40 ounces (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Double-chocolate sandwich cookies, about 2 dozen Chocolate syrup (Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo recommended), about 6 tablespoons altogether Expect more than 7 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once (otherwise, the cookies and syrup, which are also added here, may end up floating and/or sinking too much to a single level, due to density differences). Rather, this needs to be done in five installments. Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the first installment. Minimize the foil's disturbance in order to minimize its leakage risk. For each of the first four installments, gently scoop about 1 1/2 cups of batter into the pan. Add about 6 cookies (don't bother breaking them up—keeping them whole is fine and, in fact, recommended), ensuring that they are fully coated and immersed. Then add a generous amount, close to 1/4 cup, of chocolate syrup (almost 3 ounces by weight if using the TJ's brand recommended above)—but add this syrup only for the second installment (of the first four installments described here). The best way to do this is to squirt some thick, parallel stripes of it throughout the pan (the TJ's syrup, as of this writing, comes in a squeezable bottle with a squirt nozzle). But—do not swirl the syrup with a knife on this second installment. After adding an installment, bake the pan with its contents at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. To reduce spillage risks, do not fill the tub all the way at this point, because the whole tub-and-pan assembly is going to need to be removed from the oven (in order to comfortably add contents to the pan) between installments. For the fifth (and final) installment, gently add the remaining batter to the pan, but do not add any more cookies. Instead, add some more chocolate syrup on the top surface. Squirt thick, parallel stripes of this syrup, about a couple of tablespoons altogether (almost 1 1/2 ounces by weight if using TJ's), throughout the pan. Then pull a knife in perpendicular directions through these top stripes in the batter (just deeply enough for the uppermost installment's surface) in order to produce a wavy, swirl pattern (see photo below for a suggestion). Do all this as neatly as possible (avoid cutting into the lower installments underneath). After the fifth installment (including the syrup) is in place, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven. At this point, fill up the tub generously with boiling water. Resume baking, but with the oven temperature lowered to 300 degrees, for about another 65 minutes (based upon usage of a 9 1/2" pan). Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Now, for the final chocolate touch, add a border of chocolate chips, semi-sweet and white, around the edge of this cheesecake (see photo below). Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another two hours. After doing so, remove the cheesecake from pan and refrigerate. Of all the cheesecakes that I have brought to family/relatives' occasions up to this point, it appears that Prototype 17 of my chocolate cheesecakes ended up being the most successful one ever—by far! By the time I finished serving this one at our annual cousins' summer reunion in 2013 (held at my cousin Robin's home in Manchester, New Hampshire, for the first time—after many years at my cousin Joanne's in Peabody, Massachusetts), this dessert was nearly 2/3 gone—which, for a get-together like that, was really terrific! In the past, I had brought to other family/relatives' occasions a number of other cheesecakes hardly any larger than half the size as this latest one, and those were often less than halfway gone—many of those times with my eating the "bulk" of whatever was consumed (and with there being no more than a tiny handful of other takers). With my later cheesecakes in big sizes like the latest one presented here, it certainly was not unusual for me to have an overwhelming amount left over at a cousin's house. While many of my cheesecakes were hugely successful at Living Hope Church, I had yet to achieve a real winner with my relatives. It looked like I had finally scored one here. I personally enjoyed this very chocolaty prototype myself. Much of what was left over from the reunion went to some of my friends for their enjoyment. So this cheesecake didn't last very long (I did not have to "stomach" the "bulk" of it). In the end this loaded, chocolate cheesecake was...a loaded success! In fact, I decided to repeat Prototype 17 nearly a week later for Living Hope Church as well. The cheesecake was almost completely gone within a half hour (among a modest snack selection). One last tiny piece remained for perhaps an additional half hour. I ended up finishing off that one. In light of all these things, this extremely chocolaty cheesecake may go down as my most successful cheesecake ever, at least up to this point. This cheesecake was so good (as well as so complex on the inside) that I was moved to include additional pictures here. Here is more complete portrayal of the sign I provided with this cheesecake! Any more encores? Yes! A few weeks later, I asked my cousin Joanne to select a cheesecake for me to bring to a Rosh HaShanah lunch at her house (hosted each year for her relatives, plus some friends). She enjoyed this chocolate prototype served at the annual cousins' reunion so much that she chose this one (this is the same Joanne who hosted that summer event in the past before letting Robin take over for this year). And it ended up being a great hit at Joanne's home (about 2/3 of it gone, which for a rather small gathering was impressive). What a sweet way to start off 5774 (the Jewish new year)! So what did I do with the rest? It somehow got a little further reduced until about 1/4 of the entire cheesecake was left. That was probably because I myself ate more of this irresistible treat. I froze this remaining leftover for nearly a week, then I thawed it in order to bring it to darts at the Italian Community Center in Beverly. Lesa's friend Steve was wowed by it. Melissa, the wife of another one of the players on Lesa's team, tasted my cheesecake and rated it considerably better than that of The Cheesecake Factory (and that was supposedly on taste alone). Now that's a real compliment and a half (particularly for something nutritionally superior as well)! All of the cheesecake was finished off before we left the club that night. NOTE: With this third preparation of Prototype 17, I made a small change in how I firmed up the crust before adding the batter to it. Rather than refrigerating it, I pre-baked the crust (without a tub at this step) at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then I let the pan cool off until it could be comfortably touched. This was done in order to make it easier, later on, to separate the finished cheesecake from the pan's bottom.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 18:   With the latest refinements over my cheesecakes in general, I felt that I would make a "back-to-basics" chocolate cheesecake.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/8 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 oz. finely ground All-Bran Place resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 4 tablespoons melted/softened butter 3/8 cup cocoa powder 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 40 ounces (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 105 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 105 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. It looked like my chocolate cheesecakes have recently been turning into classics. This latest one, served at Living Hope Church in early November of 2013, was gone in what seemed to be less than half an hour—among a somewhat modest selection of snacks. At a later point, I made this prototype again. But I felt that I would add a somewhat simple enhancement. I topped the cheesecake with a thin coating of melted, semi-sweet chocolate (about 2 ounces). The chocolate was melted and placed on the still-warm cheesecake. This is the cheesecake, with the chocolate firmed up, after refrigeration. And here is a close-up of a slice. The result was another very successful cheesecake at Living Hope in late April of 2014. I repeated this now-classic prototype with a top border of chocolate chips and brought it to a mid-October 2014 event—for which I volunteered—at Barrington Baptist Church, in Rhode Island. Prototype 18, bordered with chocolate chips and brought to Rhode Island. A concert was performed there by a Christian parody band, ApologetiX. The cheesecake was enjoyed by many members of this band—and the drummer's wife, Eve (who was particularly enlightened by this recipe's more extensive details)—as well as some people from this church, including Holly, who had the main role in promoting this concert. We had a great time!   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 19:   It has been better than two years since I last updated my chocolate cheesecake. The latest prototype presented here is based on my major cheesecake batter overhaul of 2015.   3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG): Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 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 of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons altogether) arrowroot 2 teaspoons vanilla 5 eggs Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 105 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chocolate chips if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another 105 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I used milk chocolate chips for the border of this cheesecake. The batter included Philadelphia Neufchatel cheese. The taste, I felt, was terrific! This prototype was very well received at my cousin Joanne's place, where I went for a Rosh HaShanah (5776) lunch. There was, if I remembered correctly, nearly a dozen people present, and the cheesecake ended up being roughly halfway consumed. Before I headed home, Joanne took about half of the remainder, and I brought the rest home. For Memorial Day Weekend of 2017, I repeated Prototype 19 with Market Basket Neufchatel cheese (instead of Philadelphia, Market Basket's version being typical for usage in my cheesecakes around that time) and two borders of chocolate chips (Trader Joe's semi-sweet for the outer, Hershey's milk for the inner)—and brought this one to The Home Depot for my fellow associates to enjoy along with the store's tasty barbecue on the holiday itself.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 20 (7-Way Chocolate):   This one is an update from the loaded Prototype 17. A particular feature is a new approach to using chocolate syrup (with the hope that the swirl pattern does not sink too deeply into the batter's top surface).   3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG): Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 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 of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons altogether) arrowroot 2 teaspoons vanilla 5 eggs Double-chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Newman's Own), about 2 dozen Dark Decoration Batter (thoroughly blend these two ingredients together): 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup (such as Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo) 2 tablespoons chocolate batter (see above) Expect more than 7 cups of the resulting chocolate batter (and reserve 2 tablespoons of this for the dark decoration batter), but do not add this to the pan all at once (otherwise, the cookies, which are also added here, may end up floating and/or sinking too much to a single level, due to density differences). Rather, this needs to be done in five installments. Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the first installment. Minimize the foil's disturbance in order to minimize its leakage risk. For each of the first four installments, gently scoop about 1 1/2 cups of batter into the pan. Add about 6 cookies (don't bother breaking them up—keeping them whole is fine and, in fact, recommended), ensuring that they are fully coated and—as much as possible—immersed. After adding an installment, bake the pan with its contents at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. To reduce spillage risks, do not fill the tub all the way at this point, because the whole tub-and-pan assembly is going to need to be removed from the oven (in order to comfortably add contents to the pan) between installments. For the fifth (and final) installment, gently add the remaining batter to the pan, but do not add any more cookies. Instead, add the dark decoration batter on the top surface. From a beaker, pour thick, parallel stripes of this decorative batter throughout the top surface in the pan. Then pull a knife in perpendicular directions through these dark stripes in the lighter-colored batter (just deeply enough for the uppermost installment's surface) in order to produce a wavy, swirl pattern (see photo below). Do all this as neatly as possible (try to avoid cutting into the lower installments underneath). After the fifth installment (including the dark decoration batter) is in place, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven. At this point, fill up the tub generously with boiling water. Resume baking, but with the oven temperature lowered to 300 degrees, for about another 65 minutes (based upon usage of a 9 1/2" pan). Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Now, for the final chocolate touch, add a border of chocolate chips, semi-sweet and white, around the edge of this cheesecake (see photo below). Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another two hours. After doing so, remove the cheesecake from pan and refrigerate. For some reason, the cheesecake's middle decorative swirl "line" seemed to somehow run too deep into batter, ultimately leading to a crack. I would simply have to remember in the future to take additional precautions when transferring a cheesecake like this from one surface to another. I brought this one to my annual family reunion in July of 2016 at my cousin Robin's place, where it ended up being a great success. About 5/8 of it got taken before I brought the rest back home. I should also mention here that this cheesecake was the very first one that I made after having heart surgery, in which my mitral valve was successfully repaired. It was only about two weeks after this surgery that I made this dessert. What a speedy recovery!   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 21:   A new stabilizer, xanthan gum (replacing the arrowroot), would be the primary feature of this September 2017 update.   3-Cheese Blend (3CT-1NC-2YG): 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 24 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum 2 teaspoons vanilla 5 eggs Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 75 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chocolate chips if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I formed a border of three(!) different kinds of chocolate chips—dark, milk and white—on top of this cheesecake. This one had a nice taste and texture to it, and I brought it to my cousin Joanne's house for Rosh HaShanah 5778 (that's 2017 Gregorian), where it was enthusiastically received.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 22 (7-Way Chocolate):   This one has many similarities to Prototype 20, but not only did I use xanthan gum in place of arrowroot (along with a few other 2017 overhauls), I also felt like simplifying the batter installments (details below).   3-Cheese Blend (3CT-1NC-2YG): 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 24 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 eggs Double-chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Newman's Own), about 2 dozen Expect just over 7 cups of the resulting chocolate batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once. Rather, this needs to be done in two installments. Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the first installment. Minimize the foil's disturbance in order to minimize its leakage risk. For the first installment, start off by gently scooping some batter into the pan just until the crust is fully coated. Afterwards, lay flat about 6 cookies onto this batter. Then add more batter, coating these cookies well. Lay flat another 6 cookies, but try to place them such that they are not overlapping any of the first layer of cookies. Coat this second layer as well with additional batter. Next, add a third layer of about 6 cookies, laying them flat also. Try to avoid overlapping the second layer. However, it is okay (and encouraged) if they are directly above the first layer of cookies. Add more batter, coating the third layer. Finally, add a fourth layer of about 6 cookies—laying these flat too—and try to avoid overlap with the third layer cookies, but feel free to position the fourth layer's directly above those of the second. Fully coat this final cookie layer, and—with the rest of the batter less roughly 1 1/2 to 2 cups—try to make the top surface of the batter reasonably level within the pan (it's okay if some of the cookies float upward and protrude a bit, but make sure that they are still lying horizontally). After this is done, bake the pan with its contents at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, in a tub filled with at least about 1/2 inch of boiling water. To reduce spillage risks, do not fill the tub all the way at this point, because the whole tub-and-pan assembly is going to need to be removed from the oven (in order to comfortably add contents to the pan) for the next installment. For that second (final) installment, gently add the remaining 1 1/2 to 2 cups of batter to the pan (no additional cookies at this point). Then add some chocolate syrup (such as Trader Joe's Organic Midnight Moo)—about a few tablespoons altogether—by pouring thick, parallel stripes onto the top surface in the pan. Then pull a knife in perpendicular directions through these dark stripes in the lighter-colored batter (just deeply enough for the uppermost installment's surface) in order to produce a wavy, swirl pattern. Do all this as neatly as possible (try to avoid cutting into the lower installment underneath). (If desired, try a different chocolate syrup pattern, such as concentric circles. See photo and comments below.) After this last installment is in place, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven. At this point, fill up the tub more generously with boiling water. Resume baking, but with the oven temperature lowered to 300 degrees, for about another 75 minutes (based upon usage of a 9 1/2" pan). Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Now, for the final chocolate touch, add a border of chocolate chips, semi-sweet and white, around the edge of this cheesecake (see photo below). Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another two hours. After doing so, remove the cheesecake from pan and refrigerate. (The first cheesecake shown here made in January, the second one in March, of 2018) I baked this one at the beginning of 2018 for my brother Eric, his wife Jean and their daughter Rebecca. The first time around for this prototype, I baked the first batter installment at 20 minutes (rather than 30). But at least some of the cookies had the tendency to float too much upward and protrude through the top of the second installment (and thus the top of the cheesecake). I reasoned that the first installment wasn't baked firmly enough to hold these cookies down. So this led me in a later effort to add another 10 minutes before adding the second installment. And I still felt that keeping the second installment's baking time at 75 minutes would not have an unfavorable impact on the cheesecake. Whereas I did the first batter installment at 20 minutes when making this treat for Eric and his family, I took the 30-minute approach when I baked this one again nearly three months later for Lily, one of my cousin Rachel's daughters (Lily typically opted for cookies+creme in the past). An inside look at the cheesecake that I brought to my cousin Rachel's place in Vermont. In July of 2019, I made the cheesecake with a different chocolate syrup pattern—concentric circles—on top. This one was for a family reunion at my cousin Joanne's place.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 23:   This one is almost identical to Prototype 21—but is a 2019 update with an additional egg.   3-Cheese Blend (3CT-1NC-2YG): 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 24 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 eggs Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 75 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chocolate chips if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I made this one for my co-workers and brought it to our 2019 Home Depot Memorial Day cookout. The cheesecake went over well. Later on that year, around Christmas, I got a new stainless steel roasting pan as a gift from my brother Eric and his wife Jean. A couple of days afterward, I would put this pan to work for the first time with a repeat of this cheesecake prototype.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 24:   This one is almost identical to Prototype 23—but is a "post-COVID" update with a cheese base modification (more Neufchatel, less cottage). More details are available here (this prototype was my very first baked cheesecake in nearly 20 months!).   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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 eggs Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 75 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chocolate chips if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove from pan and refrigerate. This one got plenty of nice compliments when I served it on Rosh HaShanah at my cousin Joanne's house in early September of 2021. This lunch was a rather small gathering—only eight people altogether. But it seemed like I wasn't the only one who greatly missed my cheesecakes for so long. However, I felt that this cheesecake was a bit too rubbery. While I had not changed the amount of xanthan gum (with respect to my most recent prototypes), 8 ounces of my "cheese base" had been switched from cottage cheese to Neufchatel. The cottage cheese itself had, somewhat to my surprise, some xanthan gum in it. But now I strongly suspected that the amount of this stabilizer was very small within this "loose", curds-and-whey product, whereas the Neufchatel cheese had much more stabilizing content (or enough for me to somehow end up underestimating it). Furthermore, I had to drive the blender real hard to incorporate the xanthan gum. This was quite a time-consuming experience (sequentially, I threw in—all at once, blender maxed out—the entire first teaspoon, waited a while for it to get well blended in, then I tossed in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon, and this ended up leading to a badly drawn-out struggle!). At some point, I could see steam(!) rising from the machine's pitcher, which I suspected was due to friction from "overdriving" the blade assembly. This is it—next time: 1 teaspoon only—and may the 1/2 teaspoon xanthan cutback not lead to a mushy outcome! Stabilizer(s) already in the Neufchatel, do your job!   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 25:   As I mentioned in the previous prototype, the xanthan gum gets reduced by 1/2 teaspoon to only one this time around.   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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 eggs Wrap the pan in foil at this point. Carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 75 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and (at this point, add a border of chocolate chips if desired) continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove from pan and refrigerate. The texture of this prototype turned out to be terrific! This one ended up being a great success when I served it in mid-late June of 2022 to my co-workers at The Home Depot around midday. There was about 1/4 or less of this cheesecake remaining after two hours, and it was fully gone by the end of that afternoon.   Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 26 (7-Way Chocolate):   This one was probably my first "7-Way Chocolate" cheesecake this side of COVID. Among the updates included here was how I added the chocolate syrup. In the past, I used it within the batter, but I felt that this compromised the integrity of the cheesecake. So this time around, I decided to drizzle the syrup, after baking, on top instead.   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 yet (see below). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar 3/8 cup cocoa powder 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 2 teaspoons vanilla 6 eggs Cookies: Double-chocolate sandwich cookies, about 2 dozen (Whole Foods 365 or Newman's Own recommended) Expect just over 7 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once. Rather, this needs to be done in three installments. Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the first installment (to minimize the foil's disturbance and therefore its leakage risk, do not put it on any earlier). Or as an alternative to using foil, place this pan in an Easy Bath Cheesecake Wrap—and don't bother waiting for the pan to get comfortably cool to do so. For each of the first two installments, gently (especially with the second installment!) scoop about 3 cups of batter into the pan, and add about 12 cookies (don't bother breaking them up—keeping them whole is fine and, in fact, recommended), ensuring that they are fully coated and—as much as possible—immersed. After adding the first installment, bake the pan with its contents for 20 minutes, at 325 degrees. However, after adding the second installment, bake the pan with its contents, still at 325 degrees, but only for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 300 degrees, and continue baking for another 15 minutes (that's a 30-minute "baking installment" here—the first 15 minutes at 325 degrees and the next 15 at 300). For both installments here, bake with the pan in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water, but (to reduce spillage risks) do not fill the tub all the way at this point, because the whole tub-and-pan assembly is going to need to be removed from the oven (in order to comfortably add contents to the pan) between installments. After all this is done, there should be just over a cup of batter left, with 50 minutes of baking time reached at this point (20 minutes for the first installment, and 30 for the second one). Now comes the third installment—carefully add the last of this batter (do not add any more cookies at this point) on top of the pan's other contents. Try to fully coat the entire surface, especially wherever cookie pieces may be showing. Next, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven. At this point, fill up the tub generously with boiling water. Resume baking at 300 degrees for another 55 minutes (based upon usage of a 9 1/2" pan). Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Now, for a special chocolate touch, add two concentric borders of chocolate chips, one of semi-sweet and the other of white, around the edge of this cheesecake (see photo below). Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another two hours. After doing so, remove the cheesecake from pan, then add a chocolate syrup drizzle pattern on top (see photo below for a suggestion) and refrigerate (or add the drizzle at a later point). I made this one in the later half of June 2024 for the Danvers East Home Depot as this store (#2623) celebrated the 20th anniversary of its being in business at this location. Although I have brought chocolate cheesecakes to my workplace here in the past, I cannot remember serving a "loaded/7-way" version for my fellow associates to enjoy. They finished it off in less than 7 hours (we enjoyed a burger/hot dogs cookout as well). I repeated this prototype almost two months later for a family reunion. However, I decided to add the chocolate syrup drizzle immediately after the chocolate chip borders, instead of doing so right after the pan removal. In other words, the drizzle was applied close to when I took the cheesecake out of the oven (rather than just before refrigeration). I felt that by doing this, the syrup would more easily soak a little into the warm batter, and its heat would also cause some of the remaining syrup on top to evaporate. That ended up being a messy mistake. The syrup was way too runny. I ended up spreading out the drizzle pattern throughout the top of the cheesecake, so that at least the wet syrup's depth would not be as high, and the top surface's appearance would be better-looking. As I served this particular cheesecake at my cousin Joanne's house where the aforementioned reunion was held, the guests dug right in, and many of them raved to me about this dessert. Of all the cheesecakes that I have ever made for get-together occasions involving my relatives, this latest one was probably the most successful up to this point—it was almost 7/8 of the way gone by the end of the reunion! (Joanne packed away the rest in her refrigerator for another time.)

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Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 1:   The Baked Chocolate Cheesecake is a good starting point for this eggnog version. The crust is scaled down to what could perhaps be referred to as some kind of a "one-quarter" recipe. However, because this is a new baked cheesecake flavor, one which I did not try back in the late 1980's (nor closely enough modeled directly after a recipe back then), the prototype number here gets off to a fresh start of "1". Remember that this is a baked version, not a "firmed-by-refrigeration" kind.   Crust: 4 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon rum extract (such as McCormick) 2 tablespoons light eggnog (such as Hood) Thoroughly blend these above 7 ingredients together. Afterward, quickly and vigorously mix in: 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Press this resulting mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan. Batter: 2 cups lowfat cottage cheese 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 2 eggs 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup light eggnog (such as Hood) 1/3 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon lemon juice Blend all these ingredients together thoroughly, particularly the butter and eggs, then pour this batter into the pan, on top of the crust. Promptly place this into the oven—preheated at 300 degrees—and bake for 100 minutes (or until cake tester comes out clean). Remove from oven, cool down to about room temperature (about 1 1/2 hours), carefully remove from pan, and chill.   Where is the eggnog?? I could hardly taste it!   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 2: Repeat Prototype 1, but make these changes for the batter: Boost eggnog by 3/4 cup, to 1 1/2 cups. Boost flour by 1/6 cup, to 1/2 cup (to help compensate for the increase in liquid).   I still had difficulty detecting the eggnog flavor, although at least one person mentioned that she could barely taste it.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 3: Repeat Prototype 2, but make these changes for the batter: Boost eggnog by 1/2 cup, to 2 cups. Add 1 tablespoon of rum extract (yes, that is a generous amount). Add 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg. Also, let's make the crust a little tastier. Combine 1 tablespoon of brown sugar with the crust's earlier ingredients (i.e., before blending in the Bran Buds).   We're finally getting somewhere—adequate presence of some kind of mellow eggnog flavor! But perhaps a little more spice is needed.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 4: Repeat Prototype 3, but make these changes for the batter: Boost nutmeg by 3/8 teaspoon, to 1/2 teaspoon (thus adding more spice). Boost flour by 1 tablespoon, to 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (for the sake of firmness, to compensate for the liquid increases in Prototype 3).   Good presence of eggnog, but, come to think of it, I have somehow more readily noticed some kind of harsh tinge from the rum extract. Could I get away with cutting it down by a third and still getting an adequate eggnog presence?   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 5: Okay, repeat Prototype 4, but decrease the batter's rum extract from 1 tablespoon to only 2/3 (i.e., from 3 teaspoons to only 2).   The flavor was just about right—no harshness. I had contemplated using even less rum extract (than I actually did) in this prototype, but I'm glad I ended up not doing so (because I thought the flavor was diminished enough). The result is a relatively mild (not so spicy) eggnog cheesecake.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 6: Spice it up a little more! Repeat Prototype 5, and boost the batter's nutmeg by 1/2 teaspoon to 1 full teaspoon.   The flavor was more encouraging. However, I felt that the crust could use some improvement.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 7: Repeat Prototype 6, but spice up the batter even more by adding 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to it. Also increase the moisture and flavor for the crust by boosting its eggnog from 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup (with this change, the crust mixture becomes somewhat pour-able, subject to the timing of blending in the Bran Buds, so be sure to let this mixture firm up a little in the pan before adding the batter on top).   Too much pumpkin-like taste! Let's face it—eggnog tends to be a delicate flavor, and boosting the spice too much, particularly with cinnamon, can throw things off. Furthermore, the crust's taste and texture did not seem all that great either. Better to stick to Prototype 6. Perhaps a good tip is to give consideration to the eggnog being used. I myself have mainly used light eggnog made by Hood (more specifically the quart-sized, ultra-pasteurized product, as opposed to the half-gallon-sized, pasteurized counterpart, due to my preference for the product's longer shelf life). Another dairy out there is Oakhurst (from Maine, and available at least in much of New England), whose eggnog has a somewhat spicier taste (maybe it's the nutmeg, maybe it's a hint of mint, but I don't know for certain). Inasmuch as the eggnog flavor was adequately present in Prototype 6, I have somehow lost consideration that this is supposed to be a cheesecake as well. Perhaps the rum extract should be reduced further.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 8: Okay—repeat Prototype 6 again, but reduce the batter's rum extract from 2 to 1 + 1/2 teaspoons (in other words, to put it simply, 1/2 tablespoon). For this prototype, skip the crust.   This time, I embarked on a new baking approach. Beforehand, I would simply pour the batter into the "springform" pan, then put this straight into the oven. Typically, the cake would rise to nearly double its height during baking, only to fall back shortly after I removed the pan from the oven for the cooldown, and the outer edge of the cheesecake would end up with some kind of inferior taste and/or texture. So with Prototype 8, I took a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and wrapped the bottom and sides of the pan, in order to resist water leakage. What water leakage?! What's water got to do with this?? It's because after I poured the batter into the foil-lined pan, I placed this into a larger pan, filled with boiling water. Then I put the whole thing into the oven. The result: no high-climbing cheesecake during baking—and the outer edge came out so much better. However, I felt that my eggnog cheesecake needed more firmness.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 9: Repeat Prototype 8, and increase the batter's flour from 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (that's 9 tablespoons) to 3/4 cup (that's 12 tablespoons—therefore the flour is getting about a 33% boost). No crust.   This one seemed firmer, and Lesa's friend Steve especially enjoyed this treat, which I brought to the Sports Page for New Year's Eve 2011.   Where are we at this point with the baked eggnog cheesecake prototypes?? Okay, I felt that at this point, I should provide the details of the ingredients so far—plus sequential info. This is batter-only (no crust). Grease a 9" springform pan. For best results take the bath approach—wrap this pan up to the sides with foil, in order to suppress water leaks (heavy-duty aluminum is a good choice). Mix thoroughly together: 2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted 1/2 cup granulated sugar Then blend in: 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 tablespoon rum extract Then mix in: 2 cups (such as a 16-ounce container) of lowfat cottage cheese (such as Hood, no salt added)—whip this in a blender just until the curds no longer show, before adding to the above ingredients. Next add: 2 cups of light eggnog (such as Hood or Oakhurst) Follow up gradually with a dry combination of: 3/4 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon nutmeg Completely mix all of the above ingredients used so far, then finally add: 2 eggs (last ingredient here)—aim to get these at least fully mixed in (yet without overbeating, if possible). Have enough boiling hot water available at this point if using the bath approach (if the water is cold, the baking is going to get off to a start that's too cold!), and pour some into a large pan—let's call this the "tub". Also, the oven should be preheated to 300 degrees. Pour the batter into the springform pan. No bath? Then put the pan directly into the oven. But for the bath approach, place this pan into the "tub", add more hot water (perhaps to the batter's height), and put the whole thing into the oven. Bake for about 100 minutes. Afterward, take the springform pan out of the oven (and out of the "tub" if applicable) for the cooldown.   Don't throw away that piece of foil used for wrapping the springform pan if the bath approach was used! Save this foil to wrap the cheesecake later on.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 10: Okay, let's give the crust another try. Its ingredient list at this point is as follows, with the latest changes noted: 4 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (up from 1/8 teaspoon, for more flavor) 1/4 teaspoon rum extract (up from 1/8 teaspoon, for more flavor) 1/4 cup light eggnog (that's 4 tablespoons, a reasonable compromise between 2 tablespoons and 1/2 cup) 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds For the sake of flavor, the increase in the nutmeg and rum extract seemed like a reasonable compensation for the decrease in eggnog from its 1/2 cup usage in Prototype 7. For the batter, repeat Prototype 9, but in light of the questionable need for salt—combined with a desire to cut down what seemed to be unnecessary sodium, reduce the salt from 1/2 teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon (seemed like a reasonable compromise, in case the recipe still needed some salt). Use the bath approach on this one, foil and all.   I discovered a soggy problem with this one. Looked like the foil, even if it was "heavy duty", still could not be relied upon to keep the water out of the cheesecake's pan, as some of it appeared to leak through and wet at least the crust. So after cooldown and removal, I put the cheesecake, upside-down (that's "crust-side-up"), back in the oven—but this time I used the broiler (as opposed to baking) for a few minutes, with the oven door ajar, in an effort to reduce the crust's sogginess. Inasmuch as I did not want the crust to be too dry, I didn't want it to be too soggy (a concern I had with Prototype 7) either.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 11: Seems like maybe a little too much emphasis has been placed on the "eggnog" in "eggnog cheesecake" (and too little on "cheesecake"). This prototype is slightly mellower and sweeter. So repeat Prototype 10, but make these changes for the batter: Boost granulated sugar by 1/6 cup, to 2/3 cup. Decrease rum extract by 1/2 teaspoon, to 1 teaspoon. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (include this one when blending in the lemon juice and rum extract). Remember that only 1/4 teaspoon of salt is to be used here (not 1/2 teaspoon). As for the bath approach, instead of placing the springform pan directly in the hot "tub", put it immediately above it, preferably by using a grate between the two (the "tub" itself being placed close to halfway up in the oven). In order to prevent steam from rising up into the bottom of the cheesecake's pan, it is still advisable to wrap a piece of foil around its bottom. Well, I somehow got the impression that the cheesecake did rise during the "above-the-tub" baking, but not as high as in the "tub-less" prototypes (and whatever resulting rise occurred, at least the top surface appeared to settle evenly—as opposed to having higher edges). I felt that the outer edge's taste and texture hopefully still turned out okay. The crust also seemed to be just right. This prototype had a taste that was somewhat strong on the nutmeg.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 12:   I have come a long way in my various cheesecake prototypes since Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 11! What I have done with the first two baked eggnog-pumpkin combos, as well as Baked Plain Cheesecake—Prototype 4, have led me to update the eggnog-only cheesecake. There were quite a few changes from the 11th eggnog prototype to the 12th for the batter. The lemon juice went from 1 teaspoon to 3. The rum extract went from 1 teaspoon back to 1 1/2. The cottage cheese was increased from 2 cups to 2 1/2, and the flour—previously all-purpose but now whole white wheat—got upped from 3/4 cup to a full one (in my ongoing quest for firmness). And the nutmeg's teaspoon was cut in half. Furthermore, whereas I baked Prototype 11 above the tub, I went back to baking in the tub with Prototype 12. A major change was made in regard to the crust. Many times, I have sought to attain one that would have a decent texture—not too soggy and not too dry—and be truly tasty. I have not always been satisfied with the outcome when trying to match the crust's flavor to its batter counterpart. Eventually, I felt that I had attained my goal for the chocolate flavor. But with other flavors, particularly with eggnog, this has been difficult. From what I best recall, I was fairly happy with the taste, but not the still-too-soggy texture, of the crust in Baked Plain Cheesecake—Prototype 4. However, due to its hopeful taste, as well as simplification issues, I made a decision to cease pursuit of matching crust flavors (to their batter counterparts) at this point (at least for most non-chocolate flavors, including eggnog) and go instead with a regular crust, similar to that of the plain cheesecake, but with further refinements (particularly reducing the cottage cheese back to 4 ounces) in an effort to get the texture more to my liking.   Crust: 1.5 oz. melted, white chocolate 1/2 cup (4 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped, no salt added 1 teaspoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 3 tablespoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Batter: 2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 tablespoon rum extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) whipped lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added 2 cups of light eggnog 1 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 eggs Bake in (not above!) a tub at 300 degrees for about 2 hours, then remove from oven, and let this cheesecake cool off for about 2 hours before removing from pan. I used Oakhurst ("The Natural Goodness of Maine") eggnog for this one (which was baked early in the same week commemorating the 10th anniversary of Amtrak's Downeaster, an increasingly-popular train, serving Oakhurst's home state). This cheesecake was a terrific hit at the Sports Page, and I myself was quite pleased with the taste, both the batter and the crust (which itself was not too soggy).   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 13:   Inasmuch as the crust was great, I thought that I would eliminate the cottage cheese from it and replace it with additional eggnog. I also felt that Prototype 12 was a little too well done. But wait a minute! Didn't I decide to go with regular crusts back in Prototype 12? Yes, but I later on thought that I would give the eggnog flavor another try, with a simple dairy-for-dairy swap (which, among other things, would eliminate the cottage cheese from the crust—going against my long tradition of always including cottage cheese as a minimal ingredient for this bottom part of the cheesecake).   Repeat Prototype 12, but replace the crust's 1/2 cup of lowfat cottage cheese with 1/2 cup of light eggnog. Also, bake this cheesecake for about 110 minutes (instead of 120). Continue doing it "in-the-tub" style ("in" is here to stay at this point—just be careful with that foil, disturbing it as little as possible: gently wrap it onto the pan immediately before placing the cheesecake into the bath for baking, not earlier—first grease the pan, then "crust" it, then pre-bake it [if applicable—but use no tub during this phase], then cool it, then "batter" it, then "foil" it, then "tub-and-bake" it). Got it?   This time I used Hood eggnog (which I have been using likely the overwhelming majority of times). However, the crust seemed to be considerably more soggy. I brought this cheesecake to a Christmas Day get-together, but there was too much dessert competition. The host's chocolate trifle was a big hit. Even though I ate plenty of my own cheesecake, it wasn't touched much by others. A few days later, I brought what was left of this one (about half the cheesecake at this point) to the Sports Page, where it seemed to fare considerably better.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 14:   How about pre-baking the crust in order to reduce its sogginess? Furthermore, because I increased the batter's cottage cheese back in Prototype 12, I was moved at that point to boost its rum extract as well. However, it wasn't long before I suspected that this extract was a little too much. Therefore, I decided to cut it back to its earlier amount (while keeping the cottage cheese at 2 1/2 cups). As with Prototype 13 (and most of my other baked eggnog cheesecake prototypes up to this point), I used Hood eggnog.   Repeat Prototype 13, but reduce the batter's rum extract by 1/2 teaspoon, back to only 1 teaspoon. Also, after the crust has been placed into the pan, pre-bake it (no tub during this phase) for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees, then cool it off until it can be comfortably touched. Add the batter afterward and bake (in a tub at this point) for about 110 minutes.   The pre-baking paid off! The crust's texture, I felt, was decent (nice taste, too). However, I felt that the batter was a little overdone (maybe I had been getting more sensitive to overbaking lately). Indeed, there were about a couple of noticeable cracks, and the outer batter (i.e., at the circumference) seemed a little too dry at the surface. Furthermore, the taste might have been a tiny bit too acidic or tart. My eggnog plans for the future, when I get to it: only 2 teaspoons of lemon juice for the batter, which itself should have its oven time cut to only 100 minutes. But all the refining that I have done up to this point has paid off in an eggnog cheesecake that did very well at Living Hope Church.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 15:   Let's do it! Cut the batter's lemon juice and baking time. Furthermore, since a somewhat wider cheesecake pan was being used (the 9 1/2" Frieling that I got for one of my birthdays), I ended up cutting the crust's pre-bake time and the full-recipe's bake time.   So where are we at now? Crust: 1.5 oz. melted, white chocolate 1/2 cup light eggnog 1 teaspoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 3 tablespoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Pre-bake, no tub, for about 15 minutes at 300 degrees, then cool (enough to touch). Batter: 2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted 2/3 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon rum extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese 2 cups of light eggnog 1 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 eggs Bake, with tub, for about 90 minutes at 300 degrees, then cool off for about 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate.   I think that this was the first time that I used the Frieling pan for my eggnog prototypes (as opposed to the somewhat smaller-diameter, all-metal pan used earlier). I also used Oakhurst eggnog. The crust had a nice taste to it. However, I somehow sensed a little harshness in the batter's flavor. Were my taste buds changing? I wasn't sure. But a woman—Karen, from what I best recall—over at the Italian Community Center (to which Lesa's dart team recently relocated) more easily thought this cheesecake had a pumpkin taste. Both of us felt that the nutmeg should be cut back and the sweetness increased. I have already been thinking about boosting the granulated sugar to 3/4 cup and halving the nutmeg—and also the rum extract—on the next eggnog cheesecake (this woman also made some suggestions involving sour cream and powdered sugar, but that was more for red velvet purposes). I also felt that the crust's pre-bake time should be further cut to about 10 minutes.   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!   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 17:   After working with Prototype 10 of the plain-flavored cheesecakes, I brought some of the ideas from there into the latest eggnog prototype. A special formulation between the cottage and yogurt cheeses would be utilized (I thought that the last eggnog prototype was somewhat too tart—sorry, Steve, I meant for this to be an eggnog cheesecake, not a lemon one). Another notable change to the eggnog prototypes would be the use of arrowroot (combined with a major reduction in flour).   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 1/2 cup (4 oz.) 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 butter, softened or melted 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon rum extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 cups light eggnog 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup arrowroot 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. I probably could have gotten by with only 60 minutes of baking time, but I wanted an extra "safety" margin of firmness with this prototype. Oakhurst eggnog was used for this one. I was rather pleased about this Maine dairy making a recent change for the better in its products—no more high-fructose corn syrup! No later than the start of eggnog season 2012, sugar was being used instead. Oakhurst eggnog labels. Label on left is 2011 version, with high-fructose corn syrup. Label on right is 2012 version, with sugar. Yes, some artificial flavoring was still in use. But simply changing the sweetener made me feel happy (in fact, this company stated that it was no longer using the inferior, possibly artificial, corn-based sweetner for any of its products). Way to go Oakhurst! That's another milestone. Now work on going all-natural with your flavorings. Your stance against hormones (e.g., rBST) has gotten you this far, so keep on chugging. (And Amtrak's Downeaster train recently extended its service beyond Portland, to Brunswick—another nice happening from the bushy Pine Tree State.) Goodbye (and good riddance), HFCS! Hello, sugar (and Brunswick—and L.L. Bean's own Freeport too—happy rails)! This cheesecake had a terrific eggnog taste. The tartness level also seemed to be just about right. However, I did pick up a very faint "ho-hum" tinge, at least when the cheesecake was at about room temperature. Maybe more of the flour needed to be removed (and perhaps a slight arrowroot boost would be needed to compensate for this flour's further reduction). Still, this cheesecake fared satisfactorily at Living Hope Church. I only brought about half of it there, because I wanted save some to bring to darts at the Beverly ICC as well. This prototype was well received there by Lesa (eggnog being her favorite cheesecake flavor). Her friend Steve responded repeatedly with comments like "Way awesome!!" (he also sensed a moisture to his liking in this cheesecake). So he was thrilled with this treat (no lemon-related concerns—glad you're happy, Steve).   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 18:   The batter for this one reflects what I used in my first chocolate eggnog prototype. I was furthermore moved to add a gradual in-oven cooldown to this single-sized prototype here, due to the two cups of eggnog resulting in a large amount of batter (perhaps I should have given more time in the oven for Prototype 17 as well).   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 1/2 cup (4 oz.) 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 butter, softened or melted 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon rum extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 cups light eggnog 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3/8 cup arrowroot 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 eggs Bake, with tub, for about 90 minutes at 300 degrees. Next, turn oven off, leaving cheesecake in it (still in tub as well), with oven's door slightly ajar, for another 45 minutes. Afterwards, remove cheesecake from oven and tub, and let this cool off (cheesecake still in pan) for about 90 minutes. Then remove from pan and refrigerate. Now that looks a little more well done—and thus promising! ...and delivering! This cheesecake was delicious and well-received at darts (including, of course, by Lesa and Steve). Furthermore, I felt that the eggnog batter was easily firm enough to my satisfaction.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 19:   This version gets updated, primarily with the crust, based on refinements done to other cheesecake flavors earlier in 2013.   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 1/2 cup (4 oz.) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 oz. All-Bran, 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 butter, softened or melted 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon rum extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 cups light eggnog 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3/8 cup arrowroot 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 eggs Bake, with tub, for about 90 minutes at 300 degrees. Next, turn oven off, leaving cheesecake in it (still in tub as well), with oven's door slightly ajar, for another 45 minutes. Afterwards, remove cheesecake from oven and tub, and let this cool off (cheesecake still in pan) for about 90 minutes. Then remove from pan and refrigerate. Note: See comments below for more information in regard to cooking and cooling times. I made this one for Lesa's birthday in late August 2013, using Oakhurst eggnog, which had frozen well from the previous Christmas season—and that eggnog still tasted great—and so did the cheesecake itself! I got plenty of nice compliments from a number of people at the Italian Community Center, where I presented this treat to Lesa. In December 2013 I went on to make Prototype 20, which itself featured more arrowroot—but resulted in what I felt to be too "rubbery" of a texture. So in light of my quest for yet more firmness, but hopefully without rubber concerns, I remade Prototype 19 (with its 3/8 cup of arrowroot) shortly afterward. But this time around, I boosted the oven baking time (still at 300 degrees) to 120 minutes, the in-oven cooldown time to 60 minutes, and the out-of-oven cooldown time to 120 minutes. That's 45 additional minutes (30 of them in the oven) altogether. And I was considerably more satisfied with the resulting texture.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 20:   I somehow wanted some more firmness, so I took a chance on pushing up the arrowroot a bit.   Repeat Prototype 19, but boost the batter's arrowroot by 2 tablespoons, to 1/2 cup.   I made this one with Oakhurst eggnog. This cheesecake was easily firm enough. However, I felt that the texture was sort of "rubbery". So perhaps I overdid it on the arrowroot. But the taste itself was terrific. I had given considerations beforehand to reducing or even eliminating the rum extract. But when I carefully evaluated the taste of this prototype, I ended up reasoning, "Don't reduce that rum extract!" So I determined that it was better to stick with Prototype 19. But if I really wanted more firmness, how about taking a chance on extended oven time? See the later comments for that prototype.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 21:   Sometimes, I have felt the need to use up some dairy products, such as cottage cheese, before their expiration. Here is a recipe with a new kind of cheese base. This one is batter only (no crust). It also uses a rectangular pan, rather than a round one.   Batter: 2 cups (16 ounces) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped 4 ounces Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese"), softened 5/8 cup (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon rum extract 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 cups light eggnog 7 tablespoons (1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon) arrowroot 2 eggs Place into greased 13" x 9" pan (such as a "Pyrex" glass type), bake in tub at 300 degrees for 120 minutes, shut oven off, leaving door slightly ajar, for 60 minutes, remove pan containing cheesecake from tub and oven and let cool at room temperature for 120 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate.   The top surface of this one seemed to end up being a little too "crusty". So I felt that, in the future, I should reduce the baking time (after all, this was with a 13" x 9" rectangular pan, not a 9" round springform, thus the rectangular version was considerably thinner). But Lesa greatly enjoyed this one and actually preferred it crust-free (due to her medical incompatibility with the crust's wheat).   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 22:   Changes do happen! This latest eggnog-flavored update in December of 2015 is based upon my major cheesecake batter overhaul from a few months earlier. This prototype also is a batter-only recipe, baked in a rectangular pan.   3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG): 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 4 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 4 ounces of softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese"). All this should yield 24 ounces (about 3 cups). Batter: 24 oz. (about 3 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon rum extract 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 1/3 cups light eggnog 1/2 cup arrowroot 3 eggs Place into greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan, bake in tub at 300 degrees for 90-100 minutes, shut oven off, leaving door slightly ajar, for 60 minutes, remove pan containing cheesecake from tub and oven and let cool at room temperature for 90-100 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate. In light of the reduced cooking time, I felt that this one was still baked thoroughly enough. In fact, it seemed a little crusty on top, but that did not bother me too much. The oven-baking time was about 100 minutes (room-cooling time no less than that). The taste was great, and I brought this cheesecake to darts at the Italian Community Center for Lesa and others to enjoy. My latest eggnog prototype went over quite successfully there. The next time I made this prototype, I reduced the oven-baking and room-cooling times to about 90 minutes each. The cheesecake still came out firm enough, and the top was less crusty. This dessert was served at Living Hope Church (among a modest snack selection), where about 2/3 of it was consumed. I took the rest home.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 23:   About a couple of months ago (around June of 2017), I started working on a major cheesecake overhaul, beginning with the plain flavor. Along the way, I started bringing on board a stabilizer which has been very popular for many years in the food industry—but not nearly as popular, at least in my knowledge, in home usage. This stabilizer—an alternative to arrowroot—is xanthan gum, and it has been used extensively in the production of cream cheese. Perhaps one reason why xanthan gum has not had much at-home exposure is because of the difficulty in trying to use correct amounts. I would estimate this natural ingredient to have nearly a dozen times more stabilizing power than arrowroot (and furthermore even much higher when compared to all-purpose flour). As my working on the plain-flavored prototypes continued, I felt that I would use this latest eggnog prototype as a "stepping stone" to help me determine what would be a suitable amount of xanthan gum to use for my cheesecakes in general. Looking back at Prototype 19 of my plain cheesecakes, I directly replaced 5 tablespoons of arrowroot with...5 quarters of a teaspoon (i.e., 1 1/4 teaspoons) of xanthan gum. Yes, I like to express my fives here, so that I can more easily say, "1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum for every tablespoon of arrowroot!" Alright. That's a ratio of 12:1. One tablespoon = three teaspoons. So a tablespoon contains 12 quarters of a teaspoon. That means 5 tablespoons = 60 quarters of a teaspoon. So that is 60/4 teaspoons of arrowroot corresponding to 5/4 teaspoons of xanthan gum. That ratio is 60:5...simplified to 12:1. With that plain cheesecake coming out somehow too soft, I wanted to boost the xanthan gum for next time. But I had already determined to no more than double this ingredient (which would be to 2 1/2 teaspoons). In fact, I considered raising it more gradually, only to 2 teaspoons. That would be a 60% increase. My previous eggnog prototype included 1/2 cup of arrowroot. That's 8 tablespoons (yes, that's more than 5, because of a number of differences compared to my plain cheesecakes, including all that liquid eggnog), i.e, 24 teaspoons. Translating that to xanthan gum would be 2 teaspoons. So this 12:1 ratio would be my starting point for my eggnog cheesecake before applying the 60% increase here. But for the sake of simplification and less risk of over-thickening the batter, I decided to settle for only 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon)—an increase of only 50% for the eggnog version. I also (again, for the sake of simplicity, particularly in the midst of a general cheesecake overhaul) went with just the yogurt and cottage cheeses.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese (1CT-2YG [1 part cottage cheese, 2 parts yogurt 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. Batter: 24 oz. (about 3 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon rum extract 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 1/3 cups light eggnog 1 tablespoon xanthan gum 3 eggs Place into greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan, and bake in tub at 300 degrees for 80-90 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 90-120 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate. Well, it looked like I had erred on the high side with the xanthan gum, despite the relatively cautious 50% boost. There was somewhat too much of a struggle for the blender that I was using to fully incorporate this stabilizer. This was just before I added the eggs, which I wanted to mix in as the last ingredient for the batter. The struggle continued after I added the first egg. This struggle barely started giving some way probably after the second egg. With the third egg, the blender ended up successfully mixing again, to my satisfaction. That was a close one. I was risking the possibility of a wasted cheesecake (or at least an insufficiently-blended batter). Note to my next plain prototype: Do not use any more than 1 3/4 teaspoons of xanthan gum (consider perhaps 1 1/2 teaspoons)! But this cheesecake had a delicious eggnog taste to it, and I made this one in late August of 2017—baked at 90 minutes, oven-cooled at 60 and room-cooled at 90—for Lesa's birthday. I brought it to her at the Italian Community Center in Beverly, and a number of others there enjoyed it as well. Despite my having moved on to the next eggnog prototype, I decided to repeat this 23rd prototype in September of 2018, one full tablespoon of xanthan gum and all. I felt that I would try a better, persistent approach in dealing with this powerful stabilizer. After adding it to the mixture (pre-eggs-addition) with the blender maxed out, I allowed additional sitting time plus some blender pulsing in order to get the xanthan gum incorporated, and all this was somewhat helpful. I also baked the cheesecake for 80 minutes, but I cooled it at room temperature for a good two hours (after the one-hour cooling in the oven). The cheesecake's surface ended up having a nice appearance to it.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 24:   Reduce the xanthan gum. That's all.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese (1CT-2YG): 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. Batter: 24 oz. (about 3 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon rum extract 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 1/3 cups light eggnog 2 1/2 teaspoons 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 90 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate. A bit soft, but fine otherwise.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 25:   A few days ago, I made yet another eggnog cheesecake by using the recipe for Prototype 23 (that's two prototypes ago, in light of my continued desire for stability). I baked that one for only about 80 minutes (at least from what I could best recall). The ingredients in it included a generous 2 1/3 cups of eggnog and one tablespoon of xanthan gum. Unfortunately, this particular cheesecake—which I made around the beginning of December of 2018—ended up soiling my fingers upon my handling the slices. I felt that was too unstable. So I considered some options. One was to decrease the eggnog to a simpler 2 cups. I felt that the eggnog flavor itself would still yield a reasonable presence, and I wanted to be able to somewhat more easily pick up the "cheese" flavor as well. Another was to make sure the cheesecake gets cooked for a good 90 minutes, even if the top comes out a little brown. Better that I get a somewhat crusty top than an excessively soft cheesecake! I also contemplated boosting the xanthan gum to 4 teaspoons, but I ended up holding off on that for now. However, I made a change on when to add the xanthan gum. In the past, I added it after the eggnog (but before the eggs). This time, I decided to try mixing in the xanthan gum before pouring in the eggnog. Perhaps the blender that I was using would have an easier time incorporating this tricky stabilizer.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese (1CT-2YG): 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. Batter: 24 oz. (about 3 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon rum extract 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1 tablespoon xanthan gum 2 cups light eggnog 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. Looks like mixing in the xanthan gum before doing so with the eggnog made a difference for the better! This stabilizer seemed to get incorporated a lot more quickly, and I was able to reduce the blender's speed as well. Gotta remember this one for the future—including for certain other cheesecake flavors such as pumpkin (add the pumpkin butter after the stabilizer). I unloaded this cheesecake at The Home Depot for my fellow associates to enjoy. It went over quite well there (I found only one small piece left after 4 hours). And it did not seem to be so messy this time (although it was still softer than I would have liked it—but that's how it was with my eggnog prototypes these days).   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 26:   Okay, this time let's try more xanthan gum. And, for the sake of adding more baking time, hopefully without the top turning out too brown, let's try something new for eggnog cheesecakes—two-installment baking!   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese (1CT-2YG): 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. Batter: 24 oz. (about 3 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6/10 (about) teaspoon rum extract (but see comments below) 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1 1/3 tablespoons xanthan gum (tip: blend this in before adding the eggnog) 2 cups light eggnog 3 eggs Place about 2/3 of this batter into a greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan, and bake in tub at 300 degrees for 70 minutes. After this is done, remove from oven and carefully add the remaining 1/3 batter on top of the earlier installment. Return to oven and continue baking at 300 degrees for another 80 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. It seemed like the increases in the xanthan gum and baking time were a little helpful in increasing the cheesecake's stability. As for the rum extract, I wanted to use 1 teaspoon of it, just like I had done in my last few eggnog prototypes. So why was there a rather weird 6/10 of a teaspoon for this one? Because I had only that much on hand, that's why (and I did not feel like making a grocery run just for that ingredient—I felt that I could manage with this reduced amount).   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. 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.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 28:   In keeping with my "post-COVID" simplifications, I decided that the "cheese base" would consist of just one, whole 16-ounce container of cottage cheese. This would be combined with an easy, 8-ounce package of Neufchatel cheese. I omitted the nutmeg as well (so I was now fully relying on the eggnog beverage itself for the eggnog flavor). The cheese changes, plus xanthan gum problems with the previous eggnog prototype, led me to greatly slash the usage of that stabilizer here.   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 1/3 to 1/4 of its initial weight. Then let this cool off (at least a little). Tip: Prepare this concentrate ahead of time. The evaporation process can take about 7 to 8 hours, depending on the amount of heat applied. Allow the concentrate to cool down afterwards, then refrigerate until ready for use. Batter: 16 oz. (about 2 cups) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 8 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese") 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Eggnog concentrate (see above) 1 teaspoon 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. Despite the great reduction in the xanthan gum used this time around, it was still a big challenge to get this stabilizer fully blended in—although not as tough as it was in the previous eggnog prototype. And the texture turned out to be quite firm. Still, I felt that it was somehow too rubbery (which moved me to plan a great reduction in xanthan gum for next time—perhaps 1/2 teaspoon, tops). This eggnog cheesecake was a "belated" (mainly because of COVID-19) birthday gift for Lesa. In addition to her and her now-husband Steve enjoying it, this one was well-received by others at the Spear Post in Beverly during a darts event around mid-October of 2021 (D.R.S., Lesa and Steve's dart team, relocated there for this fall 2021 season, and I was particularly happy about this venue going "smoke-free"). I should also mention here the excellent ability for Oakhurst Dairy's light eggnog to freeze well. I purchased a quart of this product late last year with a December "sell by" date and promptly put it away in the freezer. I thawed it out nearly 10 months later for usage in this latest prototype—and could still safely consume the beverage directly. (I was hoping to use the eggnog in August of this year, that month marking Lesa's birthday, but COVID-19 led to the delay. The eggnog cheesecake presented here ended up being my third baked cheesecake "this side of COVID".)   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 29:   This cheesecake featured a small adjustment with the xanthan gum, as I commented in the previous eggnog prototype, for the sake of a better texture.   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 1/3 to 1/4 of its initial weight. Then let this cool off (at least a little). Tip: Prepare this concentrate ahead of time. The evaporation process can take about 7 to 8 hours, depending on the amount of heat applied. Allow the concentrate to cool down afterwards, then refrigerate until ready for use. Batter: 16 oz. (about 2 cups) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 8 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese") 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Eggnog concentrate (see above) 1/2 teaspoon 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. This time, the texture seemed to be just right—hopefully still firm enough, yet not too rubbery. I brought this one in early December of 2021 to Lesa, Steve and others during a darts match at the Spear Post in Beverly, where—as usual—the cheesecake was well-received.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 30:   This eggnog prototype took on a couple of major new approaches. The eggnog concentration—which I felt was adversely affecting the taste—has been replaced with baking the cheesecake in multiple installments, based largely on Prototype 12 of my pumpkin cheesecake. And I added a graham cracker crust, per Lesa's request.   Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (about 1 cup) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3 oz. graham crackers, ground up Place the resulting mixture into a greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 25 minutes, then remove from oven (cooling off is optional here). Batter: 16 oz. (about 2 cups) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 8 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese") 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups light eggnog (such as Hood) 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum 3 eggs Expect close to 6 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once. Rather, this needs to be done in four installments. For each of the first three installments, gently scoop about 1 1/2 cups of batter into the pan, fully covering the surface (here's a tip—scoop small amounts of batter into scattered places throughout the pan, letting this batter fill in nearby gaps, and if any of these remain, use a rubber spatula and gently spread the batter to cover these gaps up), and then bake this pan with its contents for 25 minutes, at 325 degrees. However, at the end of the third installment's 25 minutes, add on another 30 minutes of baking time, but only at 300 degrees (that's a 55 minute "baking installment"—the first 25 minutes at 325 degrees and the next 30 at 300). For all four installments, bake with the pan in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. After the first three installments are done, there should be about 1 1/2 cups of batter left, with 105 minutes of baking time reached at this point (25 minutes for each of the first two installments, and 55 for the third one). Now comes the fourth installment—carefully add the last of this batter on top of the pan's earlier installments, fully coating the entire surface. Next, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven, with the temperature remaining at 300 degrees. Resume baking for another 90 minutes. Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another 120 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate. Whoa! The batter's texture for this one was surprisingly very rubbery! However, the flavor seemed to be an improvement over the previous eggnog prototype. But I felt that this flavor could be even better. I suspected that the very high amount of cooking time was to blame for the texture and taste. I also felt that the texture was likely impacted by too much xanthan gum. Yes, the 12th pumpkin prototype, which was a major influence for this eggnog cheesecake, came out fine. But the pumpkin's batter layer was much higher (i.e., thicker) than the eggnog's. In fact, I was almost going to bake the eggnog's fourth installment at 105 minutes, just like the pumpkin's, but I ended up going with only 90 (an influence from the previous eggnog prototype). I also felt that the crust could use some cinnamon (I left it out, likely at least in order to save time, although I used graham crackers that were supposedly "regular" ones, not cinnamon). I brought this cheesecake in early December of 2022 to Lesa, Steve and others during a darts match at the Spear Post in Beverly. Despite the aforementioned shortcomings, this prototype was very well-received. However, Bobby, one of the players and probably my biggest cheesecake fan on Lesa and Steve's team, made mention of a high amount of sweetness in the crust—but that hardly surprised me. I determined the sugar usage based on my most recent plain cheesecake crusts (I probably should have looked to my s'mores prototypes, since I used graham crackers instead of All-Bran for crusts in those).   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 31:   Reduce the xanthan gum. Reduce the baking time for the fourth batter installment. Reduce the crust's sweetness. But add some cinnamon to it.   Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (about 1 cup) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3 oz. graham crackers, ground up (if these are cinnamon-flavored, omit the cinnamon shown above) Place the resulting mixture into a greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 25 minutes, then remove from oven (cooling off is optional here). Batter: 16 oz. (about 2 cups) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 8 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese") 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups light eggnog (such as Hood) 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs Expect close to 6 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once. Rather, this needs to be done in four installments. For each of the first three installments, gently scoop about 1 1/2 cups of batter into the pan, fully covering the surface (here's a tip—scoop small amounts of batter into scattered places throughout the pan, letting this batter fill in nearby gaps, and if any of these remain, use a rubber spatula and gently spread the batter to cover these gaps up), and then bake this pan with its contents for 25 minutes, at 325 degrees. However, at the end of the third installment's 25 minutes, add on another 30 minutes of baking time, but only at 300 degrees (that's a 55 minute "baking installment"—the first 25 minutes at 325 degrees and the next 30 at 300). For all four installments, bake with the pan in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. After the first three installments are done, there should be about 1 1/2 cups of batter left, with 105 minutes of baking time reached at this point (25 minutes for each of the first two installments, and 55 for the third one). Now comes the fourth installment—carefully add the last of this batter on top of the pan's earlier installments, fully coating the entire surface. Next, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven, with the temperature remaining at 300 degrees. Resume baking for another 60 minutes. Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another 120 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate. The texture for this one was much better! It seemed hardly rubbery, so it looks like I used about the right amount of xanthan gum. However, I could still pick up a bit of crusty-like "snap" on the top surface, which I did not particularly want. I felt that I should further reduce the baking time for the last two installments in the future. I also was not sufficiently detecting the eggnog flavor. Maybe it was time to bring back the rum flavoring ("extract")—and the nutmeg as well. However, the crust was fine, cinnamon flavor and all. I served this cheesecake just a few days before Christmas in 2022 to my fellow associates at The Home Depot. It was gone in less than two hours.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 32:   The rum flavoring and nutmeg would be brought back in late January of 2023 for this one, and the baking time would be reduced.   Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (about 1 cup) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3 oz. graham crackers, ground up (if these are cinnamon-flavored, omit the cinnamon shown above) Place the resulting mixture into a greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 25 minutes, then remove from oven (cooling off is optional here). Batter: 16 oz. (about 2 cups) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 8 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese") 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon rum extract 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 cups light eggnog (such as Hood) 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs Expect close to 6 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once. Rather, this needs to be done in four installments. For each of the first three installments, gently scoop about 1 1/2 cups of batter into the pan, fully covering the surface (here's a tip—scoop small amounts of batter into scattered places throughout the pan, letting this batter fill in nearby gaps, and if any of these remain, use a rubber spatula and gently spread the batter to cover these gaps up), and then bake this pan with its contents for 25 minutes, at 325 degrees*. However, at the end of the third installment's 25 minutes, add on another 10 minutes of baking time, but only at 300 degrees (that's a 35 minute "baking installment"—the first 25 minutes at 325 degrees and the next 10 at 300). For all four installments, bake with the pan in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. * (The temperature for the first installment ended up unintentionally at 345 degrees. To compensate for this error, the temperature for the second installment was set to 315 degrees. See comments below for more details.) After the first three installments are done, there should be about 1 1/2 cups of batter left, with 85 minutes of baking time reached at this point (25 minutes for each of the first two installments, and 35 for the third one). Now comes the fourth installment—carefully add the last of this batter on top of the pan's earlier installments, fully coating the entire surface. Next, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven, with the temperature remaining at 300 degrees. Resume baking for another 50 minutes. Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another 120 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate. It was my original intent to bake the first two installments at 325 degrees. Because of the somewhat long time in the oven door being wide open in order to carefully insert the tub-and-pan assembly into the oven, I would turn the temperature up a little just before the insertion to help compensate for the heat loss. Immediately after this insertion, I would promptly turn the temperature back down to the intended setting. But I forgot to do this step for the first installment. So I cut the temperature to 315 degrees for the second installment as a reasonable compensation strategy. I resumed the temperature at 325 for the beginning of the third installment and continued the intended procedure for the rest of the baking process. The eggnog flavor had a decently notable appearance in this cheesecake. In fact, this flavor may have been a little more than what I wanted, relative to the cheese flavor itself (I have given thought about cutting the rum extract in half for the next time). I also felt that there was still some of the unwanted "snap" on the top surface. Perhaps I needed to reduce the xanthan gum (cut it to about 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon?), not the baking time (keep it the same at this point?), for the next prototype.   Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 33:   Cutbacks are made on this one for the rum extract, xanthan gum and final baking installment. Also, the crust's pre-bake time gets another 5 minutes.   Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (about 1 cup) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3 oz. graham crackers, ground up (if these are cinnamon-flavored, omit the cinnamon shown above) Place the resulting mixture into a greased 13" x 9" glass ("Pyrex") pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, then remove from oven (cooling off is optional here). Batter: 16 oz. (about 2 cups) whipped, lowfat cottage cheese 8 oz. softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese") 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon rum extract 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 cups light eggnog (such as Hood) 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs Expect close to 6 cups of the resulting batter, but do not add this to the pan all at once. Rather, this needs to be done in four installments. For each of the first three installments, gently scoop about 1 1/2 cups of batter into the pan, fully covering the surface (here's a tip—scoop small amounts of batter into scattered places throughout the pan, letting this batter fill in nearby gaps, and if any of these remain, use a rubber spatula and gently spread the batter to cover these gaps up), and then bake this pan with its contents for 25 minutes, at 325 degrees. However, at the end of the third installment's 25 minutes, add on another 10 minutes of baking time, but only at 300 degrees (that's a 35 minute "baking installment"—the first 25 minutes at 325 degrees and the next 10 at 300). For all four installments, bake with the pan in a tub filled with at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water. After the first three installments are done, there should be about 1 1/2 cups of batter left, with 85 minutes of baking time reached at this point (25 minutes for each of the first two installments, and 35 for the third one). Now comes the fourth installment—carefully add the last of this batter on top of the pan's earlier installments, fully coating the entire surface. Next, return the entire pan-and-tub assembly to the oven, with the temperature remaining at 300 degrees. Resume baking for another 40 minutes. Afterward, shut the oven off, and leave its door slightly ajar, with the cheesecake still inside—and in the tub—for an hour. Next, remove the cheesecake from the oven and tub. Continue to cool it down at room temperature for another 120 minutes, then (with cheesecake still in pan) refrigerate. The eggnog flavor (hopefully!) did not seem to be overwhelming this time. And the texture seemed to feel right as well, with no unpleasant "snap" detected on the top surface. I baked this one for Lesa's birthday.

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Additional Eggnog Notes HP Hood has been putting out some seasonal eggnog flavors, all of which I enjoyed, one way or another. Here are further details on how my taste buds reacted: Vanilla: Reminded me of melted vanilla ice cream, but I furthermore could not detect a distinct eggnog taste. Pumpkin: Nice pumpkin taste, reminding me of the pancakes I had made in the recent past by combining Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix with Hood Light EggNog. Sugar Cookie: Mild, sweet eggnog taste. Cinnamon: Very similar to regular-flavored eggnog. Gingerbread: Nice gingerbread taste, although I likely could not easily detect a distinct eggnog taste. Hood's Golden EggNog is its regular version. I personally prefer the Light EggNog, which has too little, if any, taste difference (at least that's my own reaction), compared to the full-fat version. I enjoy eggnog enough to wish for its year-round availability (it's the light version I really want), but I have had to settle mainly for the Christmas season. In 2009, I spotted it in a Market Basket store shortly after mid-October, picked up a quart of the Light EggNog, and quickly made up an eggnog pie—now that's a treat with a trick (due to this eggnog treat already being enjoyed before Halloween)! I also like Hood's ultra-pasteurization of its eggnog line because of my wishes to take advantage of the longer shelf life. Unfortunately, I have seen this only for Hood's quart-sized packages (its more economical half-gallons are only "regular"-pasteurized, according to my 2009 observations).

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Baked Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 1:   Time for another new baked cheesecake flavor! The prototype number starts at "1" here (just like with eggnog). I have decided to shun the crust for now, focusing on just the batter.   Batter: 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 6 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1/2 cup skim milk (it is a good idea to warm this up first, at least if it is being directly added to the butter or a mixture dominated by it) 15 tbsp. (i.e., 1 cup minus 1 tbsp.) granulated sugar (note—of this one, 1/2 cup of it is specific to the cheesecake base recipe, and the other 7 tablespoons are specific to the peanut butter flavor) 1/4 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added 2 eggs Blend all these ingredients together thoroughly, particularly the butter and eggs, then pour this batter into a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan. Promptly place in oven—preheated at 300 degrees—and bake for 90 minutes (or until cake tester comes out clean). Remove from oven, cool down to about room temperature, carefully remove from pan, and refrigerate.   Nice taste, great for a first prototype! This one got firm in the oven rather quickly.   Baked Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 2:   Here is a somewhat sweeter and easier recipe.   Repeat Prototype 1, but increase the granulated sugar by one tablespoon, to an easier-to-manage full cup. Bake for only 80 minutes, or until cake tester comes clean.   Still delicious!   Baked Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 3:   I felt that the peanut butter flavor in the previous prototype was on the strong side, at least when layering it with a baked chocolate cheesecake (perhaps Prototype 10.2 of that one?), so I considered reducing the flavor here (thus affecting the sugar as well as the peanut butter). Yet I still anticipated a decent peanut butter presence. Also, a crust has been added for this prototype. Furthermore, as I have been doing with a number of other cheesecakes lately, I cut the batter's salt in half.   Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 2 oz. unsalted peanut butter 4 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added 1/4 cup skim milk 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (last ingredient just before the Bran Buds) 2.2 oz. Bran Buds, ground up Batter: 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 4.5 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1/2 cup skim milk 5/6 cup (i.e., 1/2 + 1/3 cup) granulated sugar 1/4 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups whipped lowfat cottage cheese, no salt added 2 eggs Bake at 300 degrees for about 95 minutes (with tub immersion), or until cake tester comes clean.   Cooking this cheesecake in a "tub" of water produced nice results (see Baked Orange Cheesecake—Prototype 4 for more details on this successful "in-the-tub" approach). I felt that the crust's taste turned out well. However, when I brought this cheesecake to the Sports Page, Steve quickly commented that the peanut butter was too strong. But Lesa (a big peanut butter fan) loved it a lot. I myself felt that this flavor was still somewhat too dominant for the batter, in light of the fact that this was supposed to be a cheesecake as well as a peanut-butter-flavored treat.   Baked Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 4:   Peanut butter has got to be one of the strongest flavors that I have used in my cheesecake prototypes. With Prototype 4, this ingredient (as used in the batter) was down to half of what I started with back in Prototype 1!   Repeat Prototype 3, but reduce the batter's peanut butter by 1.5 ounces, to 3 ounces, and also reduce the batter's granulated sugar by 1/12 cup (i.e., 4 teaspoons) to 3/4 cup (i.e., 1/2 + 1/4 cup). Bake for about 100 minutes (with tub immersion), or until cake tester comes clean.   I was concerned about slashing the peanut butter for this prototype. No problem! The flavor was still plentiful (in fact, at least one person at my church, Living Hope, somehow commented about the peanut butter still being on the strong side). In fact, I still could hardly pick up the "cheese-i-ness" flavor in the cheesecake batter. But I still decided for now that the peanut butter flavor was reduced enough. Perhaps this particular flavor was rather a bit too tricky (maybe I needed to not focus so much on the "cheese" flavor, but rather on the texture of the batter). But this peanut butter cheesecake was absolutely delicious, including the crust. Perhaps when combined with my chocolate cheesecake, the reduced peanut butter flavor involved here would not overwhelm the chocolate.   Internal Tweaking Notes Peanut Butter: (A) 4 oz. :: (B) 3.5 oz. :: (C) 3oz.? Granulated Sugar: 1/2 cup plus (A) 5.333 tbsp. to 4.667 tbsp. :: (B) 4.667 tbsp. to 4.08333 (that's 4 + 1/12) tbsp. :: (C) 4 tbsp. to 3.5 tbsp.?   Baked Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 5:   It has been quite a while (probably about a few years) since I last made a peanut-butter-only cheesecake. From that time, I have done many refinements on other flavors. So the latest peanut butter prototype presented here features many changes. In particular, the batter is the same mixture as what was used in Prototype 6 of my chocolate peanut butter cheesecake.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage 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: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Pour this crust mixture into pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 4 tablespoons melted/softened butter (unsalted recommended) 8 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 40 oz. (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 4 eggs Pour on top of crust. Bake in tub at 300 degrees for 100 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub (right after doing so, add a border of peanut butter—or other flavor—chips around the cheesecake's top edge, if desired). Then continue to cool down at room temperature for another 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. This was a really delicious peanut butter dessert. The updated crust was very tasty with a decent amount of sweetness. And the batter was great as well. Nearly all the cheesecake was gone within about an hour at Living Hope Church on a Sunday in early December of 2014.

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Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 1:   Vermont was on my mind for this one. Shopping for maple sugar, unlike maple syrup, wasn't exactly an easy task, but I wanted a high enough concentration of maple flavor for this recipe, without using too much liquid (hence my preference for maple sugar over maple syrup). I was able to pick up some of this sugar at what seemed like a specialty store in the Green Mountain State.   Crust: 4 oz. whipped lowfat cottage cheese (such as Hood, no salt added) 1/4 cup maple sugar 1/4 cup skim milk Thoroughly blend these above 3 ingredients together. Afterward, quickly and vigorously mix in: 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Grease a springform pan, 9". For best results take the bath approach—wrap this pan up to the sides with foil, in order to suppress water leaks (heavy-duty aluminum is a good choice). Mix thoroughly together: 2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted 1/2 cup maple sugar Then blend in: 1 teaspoon lemon juice Then mix in: 2 cups (such as a 16-ounce container) of lowfat cottage cheese (such as Hood, no salt added)—whip this in a blender just until the curds no longer show, before adding to the above ingredients. Next add: 1/2 cup skim milk Follow up gradually with a dry combination of: 1/4 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt Completely mix all of the above ingredients used so far, then finally add: 2 eggs (last ingredient here)—aim to get these at least fully mixed in (yet without overbeating, if possible). Make sure that the oven is preheated to 300 degrees. If using the bath approach, have enough boiling hot water available, and fill a large "tub" with it and place this in the oven, close to halfway up. Pour the batter into the springform pan. Next, put this pan into the oven. If using the bath approach, place the springform pan immediately above the "tub" (not into it!). Bake for about 90 minutes. Afterward, take the springform pan out of the oven, and let the cheesecake cool off. After it has cooled down to about room temperature, carefully remove it from the pan, and refrigerate.   Nice presence of maple flavor for a first prototype, at least for the batter, although I felt that the crust could use more sweetness and flavor.   Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 2: Repeat Prototype 1, but boost the crust's maple sugar by 1/4 cup, to 1/2 cup.   The crust had a decent, maple taste this time.   Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 3:   A lot of time elapsed between this maple prototype and the one before it. So I decided to bring some things up to date. One of them was for more batter—but not more crust. Therefore the cottage cheese, maple sugar, lemon juice and flour would get boosted here. Another feature involved pre-baking the crust, due to it being very wet at the start. This is also the first maple prototype to be baked in the Frieling pan (nearly 9 1/2" big) that I received as a gift.   Crust: 1/2 cup (4 oz.) whipped lowfat cottage cheese 1/2 cup maple sugar 1/4 cup skim milk 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Pour this into pan and pre-bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then allow to cool to touch. Batter: 2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted 2/3 cup maple sugar 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice 2 1/4 cups (20 oz.) whipped lowfat cottage cheese 1/2 cup skim milk 1/3 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 eggs Pour batter on top of crust in pan, and bake in hot tub at 300 degrees for about 100 minutes (if using a pan almost 9 1/2 inches big). Cool off in pan afterward, then remove from pan, and refrigerate.   Still delicious—the taste reminded me of pancakes with maple syrup—and another terrific hit at Living Hope Church in Beverly.   Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 4:   This one's a Fall 2012 update, yogurt cheese, arrowroot and all.   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) 1/4 cup maple sugar 1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring 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 maple 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 maple flavoring 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.   This one had a great balance of maple flavor and "cheesey" taste with (at least what I have felt to be) the right amount of tartness! And it fared nicely at Living Hope. I also brought some of this cheesecake to Lesa and her dart team at Beverly's Italian Community Center, where it was well-received. Rick, from another ICC-based team, seemed to especially enjoy this dessert.   Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 5:   With this one, maple finally gets the double-size treatment for the first time—and also a few updates (reflecting what was recently done with other flavors such as pumpkin) for Fall 2013.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 2 pounds of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 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 (1 pint) of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese. Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 1/2 cup maple sugar 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Pour this crust mixture into pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 4 tablespoons melted or softened butter 1 1/4 cups maple sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 40 oz. (5 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons maple flavoring 4 eggs Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a tub at 300 degrees for 100 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I initially made this one with the intention of serving it at my church, Living Hope. But, due to the death and funeral of one of my relatives, I had to cancel my church plans. However, I got the idea of serving this cheesecake at a post-funeral meal which took place at my cousin Joanne's home. So I brought the cheesecake there, and my relatives and others ended up enjoying this cheesecake much more than I anticipated. A little more than 3/4 of it was gone by the time I left—that was even better than my "loaded" chocolate cheesecake (Prototype 17), which I brought to our annual cousins' summer reunion (at my cousin Robin's house) a few months ago, in the summer of 2013. I brought some of the leftover to darts. However, Steve (Lesa's friend) commented that this cheesecake was "too heavy" on the maple flavor. I personally felt that the taste had just the right balance. Maybe Steve had a far better ability than me to pick up the maple's presence. But perhaps this could also reflect individual preferences. I personally like a very generous amount of maple syrup on my pancakes, because I really want to pick up that maple flavor. However, others like Steve may prefer a very light amount. Anyway, I felt no real urge for the future to "tone down" the maple, which I tended to regard as a relatively mellow flavor. About a year later (October 2014 to be more specific), I made this prototype again and this time served it at Living Hope. The cheesecake was gone in about half an hour, among a somewhat small selection of snacks (but also with many women away on a church-related retreat).   Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 6:   Another flavor gets updated in the fall of 2015! This latest maple prototype is based upon my major cheesecake batter overhaul earlier that year.   3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG): Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 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 of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces of softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese"). Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1/2 cup maple sugar 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Place the resulting mixture in a greased 9 1/2" (or 9") pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 1/4 cups maple sugar 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons altogether) arrowroot 2 teaspoons maple flavoring 5 eggs Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a tub at 300 degrees for 110 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 110 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. This one had a nice maple-and-cheese taste to it. Well over 3/4 of it was gone within about an hour at Living Hope Church (the cheesecake was served among a modest selection of other snacks).   Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 7:   This one gets a 2017 update, featuring xanthan gum as a replacement for arrowroot. However, I also thought that I would try a little experiment involving another ingredient for this particular prototype. I added a sixth egg to the batter. One reason was to find out how this would affect the cheesecake's firmness and texture. Another reason was that, if 6 eggs worked out better than 5, this would be helpful in my buying eggs, which have been available for sale primarily in multiples of 6.   3-Cheese Blend (3CT-1NC-2YG): 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 24 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces of softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese"). Grease a 9 1/2" (or 9") springform pan, but do not wrap foil around it yet (see below). Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1/4 cup maple sugar (see comments below) 1/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 teaspoon maple flavoring 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Place the resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 1 1/4 cups maple sugar 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 2 teaspoons maple flavoring 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum 6 eggs Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the batter (to minimize the foil's disturbance and therefore its leakage risk, do not put it on any earlier). Next, carefully pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 90 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then shut off oven and cool cheesecake down while still in it (and in tub), with door slightly ajar, for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another two hours, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I was originally planning to use 1/2 cup of maple sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of maple flavoring—and no brown sugar—for the crust. But I ended up not having enough maple sugar on hand. What I had available barely amounted to 1 1/2 cups. And maple sugar was, as far as I knew, tough to come by in my area. I had typically bought it while traveling in Vermont (in recent years, I have been getting it in my cousin Rachel's hometown of Jericho, at End-O-Road Maple, whose owners I had more recently become friendly with, particularly Jennifer, whose daughter has been attending the same school with Rachel's son). So I settled for a little compromise with the crust, which included using an additional 1/4 teaspoon of maple flavoring to help compensate for the maple sugar reduction. Fortunately, no compromises were carried out on the batter, which would get a full 1 1/4 cups of maple sugar as I originally intended. This cheesecake was served in early October of 2017 (on the Sunday just before Columbus Day) at Living Hope Church, among a modest selection of snacks...and was wiped out in nearly 5 minutes! I could not remember an earlier treat from me being devoured this quickly. As for increasing the amount of eggs from five to six, the results were encouraging. This addition seemed to hardly affect the taste at all (which itself was great), but I felt that the texture and firmness have indeed improved. So I decided that my basic cheesecake batter plans would include the sixth egg from this point on. Not only would this make it easier for me when buying eggs, but I would not have to deal with splitting the contents of one egg when trying to evenly distribute an odd number of eggs between batters in cases of 2-flavor cheesecakes (such as Prototype 7 of my chocolate peanut butter cheesecakes). Furthermore, another idea has been on my mind lately, although I have never done this yet—but I have been contemplating it: 3-flavor cheesecakes!!! I would be able to easily split 6 eggs into 2 whole ones for each batter flavor, should I exercise this option in the future.   Baked Maple Cheesecake—Prototype 8:   It seems like it has been a very long time since I last baked a maple cheesecake. That would be about 7 years if I made the last one in 2017. So many changes have happened to my cheesecakes in general since then, and the latest updates for mid-2024 are reflected here (especially from Prototype 24 of my plain cheesecakes, which I made late last year; for my latest maple, however, I decided to give a try to cutting the baking time from 90 minutes to 85).   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") springform pan, but do not wrap foil around it yet (see below). Crust: 4 oz. melted, white chocolate 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1/2 cup maple sugar 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Place the resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 1 1/4 cups maple sugar 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 2 teaspoons maple flavoring 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 6 eggs Wrap the pan in foil just before adding the batter (to minimize the foil's disturbance and therefore its leakage risk, do not put it on any earlier). Or as an alternative to using foil, place this pan in an Easy Bath Cheesecake Wrap—and don't bother waiting for the pan to get comfortably cool to do so. Next, pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 85 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 120 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I served this one at a special event ("Koffee with Kenny", featuring our District Superintendent) in July 2024 at my church, Living Hope, where the cheesecake was nicely received. I also was content with how this cheesecake came out, in light of my baking it for only 85 minutes.

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Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 3:   Prototype 3?? Whatever happened to 1 and 2? Back in the late 1980's, I experimented with a number of cottage-cheese based cheesecakes, ultimately with a quest for a decent, chocolate one, among others (see Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototypes 10.1 and 11, for more info). I came up with a couple of somewhat unintended lemon-flavored ones along the way as I was aiming for a plain flavor. In fact, these lemon cheesecakes were my very first two cottage cheesecake prototypes, officially referred to as simply "Prototype 1" and "Prototype 2" (as opposed to "Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 1" or "Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 2"), at that time. No crust was involved back then. With my introducing the crust in this more recent 21st century recipe, perhaps I could have called this one "Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 2.1". However, due to my diminished interest in using this decimal-style notation (like I did for my first few 21st century baked chocolate cheesecakes)—combined with minor changes in the lemon batter from the late 1980's "Prototype 2" (e.g., salt reduction)—I decided to go with the number "3" here.   Crust: 1.5 oz. melted, white chocolate 1 tablespoon water 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 tablespoon grated lemon peel 1/4 cup granulated sugar 4 oz. lowfat cottage cheese, whipped (such as Hood, no salt added) Fully blend the above ingredients before adding: 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Blend the Bran Buds into the above mixture as fast and "furiously" as possible and then pour quickly into a greased, 9" springform pan. Mix thoroughly together: 2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted 1/2 cup granulated sugar Then blend in: 1 tablespoon lemon juice Then mix in: 2 cups (such as a 16-ounce container) of lowfat cottage cheese (such as Hood, no salt added)—whip this in a blender just until the curds no longer show, before adding to the above ingredients. Next add: 1/2 cup skim milk Follow up gradually with a dry combination of: 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel 1/4 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt Completely mix all of the above ingredients used so far, then finally add: 2 eggs (last ingredient here)—aim to get these at least fully mixed in (yet without overbeating, if possible). Make sure that the oven is preheated to 300 degrees. If using the bath approach, have enough boiling hot water available, and fill a large "tub" with it and place this in the oven, close to halfway up. Pour the batter into the springform pan. Next, put this pan into the oven. If using the bath approach, place the springform pan immediately above the "tub". Bake for about 90 minutes. Afterward, take the springform pan out of the oven, and let the cheesecake cool off. After it has cooled down to about room temperature, carefully remove it from the pan, and refrigerate.   Nice lemon flavor, even in the crust. When I brought this cheesecake to the Sports Page, inasmuch as this recipe was lemon-flavored, its popularity rating was "un-lemon"—in other words, it was a huge success (Steve was wild about it, and even Lesa liked it a lot)!   Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 4:   This one is based to a large degree on Baked Orange Cheesecake—Prototype 5, but the lemon ingredients are measured differently here, and minor adjustments are made to the sugar.   Yogurt Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 3 pounds of yogurt cheese, derived from three 32-ounce containers of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 48 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 1 tablespoon lemon juice (tip: microwave this juice a little, then add it directly to the melted white chocolate, and mix thoroughly) 8 oz. (1 cup) yogurt cheese (see above) 1/3 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Gently pour this crust mixture into bottom of pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 4 tablespoons melted or softened butter 1 3/8 cups granulated sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 40 oz. (5 cups) yogurt cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a tub at 300 degrees for 100 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. This one was a great Labor Day Weekend success at Living Hope. Nearly the entire cheesecake was gone within about half an hour. The taste was already great, but I had some kind of feeling that perhaps a little more sweetness could be used to bring out a "brighter" lemon flavor. Maybe I could have used a tiny amount more lemon juice as well, but I had to keep in mind that this was a cheesecake too, not just a lemon dessert.   Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 5: Repeat Prototype 4, but make this change for the batter: Boost the granulated sugar by 1 tablespoon, to 1 7/16 cups (1 3/8 cups + 1 tablespoon).   My tongue was easily able to "feel" the tartness with this one, and the taste had a hopefully sufficient cheese flavor to it. But for some reason, I wanted to pick up more sweetness—and a little livelier lemon. Maybe that was just me. I served this cheesecake at a pastor appreciation meal, at Living Hope Church. The primary dessert emphasis was on ice cream (somewhat like a "social"), with so many kinds—and plenty of toppings to choose from. Maybe that's at least one reason why only about 2/3 of my lemon cheesecake got eaten (I took home whatever was left). Another factor may have been related to the time of year (a summer-oriented flavor served in November).   Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 6:   In an effort to better enhance the lemon flavor, I increased the sugar and lemon juice for this cheesecake. The question especially was how much sugar? I ended up considering Prototype 18 of my chocolate cheesecake as a reference. The batter of that one included 6 tablespoons of cocoa powder. In an effort to correspond this to the lemon cheesecake, I would start off by bringing the lemon juice to 3 tablespoons. I have somehow felt that 2 teaspoons of lemon peel, in its own right, would be a reasonable equivalent of 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Thus, in adding this peel to the initial 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, the result would be a 6-tablespoon lemon juice equivalency (and still a decent juice/peel combination), whose strength was, according to a strong guess on my part, hopefully close enough to that of the cocoa powder. Since the chocolate cheesecake's batter called for 1 3/4 cups of sugar, I contemplated going with that same amount for the lemon as well. But I had also given thought to some other research efforts (including considerations that, given a measure of lemon juice or cocoa powder, the ideal amount of sugar called for was not necessarily the same for both flavors) that lead to the idea of using as little as 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Ultimately, I arrived at 1 5/8 cups as a reasonable compromise.   Yogurt Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 3 pounds of yogurt cheese, derived from three 32-ounce containers of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 48 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 1 tablespoon lemon juice (tip: heat up or microwave this juice a little, then add it directly to the melted white chocolate, and mix thoroughly) 8 oz. (1 cup) yogurt cheese (see above) 1/3 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Place this crust mixture into bottom of pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 4 tablespoons melted or softened butter 1 5/8 cups granulated sugar 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 40 oz. (5 cups) yogurt cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a tub at 300 degrees for 100 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. I made this cheesecake especially for my cousin in Vermont, Rachel, who enjoyed it, as well as others in her house. And I felt that this prototype had a decent lemon taste to it.   Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 7:   It seemed like more than two years have passed since I last updated my lemon prototypes. The latest lemon presented here in mid-2016—which makes this flavor a great summer choice—reflects my major cheesecake overhaul of 2015.   3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG): Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 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 of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces of softened Neufchatel cheese ("light cream cheese"). Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 1 tablespoon lemon juice (tip: heat up or microwave this juice a little, then add it directly to the melted white chocolate, and mix thoroughly) 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1/3 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Place the resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 1 5/8 cups granulated sugar 40 oz. (5 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (5 tablespoons altogether) arrowroot 5 eggs Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a tub at 300 degrees for 120 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 120 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. This one was served at Living Hope Church and was gone in probably about half an hour. It was sort of a struggle for me to detect a good lemon presence in the batter (but the crust was fine).

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Baked Orange Cheesecake—Prototype 3:   Another 21st century cheesecake with a "Prototype 3" start?? Yes, for the same reasons as its lemon counterpart (see Baked Lemon Cheesecake—Prototype 3, for more details). Just like the lemon cheesecakes I made back in the late 1980's, I made two orange ones as well. No crust was involved. However, I did make these two cheesecakes with orange flavor intentions. The salt usage for the batter of both of them was higher compared to that of this more recent 21st century recipe below.   Crust: 1.5 oz. melted, white chocolate 3 tablespoons orange juice 1/2 tablespoon grated orange peel 3 tablespoons sugar 4 oz. lowfat cottage cheese, whipped (such as Hood, no salt added) Fully blend the above ingredients before adding: 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Blend the Bran Buds into the above mixture as quickly as possible and then pour quickly into a greased springform pan, 9". Mix thoroughly together: 2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted 1/2 cup sugar Then blend in: 1/4 cup orange juice Then mix in: 2 cups (such as a 16-ounce container) of lowfat cottage cheese (such as Hood, no salt added)—whip this in a blender just until the curds no longer show, before adding to the above ingredients. Next add: 1/2 cup skim milk Follow up gradually with a dry combination of: 1 teaspoon grated orange peel 1/4 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt Completely mix all of the above ingredients used so far, then finally add: 2 eggs (last ingredient here)—aim to get these at least fully mixed in (yet without overbeating, if possible). Make sure that the oven is preheated to 300 degrees. If using the bath approach, have enough boiling hot water available, and fill a large "tub" with it and place this in the oven, close to halfway up. Pour the batter into the springform pan. Next, put this pan into the oven. If using the bath approach, place the springform pan immediately above the "tub". Bake for about 90 minutes. Afterward, take the springform pan out of the oven, and let the cheesecake cool off. After it has cooled down to about room temperature, carefully remove it from the pan, and refrigerate.   The Living Hope Church in Beverly was my "taste lab" for this one on an Easter Sunday. I asked a number of people who tasted this prototype about how much orange flavor they could detect. A typical response was that this flavor was somehow adequate. However, I personally sensed that the orange was still a bit weak. I could barely taste it in the batter, although it was slightly more present in the crust. I also felt that the crust should be a little sweeter.   Baked Orange Cheesecake—Prototype 4: Repeat Prototype 3, but... Make these changes for the crust: Boost white chocolate by 1/2 oz., to 2 oz. Boost orange juice by 1 tablespoon, to 1/4 cup. Boost sugar by 1 tablespoon, to 1/4 cup. And make this change for the batter: Boost grated orange peel by 1 teaspoon, to 2 teaspoons.   This time, I was considerably more satisfied with the orange flavor, in both the batter and the crust. This cheesecake was a terrific hit at the Sports Page when I brought it there, just like the third prototype of its lemon counterpart. With this fourth orange prototype, I felt that I would go back to giving the "in-the-tub" (as opposed to "above-the-tub") approach another try. Inasmuch as baking the cheesecake above the water produced results that were okay, I still felt that this method wasn't quite the same as placing the pan directly into the water. But this time I took two defensive measures against water leakage. One was to use two pieces of heavy duty foil, instead of one. The other was to "disturb" the foil as little as possible. That meant taking the two pieces of foil, placing one on top of the other, keeping them flat, and not wrapping the pan until it was ready to go into the oven. So I carefully put the foil on immediately after pouring the batter, gently pressing the foil up the sides of the pan, then I put the wrapped pan into the "tub", which was promptly placed into the oven. The outcome was an awesome cheesecake with no water leaks. I think one of my past mistakes was "disturbing" the foil too much, likely in wrapping the pan even before I greased it. Pressing the crust into it would add to the potential disturbance. From what I best recall in my Internet research, somebody reported triple-wrapping a cheesecake pan and still had leakage problems. My guess: too much disturbance of the foil before baking. The moral of the story—"Do not disturb!" Adhere to this rule as much as possible with the foil, until the baking is done and the pan is taken out of the water. Grease the pan, press in the crust and pour the batter first. Afterward, wrap the pan carefully, then place it into the "tub" and bake.   Baked Orange Cheesecake—Prototype 5:   It was probably about a couple of years since I last made an orange cheesecake. The latest one presented here gets a major update, particularly with yogurt cheese, and a size upgrade. This cheesecake is also the first one for which I used regular All-Bran, rather than Bran Buds (click here for more information on this change).   Yogurt Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 3 pounds of yogurt cheese, derived from three 32-ounce containers of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 48 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. Crust: 2 oz. melted, white chocolate 1/4 cup orange juice (tip: microwave this juice a little, then add it directly to the melted white chocolate, and mix thoroughly) 8 oz. (1 cup) yogurt cheese (see above) 5 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons grated orange peel 2 oz. All-Bran, ground up Gently pour this crust mixture into bottom of pan (9 to 9 1/2 inches) and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Batter: 4 tablespoons melted or softened butter 1 1/3 cups sugar 1/2 cup orange juice 4 teaspoons grated orange peel 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons arrowroot 40 oz. (5 cups) yogurt cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons vanilla 4 eggs Pour the batter over the crust and bake this cheesecake in a tub at 300 degrees for 100 minutes (if using a 9 1/2" pan). Then cool the cheesecake down while still in oven (with this oven shut off) and in tub with door slightly ajar for an hour. Afterwards, remove from oven and tub and continue to cool down at room temperature for another 100 minutes, then remove from pan and refrigerate. The art of breaking an egg has been an elusive skill to me. Sometimes the breaking turns out nicely. Sometimes it's not all that great. Many times I have had to draw out egg shell pieces. But for this cheesecake, I broke one of the eggs so badly that I lost much of its white. I cracked it likely too harshly, with a butter knife. Nevertheless, this did not stop the cheesecake from coming out firm enough, so the egg white's loss hopefully did not amount to an awful lot. I picked up a decent orange taste in this prototype. The crust, in particular, had a nice zing to it. This "rise and shine" cheesecake went over well at a Living Hope Father's Day (2013) brunch. Many other items were served (including shoo-fly pie!), and there was about a fourth of the cheesecake remaining when the leftover foods were retrieved into the kitchen. But by the time I got my springform pan bottom—which also functioned as a serving dish—back (probably about a half hour later), I was informed about the last slices being taken. So I had none to take back home.

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Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 1:   I felt that at some point, I would make a combination cheesecake involving two popular flavors—chocolate and peanut butter. Due to my not recording this prototype here until long after I had made it, I cannot fully remember all the details. However, my best guess is that I built this cheesecake based on the batters of Prototype 10.2 of my chocolate cheesecakes and Prototype 1 or 2 (more likely 2) of my peanut butter cheesecakes, combined with the crust of Prototype 10.2 of my chocolate cheesecakes. Furthermore, this crust was not baked. It was prepared and then topped by the baked peanut butter batter layer, followed in turn by the baked chocolate batter layer.   (No tub used at all in baking the batter layers.) Many people, including myself, felt that the peanut butter flavor overwhelmed the chocolate. However, this cheesecake was still delicious.   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 2:   It had been more than half of a year since I made Prototype 1. Since then, I had done many refinements to the "chocolate only" and "peanut butter only" cheesecakes. It was now time to try another "Resse's" prototype. I built this one based on my latest recipes at this point, Prototype 12 of my chocolate cheesecakes and Prototype 4 of my peanut butter cheesecakes. However, I felt moved to include more cheese-like flavor. So not only did I increase the cottage cheese for the two batters (by 4 ounces for each batter), but I added some lemon juice as well (1 teaspoon for each batter) for some tartness. In light of this "liquid" increase, I also boosted the flour (from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup for each batter). I did not increase the sugar, because I felt that the batters of the aforementioned cheesecakes were easily sweet enough. Another thing worth noting is that—thanks to my chocolate crust refinements—the crust, this time, was baked as well. Three 16-ounce containers of cottage cheese were used in this entire recipe!   Use a tub when baking. Chocolate Batter: 1/2 cup skim milk 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 7/8 cup sugar 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/3 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped (no-salt-added recommended) 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs Place this batter into a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan, and bake at 300 degrees (batter only, no crust), for about 100 minutes (or until cake tester comes out clean). Cool down, and remove from pan. Chocolate Crust (bake this one together with the peanut butter batter, below): 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 1 1/3 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 cup (8 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped (no-salt-added recommended) 3/8 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here) 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Promptly pour/press this crust mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan. Peanut Butter Batter: 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 3 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 cup skim milk 3/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped (no-salt-added recommended) 2 eggs Add this batter on top of the chocolate crust in the pan, and bake at 300 degrees (batter only, no crust), for about 100 minutes (or until cake tester comes out clean). After removing the pan from the oven, very carefully transfer the cooled chocolate batter layer into the pan, on top of the peanut butter layer. Then cool down, and afterwards remove entire cheesecake from pan.   It's a frustratingly hard art to place a (cooled-off) whole batter layer on top of another one that is sitting in a hot pan! Somehow, I made out alright in my previous chocolate-peanut-butter prototype. But not this time! The chocolate batter layer broke on me during the insertion, and I had to make the best of re-assembling it inside the still-hot pan. So I got cheesecake cracked in about 5 places as a result (at least this hopefully would not affect the overall flavor, just the appearance). So why not just bake both batters in the same pan at the same time? Because I had unfavorable experiences with this kind of arrangement back in the 1980's—from a couple of flavored batters combining to my dissatisfaction—to difficulties in getting the cheesecake to cook thoroughly. I somehow felt that the peanut butter flavor was now too weak in comparison with the chocolate. I also felt that the chocolate flavor was somewhat "sickly sweet" (or too sweet). There was hopefully some tartness, at least in the peanut butter batter, but I wanted more—in both batters. Despite my personal assessments, this cheesecake went over very well at Living Hope Church, and I got quite a few favorable comments.   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 3 (introduction):   Okay, it was time to look around on the Internet for some helpful advice in preparing multi-layered cheesecakes! I also took a good look at what I did back in the 1980's. This has led to my giving another try at baking both batter flavors together. I also felt that my taste buds had gotten rather "moody" over (in the sense of being too sensitive to) the chocolate sweetness in the previous prototype. But I also felt that more tartness was needed (which I felt would eliminate a need for sugar reduction). So I decided to increase the lemon juice in both batters. I slightly increased the flour with the hope that this now thickly-baked cheesecake would still come out firm enough. Finally, I raised the peanut butter back up a little bit. Up to this point (from what I best recall), I had always been baking my cheesecake prototypes at 300 degrees. This latest prototype would get off to a 325-degree start, then revert to 300.   Repeat Prototype 2, but... Make these changes for each of the two batters: Boost lemon juice by 2 teaspoons, to 1 tablespoon. Boost flour by 2 teaspoons, to 3/8 cup. And make this change for the peanut butter batter only: Boost peanut butter by 1 oz., to 4 oz. And carefully follow these steps below, many of which are new: Pour/press the crust mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan. Next, add the chocolate (not peanut butter!) batter on top of this crust. Then carefully wrap foil around this pan. Next, place this pan into a tub of boiling hot water, and put this into an oven, preheated to 325 degrees (not 300 at this point). Bake this only for about 30 minutes. Now comes the tricky part! WARNING: Use plenty of caution at this point, due to the pan being very hot! Carefully place the peanut butter batter on top of the chocolate one. How?? Instead of dumping the whole thing all at once on the chocolate, try this delicate approach. Start off by scooping small amounts of the peanut butter batter out of its bowl (or whatever container is being used). A small measuring cup (1/2-cup size is good) or ladle is useful here. Pour these small amounts around the edge of the pan, not the middle (but rather allow the batter to flow there on its own, if possible). This should reduce the likelihood of the peanut butter batter breaching the chocolate one. When the bowl of the peanut butter batter is almost empty, it is probably safe to more directly dump the rest of this right onto what just got poured, which itself should be deep enough by then. Still, it is a good idea to do this gently enough to avoid the chocolate breach. Next, reduce the temperature to 300 degrees, and return the pan to the oven. Resume baking for about 80 minutes (or until cake tester comes out clean). The usage of the oven isn't done yet! Now, turn off the oven, but keep the cheesecake in it (along with its tub), with the oven's door slightly ajar. Allow one hour for this gradual cooldown. Afterwards, take the cheesecake out of the oven and out of the tub, but keep the cheesecake in its 9" pan. Next, cool the cheesecake off, at room temperature, for another two hours. Finally, remove it from its pan and refrigerate.   So what was this thick cheesecake like when I finally removed it from the pan? The peanut butter layer was easily firm, but the chocolate one was somewhat "jiggly". The cake tester at this point showed mixed results—some of them clean, others just slightly wet. But after more than 24 hours of refrigeration, I did not detect any jiggle in the chocolate layer. Then I cut the first slice, and the whole cheesecake was firm enough. Not only did I get a bunch of favorable comments at Living Hope Church on this one (including "not too tart, not too sweet"), but the cheesecake's side appearance in particular was awesome (the whole thing seemed to look, at least to me, "professionally done"—look out, Cheesecake Factory)! This prototype was so successful that I repeated it a second time, but I made a minor adjustment: Give the chocolate an additional 10 minutes for its baking head start. In other words, in the earlier phase of baking the chocolate batter and crust at 325 degrees, do so for 40 minutes, instead of just 30. I figured that this would give some more firmness to the chocolate batter. With the peanut-butter-related phase—at 300 degrees—unchanged, the total baking time would now amount to two solid hours. Combined with the one-hour cooling inside the oven and the two hours of cooldown outside of it, all this would amount to 5 hours altogether for the "pan heat" phases! Of course, scooping the peanut butter batter onto the chocolate one was going to add some time as well. But this time, the chocolate batter did not seem to jiggle as much as before. Although there was still some jiggle, the refrigeration that followed would sufficiently reduce it. Due to the aforementioned 10-minute adjustment being the only change, and this being but an extremely simple correction, I retained the prototype number, 3 (there were certainly no changes to the ingredients). I brought this masterpiece to my annual family reunion party in July of 2011. One of my relatives, Jodi, used the word "professional" (or some form of this word) in assessing my cheesecake. I'd have to agree on that one. This same word had been on my mind beforehand (probably because of the "tub"). This prototype was well-received at this event. Of all the culinary efforts that I have undertaken up to this point in my life, I consider this recipe to be one of my best ones yet (if not the best). It's also one of my most time-consuming ones. In light of all this, I felt that I would present this latest chocolate peanut butter cheesecake's recipe in full, below.   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 3 (full recipe presentation): For the cottage cheese, no-salt-added is recommended. Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 1 1/3 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 cup (8 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped 3/8 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla (next to last ingredient here) 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Promptly pour/press this crust mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered 9" cheesecake pan. Chocolate Batter: 1/2 cup skim milk 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 7/8 cup sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3/8 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs Pour this chocolate batter on top of the crust. Carefully wrap foil around the pan afterwards. Remember to not put the foil on any earlier than this! The goal is to disturb it as little as possible, as a preventative measure against water leakage. Then place the wrapped pan into a tub of boiling hot water, and bake all this at 325 degrees (make sure oven is preheated) for about 40 minutes only. Peanut Butter Batter: 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/2 cup skim milk 3/4 cup sugar 3/8 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups (20 oz.) lowfat cottage cheese, whipped 2 eggs After the initial baking is done with the chocolate crust and batter, carefully place the peanut butter batter on top by scooping small amounts of it around the edge of the pan (try to let this batter flow towards the middle on its own), in order to minimize the likelihood of breaching the chocolate batter below. Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees, and resume baking for about 80 minutes. Afterwards, turn the oven off, but keep the cheesecake in it (along with its tub), with the door slightly ajar. Allow one hour for this gradual cooldown. Next, take the cheesecake out of the oven and out of the tub, but keep the cheesecake in its 9" pan. Cool the cheesecake off, at room temperature, for another two hours. Finally, remove it from its pan and refrigerate.   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 4:   Seemed like over a year had passed since I last baked Prototype 3. Since then I got a roughly 9 1/2" size Frieling springform pan, which would finally get its multiple-cheesecake-flavor-layer debut with the latest prototype here—after many single-layered uses. But would this pan be tall enough for this double-layered attempt? I trusted that it would. Other new developments coming into Prototype 4 would include yogurt cheese and other changes associated with it (see the baked plain cheesecakes for more info).   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese. Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 1 1/3 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/8 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2.2 oz. finely ground Bran Buds Place resulting mixture in 9 1/2" (or 9") pan. Chocolate Batter: 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 7/8 cup sugar 1/4 cup flour, all-purpose 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. Wrap pan in foil and place in tub. Bake all this at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes. Peanut Butter Batter: 2 tablespoons melted or softened butter 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup flour, all-purpose 1/4 teaspoon salt 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 eggs Carefully scoop this on top of the chocolate batter and return to oven, this time at only 300 degrees. Bake for about 60 more minutes. Turn oven off, leaving cheesecake in it (still in tub as well), with the door slightly ajar, for another 50 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven and tub and let cool in its pan at room temperature for another 100 minutes. As an option, immediately after removal from oven, decorate this cheesecake with chocolate chips (or peanut butter cup candies such as miniature size cups or broken pieces of larger cups) around its edge. Afterwards, remove cheesecake from pan and refrigerate. The 9 1/2" Frieling worked out nicely in regard to having enough capacity for the two layers (and, of course, the crust). My memory made a minor mistake along the way. When I began baking the chocolate batter, I had the oven's temperature set at 350 degrees. It wasn't until about 10 minutes into the baking that I realized that this setting was incorrect. So to compensate for this 25-degree error, I quickly dropped the temperature down to 300 for the next 10 minutes. After that, I raised the temperature to a rightful 325 degrees for the remaining 20 minutes of the chocolate layer phase (fortunately, I remembered to resume baking at 300 after adding the peanut butter batter on top). I brought this cheesecake to the homes of two of my cousins, Joanne and Lauren, on Rosh HaShanah 5773, and I got a number of happy compliments. In particular, when I was at Joanne's, a number of cousins there not only expressed a great appreciation for my latest work, but they particularly liked this one better than the chocolate-only cheesecake that I served a few weeks back during a cousins reunion at my brother Eric's place in Tahoe (see Baked Chocolate Cheesecake—Prototype 14, for more details). This was somewhat expected, because I myself thought that the one in Tahoe was somewhat too tart. Only yogurt cheese was used for that one—no cottage cheese at all. But I also felt that the California yogurt used there did not strain well either. At least one guest at Joanne's suggested altitude as a factor (the elevation at Tahoe being somewhere around 6000 feet). As for my more recent, made-in-Massachusetts, chocolate peanut butter combo presented here, I felt that the taste certainly was not too tart. The flavor, in my opinion, was decent, with a hopeful balance of chocolate, peanut butter and "cheese". The tartness seemed to be just about right. Maybe the Market Basket brand simply worked better. Could it be the cultures? Let's take a look at the ingredient list for Market Basket Nonfat Yogurt: Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Nonfat Milk and Nonfat Milk Solids. Contains Active Yogurt Cultures including L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus, Bifidus, L. Acidophilus and L. Casei. Market Basket (aka "DeMoulas"): The store where you always get "More for Your Dollar" (and more for your cheesecake!)—I, and many of my cousins, really like this supermarket. Sorry, no formal web site for this store. Looks like it wants to keep things simple (and that reduces the costs). No loyalty card to drag around (hooray!), and (aside from grand opening celebrations) one edition of its weekly sale flyer for the whole chain (what is advertised on sale at a given price at one store is on sale at the same price at all the other 65+ locations—none of this narrow-segmented, prices-effective-only-in-such-and-such-city annoyance). But if you are starving for Market Basket on the Internet, may I suggest a great fan site? MyDemoulas.com (aka MyDemoulas.net)—check it out! I would estimate that more than 50% of the ingredients, at least by weight, of what I have been using altogether in my cheesecakes (and in my entire recipe scrapbook) are purchased from Market Basket. I also like Trader Joe's, another major ingredient contributor to my cheesecakes. This store is very big on natural and organic foods at decent prices, leading me to consider it the "Market Basket of natural food stores", at least with respect to pricing. I froze what was left of this latest chocolate peanut butter cheesecake (about a quarter of it) not long after Rosh HaShanah. Probably close to one and a half weeks passed afterward, before I thawed it out and brought it to a darts event where Steve and Lesa were playing. Steve enthusiastically raved about this prototype. When I pointed out the border of chocolate chips, he was impressed that I was getting "fancy schmancy" (his words) with my creation. Lesa enjoyed my cheesecake as well. She also told me that her cats had somehow snatched some of the leftover eggnog cheesecake that I made for her a number of weeks back (see Baked Eggnog Cheesecake—Prototype 16 for more info). Inasmuch as I was informed by her about lactose in dairy products not quite being feline-friendly, it was interesting to know that the results of my cheesecake efforts had somehow become "the cat's meow".   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 5:   This one is essentially an arrowroot update.   Repeat Prototype 4, but make these changes for each of the two batters: Cut the all-purpose flour in half (i.e., reduce the flour by 2 tablespoons, to only 2 tablespoons). Add 1 1/3 tablespoons of arrowroot. Remember, this is for each batter (i.e., the chocolate gets 1 1/3 tablespoons of this "new" ingredient, and the peanut butter also gets 1 1/3 tablespoons of it—so altogether for both batters, a total of 2 2/3 tablespoons of arrowroot is directly replacing 4 of the flour's tablespoons, while the other 4 tablespoons of this "older" ingredient are retained)! To summarize these updates... Chocolate Batter: 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/3 tablespoons arrowroot Peanut Butter Batter: 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/3 tablespoons arrowroot   This was probably the first chocolate peanut butter cheesecake that I brought to Living Hope in more than one and a half years (and the very first cheesecake—regardless of flavor—with a decorative border of chocolate chips that I ever brought there). The dessert was served at one of the church's lunches and fared nicely. Pastor Kim (the senior pastor himself) personally enjoyed it. Gaynell could not resist this one. Unfortunately, she could not stay for the meal. So I cut and served, in advance, the first slice to her, and that cheered her up. Another person, who I think was able to stay for lunch, got an advance slice for herself before this meal began. I guess she wanted to ensure against missing out on this attractive-looking cheesecake.   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 6:   For my visit to California around Thanksgiving of 2013, I asked my relatives there to select a cheesecake flavor/variety for me to make for them during my time with them. That choice has led to this latest prototype.   2-to-1 Blend of Yogurt Cheese and Cottage Cheese: Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 ounces, add back enough of the whey (that was strained out from the yogurt) to make up the difference. To this yogurt cheese combine one 16-ounce container of whipped, lowfat cottage 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 3/8 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 oz. finely ground All-Bran Place resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 2 tablespoons melted/softened butter (unsalted recommended) 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 7/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs 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 40 minutes. Afterwards, take the tub-and-pan assembly out of the oven and promptly add the batter indicated below. Peanut Butter Batter: 2 tablespoons melted/softened butter (unsalted recommended) 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 2-to-1 blend of yogurt cheese and cottage cheese (see above) 2 eggs Carefully scoop this on top of the chocolate batter (it is best to do this around the edge of the pan and let the peanut butter batter flow towards the middle) and return the tub-and-pan assembly to the oven, this time at only 300 degrees. Bake for about 60 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 100 minutes. As an option, immediately after removal from the oven, decorate this cheesecake with chocolate chips (or peanut butter cup candies such as miniature size cups or broken pieces of larger cups) around its edge. After cooling down at room temperature, remove the cheesecake from its pan and refrigerate. This dessert was well received by my extended family in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay area. I made this cheesecake at my brother Eric's house in this part of California and served it among the desserts at our Thanksgiving dinner there. Due to my being in that part of the country, I had to find different dairy products that would "fit the bill" for my recipe. Back home in the Boston area, I would normally use Market Basket nonfat yogurt and Hood no-salt-added lowfat cottage cheese. I ended up settling for a regular-salted cottage cheese, because I could not find a no-salt-added version. Of greater concern, I struggled when looking for a trustworthy (particularly without added thickeners), plain, nonfat yogurt. But I ultimately managed to locate one that satisfied my shopping criteria. This yogurt was organic, and the brand was Nancy's, a product of Springfield Creamery of Eugene, Oregon. It ended up straining "okay" over a period of probably about 40 hours (and I did not find the taste to be excessively tart like a chocolate cheesecake—Prototype 14 on that one—that I made about 15 months earlier, at my brother's Tahoe house). In late May of 2015 I repeated Prototype 6, this time using the usual Market Basket yogurt and Hood cottage cheese—and adding an inner border of peanut butter chips inside a semi-sweet chocolate one! Both kinds of chips were from Trader Joe's. This serious masterpiece was not only a work of my "Home Depot cooking" due to my preparing this cheesecake with a new oven that I recently purchased from this store, but also because I baked this dessert for the Memorial Day cookout taking place there—for my fellow associates to enjoy. Depot-licious!   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 7:   This prototype, prepared in September of 2016, was very likely my very first two-flavor-layer cheesecake made since my major cheesecake batter overhaul that I had done about a year earlier. A particular challenge with this latest chocolate-peanut-butter combo was to divide an egg evenly—not separate the white and yolk, but rather divide the already-blended, white-and-yolk mixture into two halves. This was due to the total "basic" batter (which itself was being prepared in two halves) calling for an odd number of eggs.   3-Cheese Blend (1CT-1NC-4YG): Prepare ahead of time 32 ounces of yogurt cheese, derived from two 32-ounce containers (that's 64 ounces altogether) of nonfat yogurt. If the resulting yogurt cheese falls below 32 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 of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 teaspoon vanilla 7/8 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 2 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot 2 1/2 eggs * 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 40 minutes. Afterwards, take the tub-and-pan assembly out of the oven and promptly add the batter indicated below. Peanut Butter Batter: 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 2 1/2 tablespoons arrowroot 2 1/2 eggs * Carefully scoop this on top of the chocolate batter (it is best to do this around the edge of the pan and let the peanut butter batter flow towards the middle) and return the tub-and-pan assembly to the oven, this time at only 300 degrees. Bake for about 65-70 (but see comments below) 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 105-110 minutes. As an option, immediately after removal from the oven, decorate this cheesecake with chocolate and/or peanut butter chips (or peanut butter cup candies such as miniature size cups or broken pieces of larger cups) around its edge. After cooling down at room temperature, remove the cheesecake from its pan and refrigerate. * For more information on half-egg usage, see "Measuring Half Of An Egg" in Cheesecake Tips. I initially planned to do the second installment of baking (i.e., after adding the peanut butter batter on top of the chocolate one) at 60 minutes, and perhaps this could have been sufficient, but I added another 10 minutes as extra insurance for a decently firm outcome (I tacked on an additional 10 minutes to the initially-planned, 100-minute, room-cooling time as well). I made this cheesecake in Pastor Kim's honor. The flavor was selected by this leader of Living Hope Church, where I had been serving many of my cheesecakes over the last few years leading up to this point. I served this latest one there as well, alongside a modest selection of other sweets brought by others. The cheesecake was over 80% gone by the time I took the rest home. Less than a month later, as the new Jewish year, 5777, arrived, I repeated this prototype (maybe I should have referred to this one as "Prototype 5777"—emphasize the 7's), but this time, the outer border of chips were milk chocolate (more in keeping with the classic Reese's Peanut Butter Cup tradition), as opposed to semi-sweet (which I used on the previous cheesecake). The inner border of chips remained peanut butter. Yum! I also reduced the second installment of baking time to 65 minutes and the room temperature cooling time to 105 minutes. I still had no problems with a lack of firmness. I brought this sweet treat to my cousin Joanne and Jerry's house for Rosh HaShanah, where it fared nicely for a small party (I brought the rest—a little under half left over—home).   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 8:   This prototype, prepared in September of 2018, was very likely my very first two-flavor-layer cheesecake made since my major cheesecake batter overhaul that I had carried out during 2017. A particularly beneficial change was in the number of eggs, going from odd to even, but this time that would be upped to 6. As a result, I would no longer have to deal with evenly dividing an egg (both its white and yolk combined) in half.   3-Cheese Blend (3CT-1NC-2YG): 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 24 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate Crust: 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar * 2 tablespoons cocoa powder * 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 oz. finely ground All-Bran * (unintentionally omitted in the September 2018 instance—see comments below for more details) Place the resulting mixture in the greased pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes, depending on the mixture's thickness (closer to 10 minutes if thin enough to be fully distributed across the pan's bottom by gentle shaking, closer to 5 minutes if thick enough to require spreading out this mixture by pressing on it with a utensil and/or fingers), then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 7/8 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs 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 batter indicated below. Peanut Butter Batter: 3/4 cup granulated sugar 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs Carefully scoop this on top of the chocolate batter (it is best to do this around the edge of the pan and let the peanut butter batter flow towards the middle) and return the tub-and-pan assembly to the oven, this time at only 300 degrees. Bake for about 55 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. As an option, immediately after removal from the oven, decorate this cheesecake with chocolate and/or peanut butter chips (or peanut butter cup candies such as miniature size cups or broken pieces of larger cups) around its edge. After cooling down at room temperature, remove the cheesecake from its pan and refrigerate. It was my original intent to include granulated sugar and cocoa powder with the crust ingredients. I even measured these out beforehand, setting them aside together in a cup, with plans to pour them into the wet mixture upon reaching a particular step. Problem was...I FORGOT! It wasn't until long after I pre-baked the crust that I discovered those two ingredients still sitting around waiting to be added. The cocoa and sugar that were left behind. However, before dumping into the kitchen sink the spoon with which I stirred the resulting crust mixture, I licked it (a typical activity with my prepared crusts), and I found the mixture to be delicious as usual. I somehow failed to notice a significant difference in taste (don't worry—it has been my good food prep habit—I have taken care to NOT put such licked spoons back into the mixture, but rather these spoons would be destined straight for the sink at this point). I ended up setting aside these still dry ingredients for another time. Unfortunately, the crust was, after baking and cooldown, unusually very sticky to the bottom of the pan, which I felt was caused by the accidental omission (thus leading to a "wetter" crust). A few months later, in early December of 2018, I made this prototype again—and this time I included the sugar and cocoa that I set aside back in September (already measured out at that time, of course)...and the crust did not come out stubbornly sticky on the bottom of the pan like before. Much better! It looked like the entire cheesecake was quickly finished off at Living Hope Church's midday Sunday, Christmas season dinner. The way it should be!   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 9:   This one involved just a small change. The chocolatey crust was introduced to a bit of peanut butter flavor, by means of some chips.   3-Cheese Blend (3CT-1NC-2YG): 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 24 ounces of whipped, lowfat cottage cheese and 8 ounces 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). Chocolate/Peanut Butter Crust: 2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 2 oz. peanut butter chips, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 7/8 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs 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 batter indicated below. Peanut Butter Batter: 3/4 cup granulated sugar 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs Carefully scoop this on top of the chocolate batter (it is best to do this around the edge of the pan and let the peanut butter batter flow towards the middle) and return the tub-and-pan assembly to the oven, this time at only 300 degrees. Bake for about 55 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. As an option, immediately after removal from the oven, decorate this cheesecake with chocolate and/or peanut butter chips (or peanut butter cup candies such as miniature size cups or broken pieces of larger cups) around its edge. After cooling down at room temperature, remove the cheesecake from its pan and refrigerate. I made this cheesecake for a sendoff lunch which my church, Living Hope, held for our worship leader (and an excellent piano player) Simon Miner, who would be getting married and moving on to another church, attended by his fiancé. Therefore, I asked Simon to choose a cheesecake flavor, and he selected this one. Although this dessert ended up being only about halfway gone before I took the rest home, I felt that the outcome was still pretty good, because my cheesecake was served at a meal that included a generous spread of desserts, including an "assorted variety" cheesecake brought by someone else (which itself seemed to fare almost as well as mine).   Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake—Prototype 10:   This one is my first two-flavored cheesecake since COVID-19's arrival.   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). Chocolate/Peanut Butter Crust: 2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted 2 oz. peanut butter chips, melted 3/8 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 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 10 minutes, then cool enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall. Chocolate Batter: 7/8 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs 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 batter indicated below. Peanut Butter Batter: 3/4 cup granulated sugar 4 oz. unsalted peanut butter 20 oz. (2 1/2 cups) 3-cheese blend (see above) 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum 3 eggs Carefully scoop this on top of the chocolate batter (it is best to do this around the edge of the pan and let the peanut butter batter flow towards the middle) and return the tub-and-pan assembly to the oven, this time at only 300 degrees. Bake for about 55 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. As an option, immediately after removal from the oven, decorate this cheesecake with chocolate and/or peanut butter chips (or peanut butter cup candies such as miniature size cups or broken pieces of larger cups) around its edge. After cooling down at room temperature, remove the cheesecake from its pan and refrigerate. I did not want nearly a half dozen eggs to go to waste, and that was a major reason for this cheesecake. And my cheesecakes in general were still rather infrequent at this time because of the lingering coronavirus pandemic. So I felt that I would make an updated version of this chocolate-peanut butter combo. This one would be my very first cheesecake of 2022—off to an early January start! It seems like I did not make a note of what I ended up doing with this cheesecake (maybe served it at my workplace?) in that January and ultimately forgot. However, I made this prototype again at the end of September in 2024, this time with the border chips reversed (peanut butter outside, semi-sweet chocolate inside). And I brought this one for Rosh HaShanah to my cousin Joanne and Jerry's place, where the cheesecake was gladly received.