Baked S'mores Cheesecake—Prototype 5:
 
This prototype featured a new kind of experiment, in a quest for a simpler approach to restrain those rising marshmallows. There would be two crust layers at the bottom, one immediately on top of the other. The lower layer would include the marshmallows, and the layer just above it would act as a restrainer.
 
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 until just before the batter is added above the crust layers (spreading the crust in an already wrapped pan can result in greater disturbance to the foil, thus increasing leakage risks).

Graham Crust—First Layer:
2 oz. melted, white chocolate
8 oz. (1 cup) 3-cheese blend (see above)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Completely blend the above ingredients first, then continue with the next one below.
4 oz. cinnamon graham crackers, ground up
Get this fully mixed in (moistened) with the other ingredients above. Afterwards, promptly add in and fully coat the last crust ingredient below.
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Place resulting crust mixture into bottom of the springform pan and pre-bake without tub at 300 degrees for 15 minutes, then remove from oven and cool at least slightly.

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

Reserve some of this batter for the second crust layer, as indicated below.

Graham Crust—Second Layer:
1 1/2 cups chocolate batter (see above)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Completely blend these two ingredients first, then continue with the next one below.
3 oz. cinnamon graham crackers, ground up

Combine these three crust ingredients and promptly place this mixture into the pan on top of the first crust layer. Try to conceal, as much as possible, every trace of marshmallow that is showing through the top of the first layer, then immediately put the pan back into the oven. Bake this, still without tub, at 300 degrees for another 15 minutes, then cool it enough to comfortably touch at least the pan's upper sidewall.

Next, wrap the pan in foil. Carefully pour the remaining chocolate batter over the second crust layer and bake this cheesecake in a hot water tub at 300 degrees for 70 minutes (if using 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 (milk chocolate strongly recommended in keeping with the s'mores tradition!) 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.

S'mores Cheesecake—Prototype 5

For the first instance of this prototype, I was beforehand afraid that I would end up possibly under-baking it. I therefore ended up going with 75 minutes for the final baking phase (rather than 70). As it turned out, it looked like I rather slightly overbaked the cheesecake (in the sense of producing some undesirable cracking).

But this one went over quite well for the 2018 Memorial Day barbecue at my Home Depot workplace.

A few weeks later, I made this prototype again, this time with a 70-minute final baking installment. There were still some cracks, but they were fairly minor. I somehow reasoned that the major causes here were probably some marshmallow remnants that still managed to float upward (not much more that I could do on that).

S'mores Cheesecake—Prototype 5 (2nd instance) S'mores Cheesecake—Prototype 5 (2nd instance, sliced)
Second time around (70-minute version)—this one also had bigger chocolate chips.

I brought this second cheesecake on Father's Day to Living Hope Church, where nearly 75% of this prototype was gone in roughly 20 minutes. It was served among a big selection of cupcakes and a good number of whoopie pies, plus other treats. I managed to get another congregation, Christian Renewal Church (which met later on at Living Hope's facility) to take the rest off my hands.
 

Back to my bushy homepage