Step 2: Make the filling
Blend the very soft cream cheese with a hand or stand mixer on high speed until it’s creamy and smooth. Add in 1/2 cup of the cold milk and blend until combined. Pour in the rest of the milk, the 2 tablespoons of sugar, vanilla and the pudding mix. Beat everything together for two minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl once or twice.
Editor’s Tip: It’s important that the cream cheese is at room temperature and soft for a successful cheesecake. Cold cream cheese will make the texture of the cheesecake look curdled and lumpy. Slice it into cubes to help it warm up more quickly.
Step 3: Put the filling in the crust
Pour the cheesecake filling over the crust in the pan, and use a rubber spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill the cheesecake for at least two hours until it’s set and very cold.
Step 4: Slice and garnish
Use the ends of the parchment to carefully lift the cheesecake from the pan, and set it on a cutting board. Cut the cheesecake into 9 slices and place them on a serving platter or individual plates. Top each slice with garnishes like whipped cream, fresh blueberries or raspberries, strawberry or cherry pie filling, or curls of dark or white chocolate.
Store leftover cheesecake slices covered in the fridge for up to one week.
Here’s What I Thought
I mean seriously, what’s not to love here? This is the easiest dessert to pull together, and my family and I really enjoyed the flavor and smooth texture of this pudding cheesecake.
The soft citrus flavor of the lemon pudding mix was very refreshing. We added a handful of tart, fresh raspberries, which were a nice complement to the light sweetness of the cake. The classic graham cracker crust was the perfect base. The slices held up well in the fridge, so we got to enjoy them over several evenings. This is a great recipe to bookmark for a summer potluck dessert, and would be a fun one to make with kids, too.
The recipe is also flexible and easy to customize. Change up the flavor of instant pudding in the batter: there are lots of flavors available. Mix and match toppings, too, from fruit to whipped cream. Flavor ideas kept popping into my head for next time: maybe vanilla pudding mix with whipped cream and strawberries, banana cream pudding with chocolate sauce or chocolate with caramel and crushed Oreo cookies.
The hot days of summer are coming, so bookmark these no-bake dessert recipes now.
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