Lemon Pudding Cheesecake

Hey there Baking Friends– Ran across this cheese cake recipe (on Pinterest, where else??)  and gave it a try last weekend for a game night with a crowd of friends.  Sally and I made Jeopardy game, complete with buzzers and question boards with facts about all the friends–it was a whole lot of chaotic noisy fun!!

And the cheesecake was even better than I’d hoped.  So light (for cheesecake!) and creamy and with just enough lemon flavor.  The secret ingredient is the lemon pudding mix!!  We ate the last leftover piece last night and I was sad to see it go…

LEMON PUDDING CHEESECAKE

Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham crackers crushed (about 8 crackers)
1/2 cup coconut
4 tab. butter, melted

Filling:
32 oz. cream cheese (4 – 8 oz. packages)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tab. flour
2 tab. milk
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
2 small packages instant lemon pudding (3.4 oz. size)

topping:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tab. powdered sugar
1 tab. instant vanilla pudding (for stabilizer)
garnish– lemon slice, mint leaf

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, coconut and melted butter in the bottom of a 9″ or 10″ springform pan.  Press them down to uniformly cover the bottom of the pan and bake at 350 degrees for just 10 minutes.

To make the filling, use an electric mixer to beat together the cream cheese and sugar until it’s creamy.  Then add in the flour milk, sour cream, eggs and lemon pudding.  Beat on high speed until it’s thoroughly blended.

Spoon the thick batter over the graham cracker crust and set into the 300 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes until the cheesecake is puffy in the middle and just a little wobbly when you shake it.  Open the oven door and turn off he heat and let the cheesecake sit in the cooling oven for an hour.  Then run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan and set it into the fridge at least 4 hours to firm up.

When you’re about ready to serve the cheesecake, beat the whipping cream, powdered sugar and instant vanilla pudding with an electric mixer (the whisk attachment works best) until it is very firm.  Spoon it over the top of the cake and garnish with lemon and leaves.  So pretty!

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