Apple-Cherry Vanilla Cheesecake Pudding ⁑

This dessert may be made using apple or cherry pie filling (but not both at once). I whipped it up one afternoon for a Friday night week-ending dinner in May of 2015. The remainder of the menu that night remains unrecorded; however, this recipe was quickly scribbled down after it garnered an immediate and emphatic “this is a keeper” thumbs-up from the wife. That first time, I made it with cherry filling. I have since made it with apple filling with equally satisfying results.

  • 1 box Jello sugar-free, fat-free vanilla instant pudding
  • 1 envelope Knox gelatin
  • 1 cup <sugar>
  • 16 oz fat-free cream cheese
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2 cups fat-free milk
  • 2½ cups canned sugar-free apple or cherry pie fruit
  • ½ cup walnuts

In a bowl large enough to hold all ingredients, first mix well the dry gelatin and <sugar>. Add the boiling water and then buzz with a hand blender until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add in the cream cheese and blend again until the mixture has a uniform consistency, without lumps. Now add in the vanilla and milk and again blend well.

Add the Jello pudding to the mixture and whisk this together two to three minutes, until stiff.

Transfer this mixture into a 9”×12” vegetable-sprayed glass pan and smooth over the top with a spatula. Spoon the canned fruit over the top and press it down into the pudding about halfway. If the topping is apples, sprinkle generously with ground cinnamon. Sprinkle the walnuts on top and again press lightly into the pudding.

Chill until firm and serve in festive bowls.

Serves 6.

cranberry parfait

This is not a dessert that you want to eat if you need nourishment, because it is very low calorie, fat free, low sodium, and low carbohydrate. It is something to have when you want a sweet treat after you have gotten your calories elsewhere.

  • 2 envelopes Knox® unflavored gelatin
  • 3½ cups diet cranberry juice
  • 1 cup fat free unsweetened yogurt
  • 3 tsp <sugar>
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • sugar free whipped cream topping

Sprinkle gelatin over 2½ cups of the juice in a small saucepan; let stand one minute. Stir over low heat until gelatin completely dissolves, about 2 minutes. Use a hand blender if any lumps remain. Let cool 15 minutes.

Combine yogurt, 1 tsp <sugar>, and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix until the <sugar> is dissolved. Add teaspoons of <sugar> and stir until the taste suits you. Add 1 cup of the gelatin-juice mixture to the yogurt, mix, and set aside. Pour the reserved cup of juice into the gelatin-juice mixture, and also et aside.

Distribute yogurt mixture into 6 parfait glasses, 8 to 10 oz each. Then place glasses tilted at an angle in loaf pans with a moistened towel on top to steady them. Refrigerate 1½ hours.

Stand the glasses upright; pour the reserved clear gelatin-juice mixture into glasses until set, about 1 hour.

Serve with whipped cream topping.