Lemon Pudding With Cream Cheese Frosting

 Put down that pudding mix! After one taste of this smooth and tangy lemon pudding, topped with a creamy cream cheese frosting, you’ll never go back to the boxed stuff again! A perfectly light and refreshing springtime dessert.

 So this pudding was kind of a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing and boy, am I glad I decided to make it happen.

I was originally planning to make crepes with a lemon cream cheese filling and a blueberry sauce on top. Well, that kind of fell through, when my crepes refused cooperate for reasons unknown to me. (I’m still working on that recipe—When I get it right, you can bet I’ll share it!) — Well, my crepes turned out looking like crap, and I already had cream cheese softening on the counter, so I knew I would have to make SOMETHING and it would have to be soon, because my window for photographing in the daylight was quickly disappearing. (I definitely do not have any fancy lighting equipment like nc photographers!)

Bingo. Pudding was the answer. I hadn’t made pudding in practically forever, and I just so happened to have a few lemons on hand, so lemon pudding it was. Then there was the little matter of the cream cheese I had already softened. It only took me a second to decide that a cream cheese frosting would go marvelously with a sweet ‘n’ tangy lemon pudding.

You won’t need any fancy ingredients or even more than a few minutes to make this easy pudding. 

The lemon pudding, itself has only a few basic ingredients that I’ll bet you have on hand right now: Milk, heavy cream, egg yolks, xylitol, (sugar may be substituted) cornstarch, grated lemon zest, salt, and lemon juice. — Easy-peasy pudding ingredients.

All the ingredients,except the lemon juice, will be whisked in a saucepan over medium heat, until thickened. Then the lemon juice will be whisked in. — It’s important that you add the lemon juice, after the pudding is cooked, so you will have a vibrant lemon flavor throughout the pudding.

Spoon the pudding into serving glasses, and then into the fridge it goes to chill for about an hour.

While the lemon pudding chills, it will only take 5 minutes to whip up your cream cheese frosting: You’ll need to grab your softened cream cheese, a little bit of xylitol, (or sugar) vanilla extract, and just enough milk to achieve a creamy, spread-able consistency. — Whip it all up ’til it’s smooth, adding more milk, if you think it’s too thick. Then refrigerate the frosting until ready to use.

Note: The frosting isn’t super-sweet, because the lemon pudding is already perfectly sweet and tangy, and I didn’t really want an overload of sweetness in this pudding. Feel free to add a little extra xylitol (or sugar) to your frosting to suit your taste.

Once your pudding, is completely chilled, you can choose to either pipe or spoon your cream cheese frosting over the top of each individual pudding. I personally, like the pretty effect piping the frosting gives this pudding, but whatever floats your boat is fine by me. 😉

Grab your spoons, and prepare for a pudding indulgence, because after one spoonful of this pudding, you won’t be able to keep that spoon out of it.

The pudding is spot-on lemon-y, light and creamy and goes perfectly with the soft, tangy cream cheese frosting.  It’s so perfect for this time of year. But I will gladly stuff my face with this pudding year-round.

This lemon pudding is a perfect dessert choice, when you get a sweets craving, but don’t want something super-heavy. It’s soo light and lemon-y-refreshing. 😀

 As you can see, I like my pudding heaped high with the frosting. And since pudding is basically the same texture as frosting, it really tastes like you’re eating frosting upon frosting. It’s pure heaven, guys.

Would you judge me if I said that it’s only 9am and I kind of want to faceplant into this glass of pudding? 

It IS Friday, so that’s perfectly okay. 😉

Have a great weekend!

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Lemon Pudding With Cream Cheese Frosting

Put down that pudding mix! After one taste of this smooth and tangy lemon pudding, topped with a creamy cream cheese frosting, you'll never go back to the boxed stuff again! A perfectly light and refreshing springtime dessert.

Prep Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup xylitol or granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1-1/4 cups milk
• 1-1/4 cups heavy cream
• 3 large egg yolks
• Grated zest from 1 medium lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• FROSTING:
• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup xylitol or granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, whisk xylitol, cornstarch, milk, cream, egg yolks, zest, and salt until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until pudding is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in lemon juice.
• Spoon lemon pudding into serving glasses and chill 1 hour.
• While pudding is chilling, prepare the frosting: Place cream cheese, xylitol, and vanilla in a small bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat until creamy. Beat in enough milk to achieve a spreadable, creamy consistency.
• Spoon or pipe frosting over chilled lemon pudding and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

Store pudding in refrigerator up to 4 days.

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below. Feel free to share a picture on Instagram and tag @wholeandheavenlyoven or hashtag it #wholeandheavenlyoven

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