Baked Ricotta Custard


Makes: 8 (8-ounce) servings
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 45 minutes



1 1/2 (8-ounce) packages FF cream cheese
3/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup SPLENDAŽ No Calorie Sweetener, Granular
2 large eggs
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup FF half and half

It would be if you used "Cream cheese substitute, dairy-free" as in the Phase I List.

Well phooey - I've been eating it And I have a batch in my fridge.

I'm confused...no wonder we had a bunch of questions about what cream cheese substitute, dairy free was...where was that in the list? I don't remember reading it in any of the books...did I miss something?

And what is it, exactly? Why would Laughing Cow Light be allowed in Phase 1, but not Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese)? Totally confused here! I must not be reading the lists, but Ruth, do you remember when that part was added or where it originally came from?

Dairy free cream cheese is part of the original list - page 120 in the Book. Fat Free and light are both "good" on page 49 of the GFGC Guide! Maybe that's for Phase II only? Did Dr A have a brain fart?

I don't understand the Laughing Cow vs Neufchatel difference either. I sneak in Philly Ultr-Low Fat sometimes! I wonder if someone who subscribed to the SBD site could get us the answer.

So maybe I'm OK with my recipe? It's really good, lol, and filling too.

Geez, Wendy, maybe you could just FedEx it up to me and I'll give you an opinion. Enjoy!

Well, I just ate one of these as my snack and I gotta tell you, you should try them. Use the non dairy cream cheese if ya want, I'm sur it's till good. I add some cinnamin to the recipe and also sprinkle some on top before baking. It's also very good in Phases 2 & 3 with some berries on top. This is a good breakfast alternative as well.

Can I post it on the recipe site, or maybe not cause of the whole cream cheese debate???

Please do post it. I plan to ignore the cream cheese debate. It's not like I eat it three times a day.

I will see if I can find out. I was a little confused about that too. Don't have time until later tonight to post the question though. Will let you know as soon as I find out.

Great, I'll post it tomorrow then, cause I have to look up the baking instructions (the recipes is from Splenda.com).

This is the best I could find today and is from one of their nutritionists:

Cream cheese (light or fat-free)is one of those foods that is hard to categorize. It really doesn't have enough protein per serving to make it a good protein choice. It also doesn't have enough fat for it to be counted as a fat although this maybe a possible permanent home for it. It also doesn't contain artificial sweetener or sugar alcohol for it to be a good choice for Sweet Treats. In the past, this product has been counted along with lower fat sour cream under Sweet Treats. This has been done in the past as lack of a better place to put it. This has been a topic that has come up between Marie, Rachel and myself about the best home for these products. When both low fat sour cream and cream cheese finds a permanent home, it will be posted under Diet Updates.
In your individual case, it appears the tablespoon that you add daily to your ricotta cheese has not slowed you down with weight loss efforts. For this reason, continue enjoying the tablespoon of light cream cheese as you are doing. I will mention that you made a healthier choice selecting a lower fat version instead of the full fat version of cream cheese. It contains less saturated fat compared to regular cream cheese.
Sandy / SBD Nutritionist

Cream cheese tends to be a little confusing. There are some dairy free types on the market including soy based ones you could try. You are allowed lite or fat free dairy cream cheese on SBD. The following is a link that describes where dairy cream cheese belongs in SBD in more detail. We are still working on finding a "home" for cream cheese.

This is confusing because I would swear the book says to use the dairy free types but from the above it sounds like low fat.

The whole thing really is tough to understand...I guess I just keep trying to apply the principles of the diet to what I eat...and feel pretty much okay with it as long as I keep losing and my cholesterol and other blood chemistry levels are okay.

I've been playing with the idea of creating some SBD friendly desserts, but was not sure how to calculate the calories...if all of the dessert falls under sweet treats, I'm not sure how to get it under 75 cals. For instance, if I make a pie with a nut crust, SF/FF pudding mixed with cream cheese, ricotta, and cottage cheese, what parts would count towards the sweet treat and what would not? How do they decide what is a sweet treat?

Bunna, would you be willing to post a similar question...something like, "How do we know what counts as a sweet treat and what counts as a dairy?" on the SBD site? Thanks for using your membership to help us out! I hate being a mooch, but I would dislike the trouble of signing up just to ask a question.