How One Canned Staple Transforms Greek Yogurt Into A Cheesecake-Inspired Dessert

While Greek yogurt and sweetened condensed milk may not sound like they're about to become your new favorite dessert, bear with us. Steam them together and they turn into a creamy, softly set pudding with a texture that feels somewhere between flan and cheesecake. It won't have the exact same flavor as your favorite Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, but it offers a similarly creamy satisfaction, and you can pull it off with only two ingredients.

The ratio for the dessert couldn't be simpler either. You just need 1 cup of plain yogurt and 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk. Blend or whisk the Greek yogurt until smooth, then stir in the condensed milk, pouring the mixture into a lightly oiled, 6-inch parchment-lined heatproof pan. Place it on a steamer rack inside a pot with simmering water, making sure the water doesn't reach the dish, then cover the pot. The mixture gets its pudding-like consistency from steaming, which takes about 30 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the dessert looks set rather than liquid in the center (although a slight wobble is fine). Then simply let it cool before refrigerating for at least an hour to help it firm up. From there, you can get creative with how you serve this simple sweet.

Greek yogurt is one of the best high-protein yogurts you can buy at the grocery store, and its thick consistency makes it particularly well-suited for this cheesecake-inspired application. Full-fat yogurt will give you the richest result, while other types of yogurt with lower fat contents often have thinner consistencies, which might give you a looser dessert than you were aiming for.

While you can certainly enjoy it as a plain custard-like dessert, its basic flavor profile makes it easily customizable. For example, a lemon cheesecake-inspired version could be made by adding finely grated lemon zest and a little vanilla extract to the yogurt mixture before steaming. If you're more of a chocolate cheesecake kind of person, stir a spoonful of melted chocolate into the mixture or add chocolate shavings on top of the final dessert. And fruit is another easy way to make the dessert feel a little more finished. A layer of raspberry jam or strawberry compote on top after it sets brings a very welcome tart sweetness. Or, to play on the textures of a classic cheesecake crust, add something crunchy on the top or at the bottom such as crushed cookies or roughly chopped nuts.