Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup salted butter
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 4 large eggs
* 8 oz cream cheese softened
* 2 3.4 oz packages French Vanilla instant pudding mix
* 2 cups whole milk
* 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 8 oz tub frozen whipped topping thawed
* hot fudge sauce
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9×13 glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a 4-quart saucepan heat butter, water, and salt over medium heat. When the butter has melted completely and the mixture begins to boil, remove it from heat.
Immediately mix flour into the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a smooth ball.
Allow mixture to cool for about 5 minutes.
Adding only one egg at a time, beat each egg into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. The mixture will separate with the addition of each egg but then come back together, forming a smooth paste-like batter.
Spread batter into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges have poofed up the sides of the baking dish and the batter is golden brown. Some of the batter on the bottom of the dish may puff up also, which is fine.
Cool completely.
Use the wire whisk attachment on a hand or standing mixer to beat together softened cream cheese, pudding, milk, and heavy cream. A wire whisk will help to break down the cream cheese, but it is important that the cream cheese is quite soft before mixing.
TIP: You can also beat the cream cheese and pudding mix and gradually add the milk/cream to keep the mixture smooth. A few lumps in the finished filling won’t matter.
Spread pudding mixture to fill the cooled puff. Spread the whipped topping evenly over the pudding filling.
Serve with hot fudge sauce drizzled over the top.