PHILADELPHIA Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake

By jodieg

This is not your mother’s cheesecake: It's the classic dessert topped with a fluffy, whipped layer of vanilla mousse. Sorry, Mom...but you always said to go the extra mile.

Ingredients

• 40 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
• 4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened, divided
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vanilla, divided
• 3 eggs
• 1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Preparation

Step 1

HEAT oven to 325ºF.

MIX wafer crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

BEAT 3 pkg. cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. vanilla with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

BAKE 50 to 55 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool completely in pan.

BEAT remaining cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer in large bowl until blended. Whisk in COOL WHIP; spread over cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours. Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake.

Vanilla Bean Mousse Cheesecake

Prepare recipe as directed, using a vanilla bean and reducing vanilla extract to 2 tsp. Use sharp knife to gently split 1 vanilla bean pod lengthwise in half, then scrape seeds into cheesecake batter. Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract to the batter and use remaining extract to flavor cheesecake topping as directed.

Special Extra

Garnish with fresh berries just before serving.