How do I thicken my dessert? I was making a new recipe for lemon cheesecake tarts, but the recipe was not clear.  It called for a "large package of lemon pudding". I used a package of cooked pudding and pie filling.  It was to be combined with a package of cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of milk, well blended and added to the crust.  Needless to say, it never thickened.  After the fact, I realized it should have read "instant pudding".  I am now left with a very fluid (but delicious) bowl of lemon soup!  Any ideas on how to thicken this!  I am hesitant to cook it on the stove and bring to a simmer because of the cream cheese.  I hate to throw it out because it really is delicious.  I am leaning towards making lemon cocktails for the holidays. You know what they say, when given lemons, .....
Try taking a very small amount of your lemon soup and see what happens if you do heat it to a simmer. It might work, but if it doesn't you won't have ruined the whole thing.

If not successful, then you might need to reimagine the dessert. My first thought would be to fill and/or saturate some dessert shells or angel food cake with the mixture, and then firm it up by chilling or freezing it.