Cheesecake as a dessert on the trail is about as good as you can get. It’s not pudding, it’s thicker and fluffier. And it looks like you tried hard when you surprise hiking partners with it after dinner. We tried a couple brands out in this post, and will also include DIY versions in part 2 coming up. While Jell-O cheesecake pudding does exist, it is pudding. So it will be thicker, and not fluffy. However, it can still be quite good – as we will show later.
But first the reviews of commercially sold cheesecake desserts. This is by no means an exhaustion of brands out there, but it is what we found on shopping excursions. And both have similar profiles for ingredients.
The focus is on strawberry (and in Part 2, we will also focus on that flavor).
The two contenders:
Trailtopia Cheesecake Dessert with Chocolate and Strawberries and Grahams for topping.
It is $7.99. Weighs 5,5 ounces dry. Serves 2.
Looking inside. Whole slices of freeze-dried strawberries and chocolate chips. Pleasant aroma.
Prepped with the mini grahams on top.
PackitGourmet Strawberry Cheesecake with Gingersnap Pecan Crumble.
It is $10.99. Weighs 5 ounces dry. Serves 1.
Not as many strawberry pieces, and many are small bits. Has a strong smell of dried milk.
Prepped, with pecan crumble on top. Dried milk smell is prevalent.
The Take Away:
Overall, the winning choice is Trailtopia.
Why?
- Price – Trailtopia is $3 less.
- Serving size – Even though both brands weigh nearly the same, the Trailtopia makes considerably more product. It really serves 2 people.
- Flavor. Trailtopia uses 8 ounces of water versus 3 ounces water for the PackitGourmet. PIG comes across as a pasty, way too thick on the tongue pudding. I found I really had to stir a long time to get the powder to mix in. Where as the TT is light and fluffy. And due to the extra water makes a lot more product. The strawberries were far better in the TT. The texture won me over, as did the flavor.
- Aroma. The smell of the TT is bright. The PIG for me smelled of dried milk. That was hard to get over. I am not a fan of the smell of dried milk to be honest. That’s a me issue though.
Having said this, I normally love PackitGourmet meals. But in this dessert, it needs to be tuned a bit. It’s just too heavy in texture. Being a single serving dessert it is very high in sugar – 79 grams! And 1,170 mg sodium. That isn’t a good choice for a single person to consume. The Trailtopia isn’t great nutrition wise, but it’s a lot lower at 43 grams sugar per serving and 434 mg of sodium. If you were to share it 3 ways, it is even less – and it makes enough you can share it with 3 people for a small sweet bite.
Both options offer an easy to take dessert, which will be ready in about 10 minutes. No extra prep or measuring needed, just add water. And will last in your hiking pantry for a very long time.
Coming up soon? Make your own versions – big serving sizes and a far less price.
FTC Disclaimer: We bought the meals reviewed, all thoughts are ours.
~Sarah