In the past I've always thought you could use neufchâtel pretty interchangeably in recipes. And for the most part, the lower fat cream cheese is a fine substitute. However, in the testing of this recipe, we came to the conclusion that using full fat cream cheese made a big difference in the final results and especially the texture of the finished cheesecake. As you can see in the photo below, the cake made with full fat cream cheese is thick, like a mousse au chocolat you had at that restaurant in Paris when they gave you the whole bowl and told you to help yourself and it was so thick it stuck to the spoon. Conversely, the cheesecake made with neufchâtel cream cheese has a texture more like a pudding or pot de creme. Still delicious, just not the same. For best taste and texture, my testers and I recommend using full fat cream cheese.