Instant Pot Cheesecake

I've heard all kinds of wonderful things about how fabulous cheesecake made in the Instant Pot is, so when I saw that a friend was hosting an online Pampered Chef party, I immediately ordered a 7" springform pan just so I could make cheesecake. There are lots of different recipes out there, but it seemed like there was a pretty universal love for a recipe called "Cheesecake #17", so I opted to try that. Here's how it went!

This recipe calls for cream cheese, eggs, sour cream, butter, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, graham crackers, and brown sugar. For equipment, you need an Instant Pot (6- or 8-quart), a 6- or 7-inch springform pan, a hand mixer, and some parchment paper. It helps to have a lifting frame or sling for lifting the pan out of the Pot, but you can also make one from tin foil.

All of the "tips and tricks" I read insisted that having the cream cheese, eggs, sour cream, and melted butter at room temperature was crucial, so the first thing I did was to get those ingredients out of the fridge and melt the butter, then leave them on the counter for an hour or so.

The crust should either be blind-baked or chilled in the freezer while you make the batter, so go ahead and make the crust while the other ingredients are coming to room temperature. Prep the graham cracker crumbs by placing 10 graham crackers into a large ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. You can also blitz them in the food processor, but then you have to wash the food processor and I'm much too lazy for that. Besides, whacking stuff with a rolling pin is a great stress reliever. I used a gallon-size freezer bag because a) it's sturdier and less likely to leak than a regular ziploc, and b) it's big enough to mix everything right in the bag and avoids dirtying another bowl. (See? Lazy. But smart.)

Add a pinch of sea salt and 2 teaspoons of brown sugar right in the bag. If you plan to blind-bake the crust, add 1/4 cup flour. (I meant to do this but forgot, so freezer method it is!) How much is a pinch? Eh, about this much. (Probably a scant 1/8 tsp, if you absolutely HAVE to measure.) Seal the bag and shake it around to mix well. I mushed the brown sugar with a fork to break it up a little first.

When the melted butter is cool, pour 3-4 tablespoons into the bag (enough to make it stick together) and mix, using a technique I call "pinch and squish." 

Now it's time to prepare the parchment paper to line the springform pan. I popped out the base of the pan, traced around it, and cut a circle a little smaller than the traced line, then laid it in the base and trimmed it until it fit neatly. For the sides, I stood the pan up on its edge, aligned with the edge of the paper, and marked a little wider than its width (since it doesn't matter if the paper sticks up over the top of the pan a little). I cut a length that was long enough to go around the pan plus overlap a little. (Actually, I cut two strips that were each a little longer than halfway around the pan so I didn't waste parchment. Interesting factoid: scotch tape doesn't stick to parchment paper, so don't bother trying to tape the pieces together. The crust and batter will hold them in place.) I was getting near the end of the roll of parchment and the paper was really curly, so I wrapped it around the rolling pin the opposite way until I was ready to use it, which helped straighten it out a bit. But it was still hard to control, so I put the crust in before adding the paper to the sides.

Pour the crust into the parchment-lined pan and press firmly with the bottom of a glass until well-packed all over.  If you are blind-baking the crust (which results in a firmer, crispier crust), bake at 325 for 15 minutes and allow to cool. If not, pop it in the freezer while you prepare the batter.

For the batter, mix together 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, 2 pinches of salt, and 2/3 cup sugar in a small bowl (I just used the measuring cup...you know why) and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the two blocks of cream cheese for about 10 seconds on low speed with a hand mixer. All the recipes I read stressed that overmixing should be avoided, so don't use a stand mixer, and beat on low only until each added ingredient is incorporated (about 20-30 seconds each). Beat in about half of the sugar mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining sugar. Repeat the procedure, adding 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla (I folded this in with a spatula instead of using the mixer), and then 2 eggs, 1 at a time. Carefully scrape with a rubber spatula, folding in just until mixed. 

Since I hadn't put the parchment paper on the sides of the pan, I put them in when I took the pan out of the freezer. I spooned in a little of the batter and pushed it against the sides to get the paper to stay in place. 

After filling the pan, smooth the surface with the spatula until even, then gently jiggle the pan on the counter and tap the sides to bring any air bubbles to the surface, where you can pop them with a toothpick. I really didn't think there would be any, but after a few seconds of jiggling and tapping, some little ones appeared, and after a few more some larger ones surfaced. I poked the worst of them but didn't worry too much about getting them all. You could probably tap and poke for 10 minutes, but I'm just not that picky. 

Now we're ready to bake! Pour 1 cup of cold water into the Pot. Place the steamer rack in the bottom of the Pot, the lower the springform pan on its stand or sling (if you have one) or fold some tin foil into strips and make an X to form a sling for lifting the pan out of the Pot. Make sure the handles won't fall into the cheesecake and ruin the surface. 

Seal the Pot and cook at high pressure for 26 minutes (if using a 6" pan, cook for 31 minutes), then allow for a full natural release (this should take less than 10 minutes). Carefully open the lid, avoiding letting condensation drip onto the surface of the cheesecake. If there is moisture on top of the cake, carefully pat with a paper towel to absorb. 

You can allow the cake to come to room temperature either inside the Pot with the lid off, or use the sling or stand to lift it out and set it on a cooling rack. Oops, my cheesecake puffed a little higher than I expected and it looked like the handles were resting on the surface, but they didn't leave marks. You can see that there was a significant amount of moisture on top of the cheesecake. I simply blotted it off with a paper towel. The top was somewhat lumpy, but that minimized as the cake cooled. 

After about 10-15 minutes, run a thin knife between the parchment paper and the side of the springform pan to release it, then open the pan. Give the end of the parchment a gentle tug to smooth out any wrinkles and create nice smooth sides on the cheesecake, then carefully pull it off. Place the cheesecake, still on the pan base, in the refrigerator for at least 4-8 hours, but preferably overnight for the best consistency. I covered mine loosely with plastic wrap. It was firm enough that the wrap didn't create any wrinkle marks.

When ready to serve, warm the bottom of the pan by placing it on a heating pad (or use a kitchen torch, if you have one). Carefully pull off the base and peel off the parchment paper and serve. I found that the base was easy to remove even without warming; I just slipped a butter knife under the edge of the crust and it was firm enough that it lifted up quite easily.

You can garnish the whole cheesecake at once, or - if you have a family with varied tastes, like mine - garnish individual slices with chocolate or caramel sauce, fresh berries, cherry or blueberry pie filling, crushed cookies or candy, or whatever you like. 

Enjoy!