April 09, 2019
Cheesecake is one of my all time favorite desserts. I use to go to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant often just to be able to get a slice of one of their famous cheesecakes. I love that it's rich, and smooth, just the best dessert ever. Then I started making it at home about a year ago, free of any refined sugars. I was blown away how good it was. From then on I didn't really go back to the restaurant because I felt like I could make it even better and healthier than the restaurant version. Last year I even made a cheesecake for my friends wedding! It was amazing, everyone loved it, and I got a ton of compliments about it.
I've always loved cheesecake, I think I always will. A few weeks ago, I wanted to make it in the Instant Pot. I have heard nothing but good things about cooking cheesecake in the Instant Pot. It sounds weird I know, cooking a dessert in a pressure cooker, totally weird? I was skeptical at first but decided I finally wanted to try it for myself. Let me tell you I was blown away! I couldn't believe how good it came out. It was much smoother, creamier, and the flavor was so good, I couldn't believe it, needless to say, I don't think I'll go back to any other method, it was that good! I even made a strawberry sauce to go with it, and a sugar-free whip cream. DIVINE!
I hope you get a chance to try this method, because it's definitely worth the taste, the flavor, it actually takes less time to cook in the Instant Pot than it does in the oven. I made the crust from my Honey Graham Squares and some melted butter. It comes together easily and is a definite crowd-pleaser!
RECIPE Instant Pot Cheesecake (refined sugar-free)
Ingredients
Crust:
½ batch of my Honey Graham Squares
7 TBSP melted butter
Cheesecake:
2 (8 oz pkgs) organic cream cheese (softened)
2 eggs
1 1/2 c organic sour cream
2 TBSP organic corn starch or arrowroot starch
1 TBSP vanilla
Squeeze of lemon juice
Strawberry Sauce:
2 cups strawberries-I used frozen
¼ c maple syrup or monk-fruit sweetener
Squeeze of lemon juice
2 TBSP cornstarch or arrowroot starch
2 TBSP water
Preparation
Pull out your Instant Pot, I used my 8 qt but I think a 6 qt would work as well.
Add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the insert. Then place your trivet inside (mine is an egg rack holder, but it works)
Make a batch of my Honey Graham Squares and divide half the recipe, I didn’t really measure for this step, just eyeballed about how many I wanted. It’s about half a batch. Place them in a food processor and grind until they are crumb like. Add your melted butter, pulse until incorporated. When you put them into your hand they should be able to hold their shape when you crumble them together.
Use a 6-8 inch spring-form pan (whatever size fits in your instant pot will work, I used a 7 inch). Make sure to butter the bottom of the pan so it doesn’t stick when you put the crust in.
Place your crumbs on the bottom of the pan in an even layer, then pat down the crumbs so they become firm against the pan. With a cup or something that will press them up against the sides of the spring-form pan. Place in the refrigerator while you make the cheesecake layer.
Take your cream cheese and monk-fruit sweetener and put into your stand-mixer, mix until incorporated together. Add one egg at a time. Add your sour cream, cornstarch, vanilla and lemon juice. Mix until incorporated, don’t over-mix though.
Place the mixture into your crust, make sure it is all smooth. Add 2 cups of water to the inside of your instant pot. Place the trivet inside and the cheesecake spring-form pan on top of the trivet. Place the lid on the top and set it to “manual” high pressure for 30 minutes. When it beeps, do a 15 minute natural release. After 15 minutes, take the lid off your Instant Pot and pull the spring-form pan out with some hot pads. You can let it cool for a few minutes if you need to.
Let the cheesecake cool for about 30 minutes and then cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 4-6 hours to set. If there is any extra liquid on the top of the cheesecake just gently drain it off.
While the cheesecake is in the refrigerator, make the strawberry sauce..
Add strawberries into a saucepan on medium heat. Cook until soft, then mash with a potato masher. I like them chunky but make them whatever texture you like. Add your maple syrup or monk-fruit sweetener, and lemon juice.
Take your cornstarch and water and mix into a separate cup. Then when your strawberries sauce is ready slowly add the cornstarch mixture to your sauce so that it thickens up. Once you get it to the consistency you want take it off the heat and let it cool. It will also thicken up as it cools. Place on the cheesecake after it has set up in the fridge.
*Use organic ingredients when feasible