Recipe Ingredients
For the crust:
- 7 graham cracker sheets (or 3/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs)
- 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp. (1.5 oz.) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp. neutral oil, for pan
For the filling:
- granulated sugar
- 2 Land O'Lakes large brown eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
For the optional strawberry sauce:
- 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
- 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. strawberry or apricot jam
Recipe Directions
- First, make the crust: pulse the graham cracker sheets in a food processor to crush them. Add the sugar and melted butter, and pulse to combine. Alternatively, if you’re using graham cracker crumbs from the box, stir the crumbs, sugar and melted butter together in a small bowl.
- Next, brush the oil all over the sides and bottom of a 6x3” springform pan. Press the crumbs into the pan, making a thin layer on the bottom, and bringing the crumbs up the sides of the pan by about an inch or so.
- Wrap the bottom and sides of the pan in foil, and set aside.
- Next, make the filling: In a large bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese. Beat with an electric hand mixer for about 15 seconds to break it up.
- Slowly start streaming in the sugar while beating. Follow it up with the eggs, one at a time.
- Finally, beat in the vanilla bean paste, lemon zest, and whipping cream just until combined. Don’t over-beat the mixture or you’ll create air bubbles in the batter.
- Place the metal trivet in the bottom of your Instant Pot Mini 3-quart machine. Add 1 1/2 cups of water—it should just barely touch the bottom of the trivet.
- Next, carefully lower the springform pan into the Instant Pot, smoothing the foil around the pan to make it fit. It will be a tight fit!
- Once the pan is in, pour the cheesecake filling carefully into the pan. It comes above the crust.
- Lock the lid of the Instant Pot in place, and turn the valve to ‘SEALING.’ Press ‘PRESSURE COOK’ and make sure it’s on HIGH. Enter 27 minutes, and make sure ‘KEEP WARM’ is off.
- Let the cheesecake pressure cook for 27 minutes, and once the timer goes off, leave it to do a natural pressure release for at least 20 minutes.
- Let the cheesecake cool in the Instant Pot until it's cool enough for you to lift it out, about an hour.
- Next, chill the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 8 hours before serving.
- To make the optional strawberry sauce: Slice the strawberries, and toss with the jam and sugar. When glossy and soft, about 5 minutes later, spoon atop the cheesecake and serve.
Notes:
- Please note that I am using an Instant Pot MINI, the 3 quart model.
