It’s just before Thanksgiving and I’ve been assigned to bring dessert to a friend’s house this weekend. Whoopee! Cheesecake, anyone? Yes, please. I’m not in the mood for more pumpkin, and I was imagining something eggnog or rum flavored. But when I didn’t have eggnog around the house, I landed on gingerbread.
The recipe that inspired me for this cheesecake was originally from This Old Gal’s blog, and here is the link to her Holiday Spice Peppernuts Cheesecake. She has lots of amazing tips on her website about making cheesecakes in the pressure cooker. I’ll touch on my favorites in this post, but if you are inspired to start using your pressure cooker for cheesecakes, be sure to check out her blog.
For my crust, I crushed up my favorite molasses cookies and added some butter. If you don’t have molasses cookies sitting around, try gingerbread cookies or the standard graham crackers. Just add 2 T of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the crushed graham crackers.
- For Crust:
- 1½ cup of crushed molasses or gingerbread cookies
- 2 T butter, melted
- For Cheesecake:
- 16 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 T flour
- ¼ cup of blackstrap molasses
- ½ t ground cloves
- 1 t cinnamon
- 1 t vanilla
- ¼ cup of whipping cream or heavy cream
- 3 eggs
- Line the bottom of a 7-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
- For crust, combine cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 7-inch springform (cheesecake) pan and slightly up the sides of the pan.
- Place pan into the freezer while you are making the cheesecake batter.
- Prepare the pressure cooker by placing a steamer rack on the bottom and add 1½ cups water to the cooker. Prepare a sling for the cheesecake.
- For cheesecake batter, in your food processor, add the cream cheese and process until it is light and fluffy. Scrape the sides down as needed.
- Add the remaining ingredients through the whipping cream to the cream cheese and combine.
- Add the eggs one by one and pulse only enough to combine. Do not overtax at this point or the cake will end up with a fluffy texture.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan with the prepared crust.
- Wrap the bottom of the pan with tin foil, place a paper towel over the top of the cake and cover loosely with tin foil. Use the foil sling to lower the cheesecake into the pressure cooker.
- Set the time for 45 minutes on high pressure.
- After the cooking time is complete, allow the pressure cooker to natural release for 15 minutes. Then release remaining pressure and remove the cake using the foil sling.
- Remove the tin foil and paper towel covering the cake. Allow to rest at room temperature for one hour. Then move the cake to the fridge. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours or overnight. The cakes flavor will improve as it chills.
