When You’re Blue, Make Cheesecake - When You’re Happy, Make Cheesecake - Quarantine 2020

There are some things that make this crazy twilight zone that is 2020 seem normal, cheesecake makes me feel like not everything is through Alice's looking glass. 

I was sure I wrote up my cheesecake recipe before, then I checked the blog and found I had not done more than one version. Therefore, it is time to give you my Instant Pot cheesecake recipe. I make it with both lemon rind and orange rind. 

My husband's uncle loves my cheesecake so I make it every year for him for a celebration. He is 93 years old now and he still giggles when I say I will make him cheesecake. He loves it. 

Yesterday was my birthday. My daughter made the cheesecake, as always in the Instant Pot. The big slice that is missing is for hubbies' uncle. So before we added a candle, we made sure to cut the cake for him. He is in isolation so he could not join our little celebration. 

I posted one of my iPhone pictures (like the funky one above) on Facebook and 2 of my dear friends asked for the recipe. So here we are. Baby and I called this our "Blended Citrus Cheesecake Recipe" because it is a combination of the ones I learned in Culinary College and others I have tried. 

For the crust:

1 1/4 cups graham crackers (one packet of nine long strips)

3 tsp sugar

3 tbs melted butter

Combine everything in a food processor, pulse until a fine crumble is created. Press the crumble into your greased, parchment-lined bottom of the cheesecake pan and freeze until ready to pour in the cheesecake mixture. I use a Fat Daddio 7-3" pan. I will link below. It fit my 6- and 8-quart Instant Pot without a problem. Use the trivet that comes with the pot so you can lift out the finished cheesecake more easily. 

shorturl.at/juIR3

For the cheesecake mixture:

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbs flour

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Mix these ingredients together until smooth and set aside. 

2 packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar (we often end up adding a whole cup)

2 whole eggs, room temperature

Zest of one lemon

Zest of half a big orange (or add the zest of one whole small orange)

Pinch of salt

Cream the sugar and cream cheese. We did this in our KitchenAid mixer (paddle attachment). Add the eggs, then the sour cream/flour/vanilla paste made earlier. Once that has been mixed in well, incorporate the zest and lemon. 

Retrieve the frozen cheesecake pan and pour in this mixture.

For the Instant Pot:

1 cup of water

Pour the 1 cup of water into the bottom of your Instant Pot. Using the appropriate trivet, place the cheesecake into the pot. Seal the lid, and pressure cook for 30 minutes, on manual pressure. After the 30 minutes are up, let the cake sit in the pot for an additional 15 minutes. Then you can manually release any remaining pressure in the pot and take out the delicious cake to cool. 

Chill overnight in the fridge, cover with cling film, and enjoy the next day!

Let me know if you have any questions. 

~ Cookin Mum ~