Pepper Jelly Lemon Cheesecake {Electric Pressure Cooker Recipe}

I am dubbing today EXPERIMENTATION DAY!  Pretty much because I haven’t made a basic cheesecake since over 10-years ago and to top it off, I’ve never made it inside a pressure cooker, period!  But I found a recipe online and I just really wanted to try it out because I was so curious about the end result.  Besides, I loooove cheesecake!  I went through 3-4 years of being lactose intolerant and couldn’t have any at all during that time.  But ever since I cured my lactose intolerance a few years ago, it’s yummy in my tummy time!

Okay, honestly, I don’t eat cheesecake that often, otherwise, I’d be over 300lbs.  But just last week my friends and I went to the Cheesecake Factory and I ordered their Key Lime Mango Cheesecake and it was drool-worthy delicious!  So I sort of wanted to see if I could make my own after that.  And from there, the recipe kind of snow balled.  Instead of making it key lime with mango, I wanted to incorporate Pepper Jelly again.  You can read about my yummy relationship with pepper jelly here.
And O M G!  Now that I know how easy it is to make cheesecakes in the pressure cooker, I am going to make a never-ending supply of cheesecakes galore!  It comes out so moist and creamy, I’m eating bite after bite as I write this.

INGREDIENTS:
For the Crust
6 Sheets of Graham Crackers
2 Cups of Macaroon Cookies
2 Tbsp Butter

For the Filling:
16oz. Cream Cheese (Room Temperature)
1/2 Cup White Sugar
2 Small Eggs
1-1/2 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp. Freshly Grated Lemon Zest
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1-2 Tbsp. Habanero Peppery Jelly (Depending on how potent you want it)

First, let’s form the crust.  Using a food processor, put all the graham crackers and macaroons into the machine and process the cookies until they are all crumbly.  Add the butter to the mix and process it until it’s a bit loosely clumped.  Depending on the size of your pressure cooker, you will need a spring-form baking pan.  For the 8-quart pots, I’d recommend a 7″ pan or smaller.  (I made the mistake of using an 8.5″ pan and my cheesecake was not as high and dense as I would’ve liked.)
Grease the bottom and sides of the pan with some butter.  Pack all the crumbles into the spring-form pan and  form a nice thick crust on the bottom and about an 1-inch high up the sides.

Now, let’s make the filling.  In a stand mixer or you can use a hand mixer in a bowl.  Beat the cream cheese together with the sugar first.  Then add the rest of the ingredients to the mix and blend until smooth and creamy.  Pour the mixer into the spring-form pan over the crust.  Carefully smooth it out so it fills the pan evenly.

Now comes the pressure cooker’s part of the equation.  Pour 2-3 cups of water into the bottom of the pressure cooker’s cooking pot.  Then place a trivet into the pot.
Cover the spring-form pan with a sheet of foil over the top.  This is to prevent condensation from gathering and pooling in the center of the cheesecake later when it’s done.  Place the pan on top of the trivet inside the pressure cooker.  Some people like to make a little sling using a long sheet of foil.  This helps to lift out the pan later, but I didn’t find it necessary.
Shut the lid of the pressure cooker.  Turn and lock it into position.  Adjust the pressure valve to Airtight.  Press the Set Pressure Cook Time button and program the machine for 15-minutes.  Then press the START button.  Ta da!

That’s pretty much it.  Let the pressure cooker do its “thang”.  When it’s done with the 15-minute cycle, it will beep and go to keep warm.  Allow the machine to actually drop down in the pressure naturally.  That means, don’t adjust the valve on the top to Exhaust.  Just let the pressure drop on its own, it’ll take about 10-minutes or so.
When that’s done, you can test by finally turning the valve to Exhaust.  No pressure or steam should escape.  You can now turn and unlock the lid and open it.  Press the CANCEL button to turn off the pressure cooker’s warming function.  Leave the lid open and allow the cheesecake to cool down a bit before removing the whole spring-form pan out of the machine.
The cheesecake will look super moist and the crust may look soggy, but don’t worry, it’ll all settle down and look perfect soon.  I like my cheesecake served cold, so pop it into the fridge for about an hour or two.  Then release it from the spring-form pan.  Slice and serve with some whip cream and maybe a dollup of pepper jelly.

The pepper jelly flavor should be mild but it gives a unique spicy kick to the sweet lemony flavor.  The macaroon coconut crust is delish, it’s my favorite part.  Now that I know how to make desserts in the pressure cooker, we are going to be in deep trouble!!!