Instant Pot White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake

Instructions

1. Prepare a 7” springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper and brush melted butter onto the sides of the pan and on the parchment paper.
2. Start by making the crust:
3. In a food processor, grind the biscoff cookies (or Graham crackers) to form crumbs. In a mixing bowl, mix together the crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan, and using the back of a measuring cup, flatten out the crust.
4. Now, you could either blind-bake the crust in the oven at 180 C (350 F) for 10 minutes or freeze the crust in the freezer for 15 minutes. The baked crust is most crispy, and is my preferred way of making the crust.
5. Next, prepare the filling. Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature before you begin. The key here is to not overmix the ingredients. Using a stand mixer or a whisk and a bowl, beat the cream cheese for a couple of minutes until smooth.
6. Then add the sugar, melted white chocolate, corn-starch, cream, salt and vanilla essence. On the lowest speed setting of your mixer, beat the ingredients until just combined. Finally add the eggs and either use a hand whisk or the lowest setting of your stand/hand-held mixer and mix until just incorporated (this will take no more than 20 seconds of beating).
7. Transfer the batter into a 7” springform pan and give it a few raps on the counter, to break up any air bubbles.
8. Now cover the springform pan with a layer of kitchen paper towel, followed by a layer of aluminium foil. Tuck the foil neatly down the sides of the pan. The kitchen paper towel will absorb moisture that collects over the cheesecake, and keeps the surface of the cheesecake condensation-free.
9. In the Instant Pot, add around 1.5 cups of water. Place the prepared springform pan in the trivet that comes with the IP and lower it into the Instant Pot. Close the lid of the IP, with the vent in ‘sealing’ position, switch to ‘Manual’ mode (this is the ‘Pressure’ mode in newer models), in ‘High’ setting. Set the time for 35 minutes. Let the cheesecake cook, and let the steam release naturally (do not open the vent to release steam, let the vent go down on its own) for 10 minutes. Then, lift the vent to release any residual steam.
10. Take out the cheesecake using the sling, and allow it to cool for an hour. As the cheesecake is cooling, prepare the cranberry topping.
11. For the cranberry topping:
12. Drain the inner pot of the Instant Pot, rinse it and place it back in the IP. Add the cranberries, sugar and orange juice into the Instant Pot.
13. Close the lid of the IP, with the vent in ‘sealing’ position, switch to Manual or Pressure Cook mode, in ‘High’ setting. Set the time for 6 minutes.
14. Once cooked, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, release any residual steam and stir the cranberry compote inside the pot. The cranberry compote will thicken as it cools down. Let it cool for 5-7 minutes and top the cheesecake with the compote, while still runny.
15. Chill the cheesecake for 2 hours – 24 hours before you serve it.