Pressure-Cooker Vanilla-Almond Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce

FASTER

VEGETARIAN

Makes 8 servings

The best cheesecakes come out of a pressure cooker. The humid environment means that the cake has almost no chance of drying out and cracking. And believe it or not, heavy cream lightens this cheesecake, making it less dense and chewy. Your pressure cooker must be able to fit a 7-inch springform pan—which means it must be a standard 6- or 8-quart model. You might even be able to make this cheesecake in a big 10-quart model, but you certainly can’t in the new smaller 3-quart cookers. In any event, the results are perfect for a casual evening on the deck or at your holiday table.

For the Cheesecake

¾ cup vanilla wafer crumbs (from about 20 cookies)

¼ cup sliced almonds

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for greasing the baking pan

5 tablespoons granulated white sugar

1 pound cream cheese

⅓ cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons almond flavored liqueur, such as Amaretto

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the Blueberry Sauce

2 cups blueberries

¼ cup granulated white sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon table salt

2 teaspoons cornstarch

To Make the Cheesecake

1. Place rack inside a 6- to 8-quart stovetop or electric pressure cooker; pour in 2 cups water.

2. Put the wafer crumbs, almonds, butter, and 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade; cover and process until finely ground, about like coarse sand.

3. Lightly butter the inside of a 7-inch springform pan; pour in the crumb mixture and press into an even crust on the bottom and halfway up the sides.

4. Wipe out the food processor. Add the cream cheese, brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar; cover and process until smooth, scraping down the inside of the bowl a couple of times.

5. With the machine running, add the eggs one at a time through the feed tube. Scrape down the bowl, then add the cream and liqueur, followed by the flour, processing each until smooth.

6. Scrape down the bowl one more time and process until creamy, almost velvety. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Do not cover.

7. Make an aluminum foil sling (see More!), set the pan on it, and use the sling to lower the pan onto the rack in the cooker. Fold down the ends of the sling so they fit inside the cooker, and lock the lid onto the pot.

8. To cook the cheesecake in a stovetop pressure cooker: Set the pot over high heat and bring it to low pressure (8 psi). Once this pressure has been reached, reduce the heat as much as possible while maintaining this pressure. Cook at low pressure for 35 minutes.

To cook the cheesecake in an electric pressure cooker: Set the machine to cook at high pressure (9 to 11 psi). Cook at high pressure for 25 minutes.

9. Set the stovetop cooker off the heat or unplug the electric pot; let the pressure come back to normal naturally, about 15 minutes.

10. Unlock and remove the lid. Use the sling to transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack. Cool for 1 hour.

11. Unfasten, loosen, and remove the pan’s collar. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before slicing.

To Make the Blueberry Sauce

12. As the cheesecake cools, make the blueberry sauce by combining the blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries begin to pop and break down, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch and cook until thickened, less than a minute, stirring constantly. Cool off the heat to room temperature.

13. Scrape the sauce into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until the cheesecake is ready to serve.

14. Spread the blueberry sauce over the top of the cake to run down its sides before slicing.

Test Kitchen Notes

• Look for a 7-inch springform pan in high-end cookware stores or order from a variety of online outlets. (A Google search will yield dozens of choices.)

• You’ll need a rack for the pressure cooker. Because of varying diameters among pressure cookers, as well as a variety of surfaces (nonstick, stainless steel, ceramic), you need to use a rack made specifically for your model—but almost all pressure cookers sold these days come with a rack. If not, all manufacturers sell racks for their models separately. You’ll find what you need with a quick online search.

• Grind 20 vanilla wafer cookies in the food processor, then measure the crumbs to make sure you have ¾ cup.

• Check the manufacturer’s instructions for bringing a stovetop cooker to low pressure.

• In electric cookers, override all presets to cook at high pressure. However, some electric pressure cookers work at a higher pressure (around 12 psi). For these, use the stovetop timings for this recipe.

An aluminum foil sling helps get bakeware out of a hot pressure cooker. Fold a 2-foot-long sheet of foil in half lengthwise, then again in half lengthwise. Set the baking pan in the center, lift up the ends, and hoist the pan into the cooker. Fold these ends down a bit before you lock on the lid. When the pressure is back to normal, unfold them and use them to lift the pan out of the cooker.