Instant Pot White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry-covered cheesecake on wood cutting board

Instant Pot White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

Creamy cheesecake with a hint of white chocolate, covered with a delicious strawberry sauce made from fresh strawberries. And it's all made in the Instant Pot!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Chill Time 8

Total Time 55

Servings slices

Calories 438kcal

Author Gary White

Ingredients

Cheesecake Crust

8 graham crackers 120 grams
3 Tbsp. butter melted

Cheesecake Batter

16 oz. cream cheese room temperature
⅓ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup white chocolate baking chips
½ cup heavy cream room temperature
2 eggs room temperature

Strawberry Sauce

1 lb. strawberries ½ diced, ½ halved
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
1 ½ tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. water

Instructions

Cheesecake Crust

Place graham crackers in food processor and blend until fine. Or place in large zip top bag and roll with rolling pin to crush the crackers.
Place graham cracker crumbs in bowl and combine with melted butter. Using a fork, stir to combine well.
Pour crumbs into 7×3 inch push pan or spring form pan. Using a glass with a flat bottom, press into an even layer. (Optional: To make it easier to slide your finished cheesecake off the pan, place a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of your pan before filling with crumbs.)

Cheesecake Batter

Combine cornstarch and sugar in a small bowl. Add cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch to a medium bowl. Beat until smooth, using a spatula to scrape down sides of bowl as you go.
In a microwave safe bowl, combine white chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave chips and heavy cream for 20-30 seconds, then whisk until completely smooth. If chips are not melted after one minute of whisking, microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. The time needed will vary depending on how warm your house is, and the wattage of your microwave. In a warm house with a high wattage microwave, 20 seconds will be all you need.
Let white chocolate mixture cool until warm, not hot, then fold into cream cheese mixture until completely combined.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat until just combined.
Remove cheesecake crust from freezer and pour batter into pan. (Optional: Tap pan gently against table/counter to bring air bubbles to the surface. Use a fork or toothpick to pop air bubbles.)
Add 1 ½ cups water and 3-inch trivet to Instant Pot. Cover cheesecake with foil, and place on trivet. Cook for 40 minutes at high pressure, then allow a natural pressure release.
Once pressure is released, turn off Instant Pot and carefully remove cheesecake. Remove foil and allow cheesecake to cool for one hour or until room temperature.
Once cool, carefully run a paring knife around the edge of the cheesecake to separate from pan, but do not remove from pan. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Carefully push cheesecake up from push pan by placing center of push pan on a can or glass and pushing edges down. If using springform pan, gently remove outer edge of pan.

Strawberry Sauce

Dice half of the strawberries. Cut the remaining strawberries in half lengthwise. (Pick out the prettiest strawberries to keep for this step!)
Once cheesecake is finished cooking, clean Instant Pot. Then add strawberries, vanilla, lemon juice and sugar. Mix well, then press sauté (set to normal temp).
Bring to a simmer, stirring often. Let simmer until strawberries are almost completely broken down and sauce thickened (7 to 10 minutes).
Add cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and water mixed together) and stir. Then add halved strawberries and stir. Continue to cook until strawberry halves begin to soften (about 2 minutes). Remove inner pot from Instant Pot and allow sauce to cool completely.
Once sauce is cooled, spoon onto the top of prepared cheesecake. (See note.) You can put as little or as much as you want. We used it all, which resulted in sauce drizzling down the sides. Using two forks, flip all of the halved strawberries so that the cut side faces down. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Notes

If you do not have access to a microwave to heat the cream and white chocolate chips, you can do this step in your IP with a stainless steel bowl, using it as a double boiler as seen here.
Do not place the cheesecake directly in the refrigerator from the Instant Pot, as this could result in cracking. Allow it to cool at room temperature for one hour, or until it reaches room temperature, before placing in the refrigerator.
If you prefer a cheesecake that is not oozing with strawberry sauce, you can carefully separate the strawberries from the sauce. Drizzle the desired amount of sauce onto the cheesecake. Then, carefully place the strawberries using two forks until the desired look is achieved.
Do not add the strawberry sauce to the cheesecake until the cheesecake has cooled in the refrigerator for several hours and has been removed from the pan. I usually prepare the sauce when the cheesecake has only an hour or two left to chill in the fridge.

FAQs

What size Instant Pot did you use? We use a 6qt Instant Pot Duo.

What kind of pan did you use? We use a Fat Daddio's 7 x 3 Inch Cheese Cake Pan, also known as a push pan. A 7-Inch Springform Pan will also work.

Can I use the trivet that came with my Instant Pot? We recommend using a 3-inch trivet to make sure the cheesecake pan is not touching the water. You can purchase a 3-inch trivet on Amazon for under $10.

Nutrition