Saturday, May 22, 2021

Japanese style chocolate cheesecake cooked under pressure

This is my variation on a recipe I found when I was wondering what kind of a dessert I can make in Instant Pot. I added a few ingredients and replaced the white chocolate with dark chocolate and honey. The result was impressive, and it seems this cake is becoming a part of our regular repertoire.

Ingredients:

  • 4 oz dark chocolate - I like to use 70%
  • 4 oz full-fat cream cheese at room temperature
  • 4 TBS honey or to taste
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • very small pinch of salt
  • 2 TBS sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • juice of one small to medium lemon
  • 1 -2 TBS grand mariner, optional
Method:
  1. Add 1 inch of water in a pot, bring it to simmer
  2. Add the chocolate to a metal bowl that sits well on top of the pot and melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally
  3. Remove the bowl from the, add the cream cheese, and whisk it until you get a smooth mixture. A little speck of cream cheese here and there adds to the experience, but there should be no cheese chunks.
  4. Add the egg yolks, the honey, the salt, the vanilla extract, and the lemon juice to the chocolate cream mixture and mix well. The mixture may become smoother and shinier.
  5. Make meringue from the egg whites: Whisk the whites to a soft peak, gradually add the sugar, and continue whisking until you have a stiff meringue. Note that the bowl should not be greasy, that will possibly prevent meringue from forming.
  6. Add 1/4 of the meringue to the chocolate mix and fold carefully. Then add all of the remaining meringue and fold it into the chocolate mix.
  7. Grease a cake spring-form pan that fits into your instant pot, and line the bottom with parchment  paper.
  8. Fill the cake pan with the chocolate mix and smooth the top.
  9. To an Instant Pot pot, add 1 cup of water. Put the cake pan on top of the Instant Pot rivet, and lower it into the pot.
  10. Cook on high pressure for 17 minutes, then let the pressure drop naturally.
  11. Take the cake out of the Instant Pot and cool it on a rack. 
  12. Remove the sides of the cake pan, separate the cake from the pan gently with a knife if needed.
  13. Invert the cake pan on top of a plate and remove the parchment paper.
  14. Cover the cake with plastic wrap, and cool it in a fridge - I like to do it over night.
  15. Serve dusted with icing sugar that will hide any imperfections. A good accompaniment can be a dollop of a slightly sour jam. Of course, one can always add whipped cream, but I think the cake is rich enough as is.