Mojito Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup graham or vanilla wafer crumbs
2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp melted butter

Cheesecake Layer:

16-oz (2 pkg) cream cheese, warmed
1 cup sugar (sugar substitutes work well, too)
3 eggs (warm 5 minutes in bowl of warm water)
1/4 cup lime juice
3/4 tsp peppermint
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp lime zest

Lime Curd Topping

1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup lime juice
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
2 tsp lime zest

Directions:

*The recipe and cook times are for a 7” cheesecake pan. Adjusted times for other pans are included below.

**Warm the cream cheese in a Ziplock bag and submerge in a sink or bowl full of hot tap water to soften and make it easy to blend. *Ruth advised also warming the eggs in the same water bath.

I use the 7" Fat Daddio push pan, but any cheesecake pan that fits in your pressure cooker will do. Spray it with baking spray if you prefer.

CRUST: Mix ingredients with a fork and gently press it in the bottom of the pan and up the sides a bit if you like. Don't press the crust in too firmly. It will be easier to serve if you use a gentle touch. Put it in the freezer or if you prefer, bake it at 350 for 9 minutes, then cool completely.

CHEESECAKE LAYER: Mix all ingredients except the egg until completely smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time and incorporate till smooth. This is best done by hand or with a food processor, but the main thing is to not overbeat once the egg is in. Pour the filling into the crust.

**You could also add some white rum to make it even more like the Mojito highball said to originally come from Cuba. If you want to do this, simply add up to 2 tablespoons of white rum to the basic cheesecake batter recipe without adjusting the other ingredients. If adding 2-4 tablespoons, add an extra egg yolk.

Put 1 cup water and the trivet into the IP. Place the cheesecake on the trivet, close the lid and set the valve to Sealing. Hit Pressure Cook (or Manual) and use the + and – buttons to get to 28 minutes for a 7-inch pan.

PAN SIZE AND COOK TIMES:

6-inch pan --- 31 minutes
7-inch pan --- 28 minutes
8-inch pan --- 25 minutes

For 1 1/2 times the recipe:

7–inch pan --- 32 minutes
8-inch pan --- 29 minutes

For two times the recipe:

8-inch pan --- 34 minutes

When it beeps that it's done, leave it for a 15-minutes Natural Release. Then flip the valve to Venting for a Quick Release. When the pin drops, take out the cheesecake.

Ignore any condensation until it cools for an hour on the counter. Then blot it off with a paper towel. Then cover the cheesecake and refrigerate it in the pan for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

To serve, run a knife around the edge to release it from the ring. If you use a push pan, set it on a peanut butter jar or a can of tomatoes and pull the ring straight down. Voila. Perfect cheesecake.

If you have difficulty getting it off the bottom of the pan, run a dish towel under piping hot water and wring it out. Fold it on the counter and set the cheesecake pan on it for 30 seconds. The butter in the crust will soften, making it much easier to remove.

**If you like a denser cheesecake, simply add 2 to 5 minutes to the cook time. Likewise, if you prefer a creamier version you can cook for a minute or 2 less than suggested. The egg content can also be played with to make it more or less firm. It’s really all up to you and there are many factors you can adjusted to get it just the way you wish, if you’re persistent.

LIME CURD TOPPING: I like this cheesecake with the lime curd as a topping, which is a very simple recipe to make. To keep with the Mojito theme and make the topping a mint-lime curd, simply add 3/4 tsp of peppermint extract to the lime version of the Lemon Curd recipe from The Rootitoot Cookbook, Vol. 1, pg 176. Full recipe directions also on the website.

Mix all the ingredients on the list at the same time in an oven-safe dish or casserole, or even mason jars. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes, leave it for a 10-minute natural release and then after pressing "cancel" and venting the remaining pressure, take it out of the pot and whisk the heck out of it. You may need to whisk it again once it cools but that’s pretty much it.