Instant Pot dessert recipes for cheesecake and bread pudding that will wow you
I am an Instant Pot enthusiast and am not afraid to say so. I use it to feed my family on the regular because, as many of my fellow IP-lovers know, it “cooks” a variety of items (steel cut oats, large cuts of meat, beans, rice) much more quickly and with less mess (and often equally as well, if not better) than my oven or stove top.
No, my kitchen does not fill with the aroma of warming beef stew or bacon-y black beans when I employ my Instant Pot for meal-making, but it also does not heat up uncomfortably as I race around trying to get dinner on the table post-work. Moreover, because it does triple duty as a pressure cooker, slow cooker and rice cooker, it saves valuable kitchen space and money.
For all these reasons, I adore it.
But for the past year and change, I have begun using my Instant Pot not only to assemble savory dishes, but to make dessert, as well, and it is fair to say that my love for the-most-versatile-countertop-appliance-in-the-land has grown exponentially — and that is saying something.
Not every sweet lends itself to “baking up” in the steamy environment that is the IP. But if you choose your treats wisely, like those with a texture that benefits from said cooking atmosphere — cheesecake and bread pudding, I’m looking at you — the rewards are many (including time saved, stress avoided (more on that below) and the creamiest and dreamiest of sweets savored). Moreover, Instant Pot desserts tend to be on the petite-side, making them especially fitting for this particular holiday season when we are gathering with, and feeding, fewer folks than is the norm.
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Here are the best desserts to make, the tools you’ll need and all the tips and tricks you’ll want in your (apron) pocket when “baking” in your Instant Pot.
The Instant Pot excels at “baking up” luscious, custards and puddings, cakes with a dense, moist crumb; think sticky toffee pudding or dense “snacking cakes” (since the IP only “bakes” a single layer of cake at a time anyway, it is perfect for snack cake-making), creme brulee, rice pudding, flan, clafoutis, chocolate pots de creme, lemon pudding cake, and the aforementioned cheesecake and bread pudding.
In essence, all the treats that benefit from water baths are excellent candidates for the Instant Pot (and then some), but without any of the hassle of filling said water bath, carrying said water bath to the oven, spilling said water bath — you get the picture. And because such desserts are conventionally baked low and slow, the Instant Pot saves you actual time, as well as figurative time spent worrying about fluctuating oven temperatures and the like. Once the Instant Pot reaches pressure/temperature, it just stays that way.
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Tools and tips: A round pan that is 7-inches in diameter fits well in a 3-, 6- or 8-quart IP — and a metal one with a removable bottom is clutch for cheesecakes; and one without, for variety, is useful for other desserts, such as snack cakes or custards.
You will also need a trivet, with handles, to keep the pan of food above the water level in the Instant Pot. If your trivet does not have handles, you can make a sling with a 20-inch piece of aluminum foil, folding it up the long side into a 4-inch wide strip. Place your pan on the center of the strip and use the two long ends to lower it in and out of the pot. Pro tip: You can save the sling and reuse it.
If you don’t have a trivet, you can create a makeshift one using a thick coil of aluminum foil, shaped into a 7-inch circle. Place it in the bottom of your pot and carefully rest your pan on top of it. Or you can use an upside-down heatproof bowl, a cake pan or thick cookie cutters. Just be sure that whatever you use is tall enough to keep your pan above the water level.
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Foolproof and forgiving: Though making desserts in an Instant Pot removes many of the variables one confronts when baking in an oven, each Instant Pot is slightly different from the next. Your pot might come to pressure more slowly than mine or release its pressure more quickly; and your cheesecake might have only a slight jiggle in the center after the allotted time, whereas mine might be quite wobbly.
But here’s the thing I have learned after much baking under pressure: The beauty of the IP is that none of that matters. If the recipe says the pot will come to pressure more quickly than it does or release pressure more slowly than it does, that’s okay. And if after the allotted time, your treat is slightly underbaked for your taste, you merely place it back in the pot for a few extra minutes.
It’s close to impossible to overbake in the IP, and underbaking is an easy fix.
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Finishing touches: Because of its wet environment, the Instant Pot does not always produce the prettiest of desserts. There are no burnished edges or browned tops, because when we bake in an Instant Pot, we do so to achieve creamy textures, to save time and to remove guesswork.
But Instant Pot desserts can still be striking when we dust them with confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder, when we top them with brightly hued fruit compote or dollop them with lightly whipped cream; or when we glaze them with ganache or caramel.
Baking in the Instant Pot, just like cooking in it, frees up room in your (sometimes finicky) oven, keeps your kitchen cool, is less messy and faster than conventional baking and works absolute magic with so many of our favorite holiday/anytime desserts. Give it a try. Baking under pressure might be just the easy, sweet-making shortcut for which you didn’t even know you’ve been longing.
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