Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate Swirl

This Instant Pot pumpkin cheesecake with a chocolate swirl top is bursting with flavor. The small 6 inch size makes it the perfect end to a family dinner. It's part of my collection of small cake recipes.

If you've never made cheesecake in a pressure cooker, this Instant Pot pumpkin cheesecake is the one to start with. The steamy environment inside the pot cooks the cheesecake gently, so there's no water bath to fuss with and far less chance of cracking than in a dry oven.

This is a small 6 inch cheesecake, which is exactly why I like it. You get a rich, spiced pumpkin dessert, beautifully decorated with a chocolate swirl. It's also sized for a family dinner instead of a week of leftovers, and your oven stays free for everything else. That makes it a favorite of mine for Thanksgiving.

I first got hooked on pressure cooker cheesecakes after testing a few for my post on Instant Pot cheesecakes, and I knew I'd eventually come back with my own recipe.

Pumpkin season and a surplus of pumpkin puree cans in my pantry made the decision for me. I've also made a Baileys Cheesecake Made in Instant Pot using the same method.

Why Make Cheesecake in the Instant Pot

No water bath. A traditional cheesecake needs a water bath to keep the oven's dry heat from setting the edges before the center is done. It's a complicated setup involving foil, a roasting pan, and a kettle of hot water. The Instant Pot skips all of it. The two cups of water you add to the pot become steam, and that steam is the water bath.

Gentler heat means fewer cracks. Cracks form when the outside of the cheesecake cooks faster than the inside and the surface tightens as it cools. Steam under pressure surrounds the pan evenly and holds a steady temperature, so the whole cheesecake sets at close to the same rate. Cracks are not impossible but they are less likely.

Your oven stays free. This is especially important for anyone cooking a large feast. Cheesecake takes over an hour of oven time at exactly the point in the day when the oven is full of everything else. Making dessert on the counter instead of in the oven solves a real Thanksgiving problem.

It's the right size. A 6 inch cheesecake gives you eight slices, which is dessert for a family dinner rather than a two week commitment.

Ingredients

For the crust:

• Cinnamon graham crackers. Cinnamon grahams give the crust noticeably more flavor than plain ones and are worth seeking out. Honey graham crackers work too. If that's what you have, add a dash of ground cinnamon.
• Granulated sugar. Just enough to help the crust set up crisp.
• Unsalted butter. Melted, to bind the crumbs.

For the filling:

• Cream cheese. Use full fat block cream cheese. The first time I made this I used reduced fat Neufchatel and the cheesecake had a sour edge to it that I didn't like. Full fat gave me the flavor and texture I was after.
• Granulated sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar adds a little molasses depth that suits the pumpkin and spice.
• Eggs. Room temperature, added one at a time.
• Pumpkin puree. Canned pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced.
• Vanilla extract.
• Pumpkin pie spice. Store bought is fine. My homemade pumpkin pie spice is what I use.
• Flour. A spoonful to help the filling set.

For the marbled chocolate swirl:

• Semi sweet chocolate chips. Melted with hot cream into a quick ganache for the swirl.
• Heavy cream. Heated just to a boil and poured over the chocolate.

How to Make Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake

Full details are in the recipe card below but here's a quick summary.

Start with the crust. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter, press them into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan, and freeze it while you make the filling. The freezer step firms up the butter so the crust holds its shape when the batter goes in.

Mix the filling gently. Beat the cream cheese and sugars smooth first, then add the eggs one at a time, then everything else. Mix only until things come together. Air whipped into cheesecake batter expands under pressure and can leave you with a puffed, uneven top.

Make the ganache and swirl. Hot cream poured over chocolate chips, stirred smooth, then a couple spoonfuls of the pumpkin batter stirred in so the two mixtures are similar enough in thickness to swirl well. Details on the swirl itself are below.

Wrap the pan and pressure cook. After filling the pan and making the swirl, cover the top of the pan with a paper towel and then foil. Condensation collects on the lid during cooking, and without that barrier it drips straight onto your cheesecake. Set the pan on the trivet above two cups of water, cook on high pressure, then let the pressure release naturally before opening. Let it cool completely and then chill it in the refrigerator until completely cold and set.

How to Make the Chocolate Swirl

We are not fans of whipped cream toppings, so I finish this one with a chocolate swirl instead. You don't have to do this but don't NOT do it because you are afraid. It's a lot easier than you think and I'll break it down for you.

To get the marbled effect, start by loosening the ganache with enough pumpkin batter to make it swirl smoothly. Then drop the chocolate-pumpkin batter in a circular pattern around the cheesecake, but not too close to the edge.

The trick to getting pretty swirls is not to drag your skewer through it so many times. Go through each drop of chocolate once one way without lifting your skewer. (So, you should be drawing a circle with your skewer.) Then, without lifting the skewer cut through each drop again but this time going in and out of the circle you drew before. That's it. Don't overdo it.

My cheesecake cracked slightly and I left it alone. You can fix a crack using my method for fixing a cracked cheesecake, but the repair would flatten the swirl, so with a design on top you're choosing one or the other. A small crack among the swirls is not very noticeable.

If you love this marble pumpkin cheesecake, you will love my black bottom cupcakes which also combine chocolate and cheesecake.

How to Tell When It's Done

The 40 minute cook time works well for me but sometimes small circumstances like batter temperature or pan material can change how your cheesecake cooks. When you open the pot and remove the cheesecake pan, give it a jiggle. A finished cheesecake should be solid but jiggle just slightly.

If the center still seems to be a loose liquid it means it needed more time. Place it back in the Instant Pot and restart it on manual pressure for another 5 minutes with a 15 minute natural release.

Make Ahead, Storage, and Freezing

Cheesecake is the ultimate Thanksgiving dessert because it has to be made in advance anyway. The finished cheesecake keeps in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 days and it's small enough to fit into a large rectangular or square airtight container.

You can also freeze it for up to one month, whole or sliced, in an airtight container. Chill it in the refrigerator first so it is completely set before freezing, then thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before serving.