what are you baking for Easter?

Probably just Amish white bread. My sister was just here for a week so we’ve been on sugar and carb overload.  While she was here we made chocolate and white cake pops dipped in chocolate, THESE raspberry sweet rolls (warning, the recipe makes two 9x13 pans) and I made a turtle cheesecake in the Instant Pot the day they arrived.   

I'm pretty sure I need that IP Turtle Cheesecake recipe for future reference!

Carrot cake...with white and orange ruffles on the side with a bunny butt poking out of a Bush ontop.
Hubby wants Strawberry shortcake cake....the strawberry patch just opened for the season down the road.
We will be getting Britts doughnuts after church on Sunday...

I kind of made it up as I went along using what I had done with previous recipes.   This was what I did:

Turtle Cheesecake for the Instant Pot

Crust:
12 chocolate Oreos, crushed in a food processor
2 Tbsp butter, melted

Cheesecake filling:
2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 eggs, room temperature
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Toppings:
THIS Microwave Caramel Sauce (I make it ahead of time so it can cool)
THIS Microwave Hot Fudge Sauce (also made ahead)
3/4 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

Before you do anything else, use the two recipes above to make the caramel and hot fudge sauces in the microwave and set them aside to cool. They’re very quick and easy to make and are so good on ice cream or in other recipes, so I like to keep a mason jar of each made up in my fridge.

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 350° F and prepare a 6-7” springform or push bottom cheesecake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Combine the crushed cookies with melted butter and press firmly into the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides. Bake for 8-10 minutes and allow to cool.

While the crust is baking and cooling, prepare the filling by first melting the semisweet chocolate and allow it to cool while you do the following steps. Beat the softened cream cheese with the paddle attachment of your mixer until all lumps are gone. In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and stir briskly with a whisk to get any lumps out. Combine the powdered sugar and cocoa with the cream cheese until smooth and blended. Add the eggs one at a time mixing on low speed, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the melted and cooled chocolate and mix on low until combined. Pour the filling mixture over the cooled crust and spread evenly (it will be thick). I tap the pan flat on the counter several times to release any air bubbles. Completely cover the bottom and sides of the pan with aluminum foil to keep water from leaking in.

Place the rack into the pot of the pressure cooker (I have an 8 qt IP) and a cup of COLD water. Place the foil covered pan onto the rack. If your rack doesn’t have handles, you will want to make an aluminum foil sling to make it easier to get the pan out after cooking. Secure the lid and set the IP to manual, high pressure for 25 minutes. When the time is up, allow the IP to naturally release pressure (15-20 minutes or so) then open up the lid. If there is any condensation on top of the cheesecake it can be blotted off with a paper towel. Leave the cheesecake in the opened pressure cooker pot until it’s cool enough to handle. Leave the cheesecake in the pan and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight to chill. Before serving, pop the cheesecake out of the pan and onto a serving plate, then top the cheesecake with a layer of caramel sauce, a layer of chocolate fudge sauce and the toasted pecans.

We cut a 7” cheesecake into 8 pieces, but YMMV if you want a bigger pieces it will serve 6 nicely. We like this size because it’s a wonderful treat that doesn’t last more than a couple days in our house for our family of three. 

Enjoy!