You Should Start Making Cheesecake In A Slow Cooker. Here's Why
If you love dairy and dessert, chances are you're a fan of cheesecake. This smooth, creamy, and delectably rich dessert is a favorite for many, whether it's a cream cheese-heavy New York style or a lighter Italian cheesecake shot through with fluffy ricotta cheese. But as tasty as cheesecake is, it can be quite a pain to make at home. It can be time-consuming and involves a notoriously sensitive batter prone to curdling or cracking in the oven. As explained by Fine Cooking, cheesecake batter is essentially a starch-free custard. That means the eggs in the batter thickens and emulsifies the custard, also requiring gentle heat to maintain a smooth texture without any curdling or cracking.
The Spruce Eats recommends baking a cheesecake inside a water bath or bain-marie to achieve a gentle heat that thoroughly cooks the cheesecake without any splitting. But did you know you can achieve the same result with home-baked cheesecake using your slow cooker?
The slow cooker's low, steady heat yields a creamy, silky cheesecake
Want to whip up a creamy, crack-free cheesecake at home but don't feel like dealing with the extra step of creating a hot water bath inside your oven? This slow cooker cheesecake from Kitchn may be just what you need. In their adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe, the outlet explains that the gentle heat of the slow cooker coupled with its extended cooldown period helps prevent any curdling or cracking of the delicate cheesecake custard.
So how do you cook a cheesecake in a slow cooker? Kitchn suggests filling the appliance base with a half-inch of hot water before setting three one-inch aluminum foil balls in the water to support the cheesecake. After making your cheesecake filling and crust inside a 6-inch pan, lower the prepared cheesecake on top of the aluminum foil and set the slow cooker to high. Cook the cake for about 1.5 hours. Once the slow cooker is turned off, the cheesecake rests for an additional hour, where the slow cooldown time ensures a flawless finish with no cracks. If you love this recipe, Martha has a pressure-cooked Instant Pot cheesecake recipe that sounds just as easy and tasty.