What started as a routine kitchen upgrade turned into a dessert discovery for HOT 1027 Drive’s Tara Penny—one that left Patrick, Tony, and listeners craving cheesecake.

During a recent on-air chat, Tara shared her unexpected encounter with an air fryer recipe that sounded too good to be true: a ricotta and lime cheesecake made in just 32 minutes. “I was ready for a fight,” she laughed, recalling how she bought a new air fryer with a store voucher, only to stumble across the unlikely dessert in the instruction manual.

Skeptical but curious, Tara headed straight from the appliance store to buy cream cheese, fresh limes, and everything else on the list. “I even took the air fryer basket into the store to make sure I found a dish that would fit,” she said.

With expectations low and a complaint letter half-formed in her mind, Tara followed the simple steps—fully expecting failure. Instead? Magic. “Not the best air fryer cheesecake I’ve had,” she admitted, “the best cheesecake. Full stop.”

Her co-hosts were floored. “You’re kidding me,” said Tony. “In 32 minutes?”

It turns out air fryers aren’t just for guilt-free chips and reheated pizza. With a bit of curiosity (and a dash of lime), they can churn out a creamy, zesty dessert that punches well above its weight.

So if you’ve been underestimating your countertop companion, Tara’s now-legendary cheesecake might just inspire your next bake.

Ready to try it yourself?

Tara Penny’s Ricotta and lime airfryer cheesecake recipe

This dessert feeds 8-10 people, takes 10 minutes to prepare and needs approx. 25 minutes in the airfryer

INGREDIENTS:

1 large lime
500g ricotta
150g sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs

3 tbsp corn starch

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your airfryer to 160 degrees Celsius
Zest and juice the lime. In a bowl, combine the ricotta, sugar, vanilla essence, I tbsp lime juice and zest. Stir the ingredients until they are well combined and form a homogenous consistency.
Add the eggs one at a time and stir well. Add the corn starch and mix well. Pour the mixture into the oven dish.
Place the dish into the airfryer basket and slide the basket into the airfryer. Set the timer for 25 minutes. The cheesecake is ready when the timer rings and the centre is set.

Place the dish on a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Serve the pudding with a digestive biscuit crumbed over the top for an upsidedown cheesecake.