Hazelnut and Chocolate Cheesecake

If you like chocolate and hazelnut – you have to try this special cheesecake, which combines them both. It’s so decadent, beautiful, rich and delicious, and even though the cake looks like a lot of work, the preparation is easy.

Photo: Natalie Levin

Hazelnut and Chocolate Cheesecake

24 cm round cake pan

For hazelnut crust:
200 grams plain biscuits or graham crackers
50 grams hazelnuts
1 tbsp. praline paste
120 grams melted butter

For Frangelico cheese filling:
675 grams cream cheese
200 grams ricotta or white cheese 5% fat
100 grams sour cream
240 grams sugar
4 large eggs
2 tbsp. Frangelico liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

For chocolate and praline ganache:
250 grams dark chocolate
1 heaping tablespoon of praline paste
250 ml. heavy cream

For hazelnut nougatine tuille:
50 grams glucose or corn syrup
25 grams butter
60 grams sugar
60 grams hazelnut, coarsely chopped

Preparation

1. Hazelnut crust: preheat oven to 170c degrees.
2. In a food processor with a steel blade put biscuits and hazelnuts and grind to a powder.
3. Add praline paste and melted butter and blend until incorporated.
4. Tighten the crumbs onto the bottom and sides of lightly greased cake pan.
5. Freeze for about 10 minutes.
6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until golden and slightly set. Cool at room temperature.
7. Frangelico cheese filling: in a large bowl mix cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sour cream and sugar into a smooth batter.
8. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring between additions.
9. Add Frangelico, vanilla and flour and blend into a smooth mixture.
10. Pour the mixture onto the baked crust.
11. Lower the oven temperature to 160c degrees and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the cake is set at the edges but still slightly soft in the center.
12. Cool at room temperature.
13. Chocolate and praline ganache: in a small saucepan simmer the cream.
14. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and praline paste and whisk until you get a uniform and shiny chocolate ganache.
15. Pour the chocolate ganache over the cake and smooth the top.
16. Cool the cake in refrigerator for 5-6 hours until it is completely
17. Hazelnut nougatine tuille: preheat oven to 180c degrees and line an oven pan with slightly greased baking paper.
18. In a small pan put glucose, butter and sugar and cook to 106c degrees. Mixture should thicken slightly and begin to get very light amber color.
19. Remove from heat, add the chopped nuts and mix.
20. Transfer the mixture onto the pan and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.
21. Cool completely at room temperature. Break the nougatine into asymmetrical pieces.
22. Decorate the cake with nougatine tuilles and serve.

Notes:

• Keep the cake in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to a week.
• Add the nougatine just before serving.
• You can use any kind of nut you like instead of hazelnuts.

Photo: Natalie Levin