A creamy mousse-like chocolate cheesecake wrapped in a crunchy toasted hazelnut-Oreo cookie crumb crust.
It’s that time again…. Roxana’s Chocolate Party! If you haven’t already guessed it, today’s surprise ingredient is hazelnuts. You may remember my first chocolate party post I did in April, my Mini Samoa Donuts. They were little cutie patooties. Today, I wanted to bring you something different. Something I haven’t made in a while which is cheesecake so I broke out the cream cheese and got started.
Originally I did a graham cracker crust and the darn thing crumbled to a billion pieces. It was neatly pressed in a 2-inch high pleated tart pan. Thought it looked cool and I was going for a similar look to my Sweet & Salty Boozy Irish Truffle Cake but the crust got stuck in the pleats of the pan. I guess it was just too complex for graham crackers. Ugh whatever!
Placing a 6-inch round pan under the tart pan to use as leverage to push downward was at the time, a brilliant idea. But, like the meathead that I am, I applied too much pressure and the pan slammed on the countertop causing the crumbs to fly everywhere! My dogs were happy. I, on the other hand, used every profane word in the book.
When you have a tiny NYC kitchen, you can’t always have all the appliances you want. There were many items I left behind when I moved. Food processor was one of them. (**Gasp**) I know, I know. You’re probably asking how could I.
Here’s the thing, I don’t normally need to crush things to fine crumbs and when I do, I use the ol’ ziplock bag method and I’m good to go. But when you work so hard to get those fine crumbs and the crust fails, it’s extremely annoying plus, I don’t like wasting food. With having to start over, this time, I switched things up and stuck to the basic 9-inch springform pan. Voila! Like magic! I think the cheesecake looks better dressed in black anyway. Isn’t it a beauty?!
PS: I was trying something different here with my photography. With countless number of hours trying to better my photos and create a new style for myself, I ended up with this. I’d like to call this crushed effect, “a beautiful mess.” I hope you like it too.
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Hazelnut Chocolate Cheesecake
- Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 9-inch cheesecake 1x
Description
A creamy mousse-like chocolate cheesecake wrapped in a crunchy toasted hazelnut-Oreo cookie crumb crust.
Ingredients
CRUST
- 2 cups (30 cookies) reduced-fat Oreos, finely crushed
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup (5.3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
CHEESECAKE
- 12 oz. semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
- 16 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 oz. whipped topping, thawed
- 1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped + 3 whole hazelnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. On an ungreased baking sheet pan, evenly spread all chopped hazelnuts. Toast nuts for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, combine all crust ingredients together. Press crumbs onto bottom and sides of a 9-inch round springform baking pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, melt baking chocolate in microwave on HIGH at 30 second intervals, stir and repeat until approximately 75 % of chocolate is melted. Continue stirring until completely melted; set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until just combined and smooth. Fold in whipped topping and gently mix in melted chocolate.
- Pour cheesecake batter into cooled crust. Use an angled spatula to evenly spread batter working from the center of the cheesecake to the edge being careful to not lift the crust.
- Garnish with remaining hazelnuts and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or until set. ENJOY!
Notes
Best served at room temperature. When storing, keep covered and in fridge.
Reduced-fat versions of this recipe can be substituted for the full-fat version if desired.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate cheesecake, Oreo crust, chocolate hazelnut crust