Ingredients
Cake
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted (direction to follow)
2 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 Cup sugar
4 eggs
Chocolate Crust
1 pkg Nabisco chocolate wafers
1 cube butter, melted
Caramel Sauce
1 1/2 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup water
1 1/4 Cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9inch springform pan, 3 inches deep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on shallow baking sheet and bake for 15 min. After removing from oven rub them while warm in a dish towel and the skins will come right off. They don't all have to be off. Grind them in a food processor. It doesn't matter if they are not evenly ground. Set aside.
For the crust:
Break up cookies and put in food processor. Add melted butter. Mix a few seconds til ground. Press on sides first then on bottom of pan. Bake for 10 min. Remove and cool.
For filling:
Put cheese in bowl of electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until absolutely smooth. Add sugar. Stop occasionally and scrape sides of bowl with spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, being careful not to beat any more than necessary to thoroughly mix all the ingredients. Stir in the nuts with a rubber spatula.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and then cover the outside of the pan with foil to prevent leakage. Place the pan inside another larger pan, so that the cake pan does not touch the sides, but no more than 3 inches deep. A roasting pan is perfect. Pour 1 1/2 inches of hot water in the roasting pan, place it in the oven and bake 1 1/2 hrs, or until the top is golden brown and feels dry to the touch. It should still wiggle a little. Mine took 1 hr and 25 min. Place baked cheesecake on a rack to cool. Do not cool in the refrigerator. When cool, remove sides carefully and refrigerate.
Caramel Sauce
Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. cook over low heat for 5 to 10 min, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown, about 5 to 7 min, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful, the mixture is extremely hot! Watch very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.
Simmer over low heat stirring constantly until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool to room temp, about 4 hrs. It will thicken as it sits.
To serve:
Put a little caramel sauce on the plate, set the slice of cheesecake on top. Put a little dollop of whipped cream on top and one hazelnut on the cream. Gorgeous!
Cake
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted (direction to follow)
2 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 Cup sugar
4 eggs
Chocolate Crust
1 pkg Nabisco chocolate wafers
1 cube butter, melted
Caramel Sauce
1 1/2 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup water
1 1/4 Cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9inch springform pan, 3 inches deep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on shallow baking sheet and bake for 15 min. After removing from oven rub them while warm in a dish towel and the skins will come right off. They don't all have to be off. Grind them in a food processor. It doesn't matter if they are not evenly ground. Set aside.
For the crust:
Break up cookies and put in food processor. Add melted butter. Mix a few seconds til ground. Press on sides first then on bottom of pan. Bake for 10 min. Remove and cool.
For filling:
Put cheese in bowl of electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until absolutely smooth. Add sugar. Stop occasionally and scrape sides of bowl with spatula. Add eggs, one at a time, being careful not to beat any more than necessary to thoroughly mix all the ingredients. Stir in the nuts with a rubber spatula.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and then cover the outside of the pan with foil to prevent leakage. Place the pan inside another larger pan, so that the cake pan does not touch the sides, but no more than 3 inches deep. A roasting pan is perfect. Pour 1 1/2 inches of hot water in the roasting pan, place it in the oven and bake 1 1/2 hrs, or until the top is golden brown and feels dry to the touch. It should still wiggle a little. Mine took 1 hr and 25 min. Place baked cheesecake on a rack to cool. Do not cool in the refrigerator. When cool, remove sides carefully and refrigerate.
Caramel Sauce
Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. cook over low heat for 5 to 10 min, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown, about 5 to 7 min, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful, the mixture is extremely hot! Watch very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.
Simmer over low heat stirring constantly until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool to room temp, about 4 hrs. It will thicken as it sits.
To serve:
Put a little caramel sauce on the plate, set the slice of cheesecake on top. Put a little dollop of whipped cream on top and one hazelnut on the cream. Gorgeous!
Note: When making the caramel sauce and it is in the 1st stage of dissolving the sugar, don't stir, but be sure and use a pastry brush and kind of brush down the sides so the crystals don't build up on the side of the pan. Also, it took about 12-13 minutes to turn amber color for me.
ReplyDeleteThis was super good, but I like cheesecake! I liked the hazelnuts and UJ thought it was the best!
ReplyDeletethanks mom! Of course UJ loved it, he is the biggest nut lover I know! I thought the chocolate crust and caramel sauce was outstanding with the creamy cheesecake!
ReplyDelete