I Bake For Attention: Nutella Cheesecake

Or, supermarket own brand chocolate hazelnut spread cheesecake. Cordon Bleu!

This baked cheesecake is very simple and utterly delicious. And, if you get the swirls done right, impressive-looking too! It's also easy to prepare ahead of time, as it needs to chill in the fridge before serving.

Now, I used to dislike cheesecake. It was a simpler, and less calorific time. Then I went to New York. And, well, do I need to go on? This recipe is very reminiscent of a white and dark chocolate cheesecake I bought in a little deli there (and pretty much ate right then and there on the street) and I'd been looking to recreate it, but with something that made it a bit different. Then I remembered that I would walk through fire for a spoonful of Nutella, and this cheesecake became a reality.

Now, my favourite part of cheesecake is the biscuit base. So I may have kind of doubled the base relative to the topping. Feel free to half the base ingredients if you do not share my love of crumbly buttery biscuit. You sadist.

Ingredients for the base

100g crushed digestive biscuits
30g butter
20g nutella

..And for the filling

40g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
40g nutella
400g cream cheese
110g sugar
½ tsp vanilla sugar
1 egg

Method

Begin by making the base. Crush the biscuits (you can use a food processor, but I prefer the old ‘bag and rolling pin’ method).

Before the bashing.

Place in a bowl.

Crumbly goodness.

Then melt the butter and nutella together in the microwave and stir until melted and smooth.

Pour over the crushed biccies and stir to mix well.

Grease a loose bottomed cake tin and press the crumbs into the bottom to make the base.

Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

Start by melting the chocolate and nutella together carefully, and stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

Measure out the cream cheese and beat lightly until soft, then add in the sugar and vanilla sugar and mix well.

Add in the egg, and beat together to mix thoroughly.

Spoon about half this mixture onto the base, separating the spoonfuls.

Then mix the chocolate with the remaining cheesecake mixture and dot this around the base and top.

Using a cocktail stick or knife, run it through the two mixtures, to form a ripple effect. If it doesn’t turn out so well, that’s okay. It tastes great.