A while ago I asked if you happened to have tucked away in your baking répertoire a simple, easy, foolproof dessert that you make for family of friends. I revealed to you that my stand by, no-brainer, foolproof dessert was my baked lemon cheesecake. I also mentioned that I  have made many variations of this cheesecake over the years and all of them have been, well nothing short of spectacular.

This Easter Sunday my sister kindly put me on 'dessert duty' which was all well and good, but after the figolli baking extravaganza we had on Good Friday, I found that come Saturday my brain was reduced to a floury blur.

So what do you do in these situations?

Well if truth be told I was too tired to do anything, but I had previously committed myself to making dessert and it was kind of too late to back out of my commitment. So rather than cry (which is what I usually do when I'm bothered and tired) I allowed instinct to take over and before I knew it I had a chocolate cheesecake with hazelnut ganache in the making.

Like I said before 'as long as you have a good, trustworthy basic recipe like this one the variations are limitless'.

Baked Chocolate Cheesecake with Hazelnut Ganache

Ingredients



For the base



120g plain sweet biscuits

 

¾ cup of roasted hazelnuts



100g of unsalted butter, cubed




 
For the filling



500g cream cheese



100g fresh ricotta



1 cup brown sugar



6 organic eggs



100g dark bittersweet chocolate, melted



¼ cup of Frangelico


Hazelnut Ganache

80g dark bittersweet chocolate

½ cup thick cream

2 tbsp of Frangelico

½ cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped




Method



1. Preheat the oven to 150C/302F/Gas 2



2. Place the hazelnuts, butter and biscuits in the food processor and process for 20 seconds or until mixture resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Press the mixture evenly over the base of a round 22cm (9inch) springform tin and pop it in the freezer to chill while you make the filling.



3. Place the cream cheese, ricotta, sugar, eggs, chocolate and Frangelico in the food processor and process until well combined. Pour the topping over the chilled biscuit base and bake for an hour or until the cheesecake is firm to touch.

4. To make the ganache, pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and Frangelico and stir until the mixture is velvety smooth. Allow the cheesecake to cool completely before covering it with the chocolate ganache. To finish, scatter the chopped hazelnuts over the ganache and serve.





A Mediterranean Feast of the
Mythic Islands of Malta & Sicily

June 7th-17th, 2011
Ten day fully escorted gastronomic tour

 
Download 'A Mediterranean Feast' 2011 Tour Brochure ( 111kb pdf)

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