Hazelnut Cheesecake

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:
FYI, I made 1/3rd the recipe and it turned out beautifully, as you can see. I also tweaked the crust recipe a little by adding 2 tablespoons of ground hazelnuts. Make sure to grind the hazelnuts with the sugar so that it remains powder-y and not oily.

Crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs (I used digestive biscuits)
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cheesecake filling:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into a 9 inch springform pan or ramekins.
3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and and blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes for a 9 inch cake or 15-20 minutes for ramekins or until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Related posts:

1. Outrageous Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
2. Hazelnut Extract (so easy!)
3. Flourless Hazelnut Cookies

Tagged as: cheesecake, hazelnut