Nutella Cheesecake

This tastes so so very good! It is sublimely delicious and impressive for something made of Nutella! Another good thing about it is you can’t eat too much in one sitting as a little goes a long way in satisfying the sweet tooth. It is a great cheesecake and pretty easy to make  provided you have taken everything out from the fridge earlier and they are all at room temperature, it does not even need to be baked! Truly this is so easy to make and each mouthful is so rich and hazel-nutty and chocolatey and creamy that… you want to  make this when you want to really impress your guests or family or show them some real love, they will love you back in spades for it and you may get a lot of repeat requests too…might even be perfect for the chocolate obsessed for a valentines day dessert. If like me, you can’t find ready toasted hazelnuts in a bag, just get some whole hazelnuts, chop roughly and toast in a dry frying pan for a few minutes till you get the nice golden brown colour, keep them moving so they don’t burn. You could use the grill too, but watch really closely as they could burn easily. Anyway, this mouth watering recipe is brought to you courtesy of Nigella Lawson, the domestic goddess rules my heart with this one amongst many other of her amazing recipes! Have you tried her pear and chocolate pudding? Oh! It’s to die for and pretty quick to rustle up, one I shall photograph next time so I can blog it so as to bring joy to you my dear reader, not just so I can eat it again soon! Anyhow, I digress, thinking of another chocolate dessert while writing about this one… I made this when I was in the midst of my CFA studies and a slice of this with some nice coffee after many hours of studying would really cheer me up and keep me going! So if you have any students in your life, I bet they would also really appreciate having this in the fridge so they can help themselves to a slice of heaven and recharge. Nutella Cheescake

• 250 grams digestive biscuits 
• 75 grams soft  unsalted butter 
• 1 x  400 grams jar  nutella (at room temperature)
• 100 grams chopped toasted  hazelnuts 
• 500 grams cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 60 grams icing sugar (sifted)

1. Break the digestives into the bowl of a processor, add the butter and a 15ml tablespoon of Nutella, and blitz until it starts to clump. Add 25g/3 tablespoons of the hazelnuts and continue to pulse until you have a damp, sandy mixture.
2. Tip into a 23cm/9inch round springform and press into the base either using your hands or the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge to chill.
3. Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth and then add the remaining Nutella to the cream cheese mixture, and continue beating until combined.
4. Take the springform out of the fridge and carefully smooth the Nutella mixture over the base. Scatter the remaining chopped hazelnuts on top to cover and place the tin in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight. Serve straight from the fridge for best results.