Description
This is easy to make with creamy, light, chocolate mousse topping, over a deep, rich, chocolate cheesecake.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pkg. chocolate wafers
- 1 cup of hazelnuts
- ¼ cup of butter, melted
- 2 – 8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup of organic sugar
- 4 eggs (large) or 6 bantam eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup of organic cocoa
- 6 oz. of high quality, semi-sweet, chocolate, melted (I used Callebalt Belgian chocolate)
- 2 cups of heavy cream, whipped
- ½ cup Baileys’ Irish Cream liqueur
- A round, 10-inch springform pan
Instructions
Chocolate Cheesecake Hazelnut Crumb Crust
- In a food processor grind hazelnuts and chocolate wafers until they are a crumb texture
- Add melted butter and whirl in the processor for 30 seconds, until well blended
- Prepare a round, 10-inch springform pan by buttering the bottom and sides
- Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom and ½ way up the sides of the pan
- Press firmly in the edge where the bottom joins the sides so that that part of the crust isn’t too thick
- Preheat oven to 350F
Chocolate Cheesecake Filling
- In a separate bowl, using a stand mixer cream together sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy
- Scrape the sides of the bowl
- Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition
- Add ½ cup of organic cocoa and beat until the mixture is smooth
- Pour into prepared crust
- Bake for 50 minutes until cream cheese filling is firm (The top of the cheesecake may crack but it will smooth out as the cheesecake cools)
- Remove cheesecake from the oven and cool on a wire rack
- Refrigerate once the cheesecake is cool
Chocolate Mousse Topping
- Melt chocolate using a double boiler or a microwave with a special chocolate setting (Be careful not to get any water into the chocolate as it is melting or the chocolate may seize)
- Once the chocolate is melted, cool to lukewarm and still liquid (Reserve a few tbsp. of melted chocolate to drizzle on the finished cheesecake)
- In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks
- Add Bailey’s liqueur, in a slow stream, while the beater continues to whip the cream
- Add the cooled but melted chocolate a little at a time, while the beater continues to whip the cream
- Occasionally, stop the beater and scrape the sides of the bowl, to keep the chocolate from hardening on the sides of the bowl
- Whip the cream until light and fluffy and all the liqueur and chocolate have been incorporated into the Mousse
- Chill thoroughly for 30 to 60 minutes
- Spread over the top of the chilled cheesecake
- Drizzle (reserved) melted chocolate over the top as a garnish
- Refrigerate until ready to serve – at least one hour, to allow the cheesecake to set firmly
Notes
- This will keep for 2 days in the fridge if kept covered
- Wrap well and you can freeze for up to 2 months
- Alternatively, divide into 12 individual portions. Separate portions with parchment paper and reassemble them into cheesecake round. Wrap well and freeze. In this way, individual portions can be served without thawing the entire cheesecake.
- You can make it ahead of the party and keep it chilled until just before serving. Thaw it just 2 hours before the party.
Make this Gluten-Free
Note that the chocolate wafers are the only gluten in this cheesecake. If you have gluten-free family members, substitute 1 cup of almond flour (#ad), 2 tsp. organic honey, plus ¼ cup of organic cocoa for the chocolate wafers in this recipe. Add in the hazelnuts and melted butter and you won’t even notice the difference.
