I love cheesecake; it’s one of my favorite desserts out there. It’s a very understated dessert that can be presented in a multitude of ways. I used to be stingy when making cheesecake because the shops here don’t sell cream cheese. If I wanted a cheesecake, it became this two-three day-long process that involved making cream cheese from scratch. I have since stopped depending on homemade cream cheese, and I brought two 1 kilo tubs of cream cheese from a different city.
Anyway, back to what this post is about. I feel like everyone loves cheesecake, and everyone loves Nutella. At this point in time, I don’t think I need to explain what Nutella is. Still, if you’ve been living under a rock — Nutella is a delectable chocolate hazelnut spread by the Ferrero brand. It’s irresistible and so delicious. So, I decided to make a chocolate hazelnut cheesecake that involves zero baking. So, don’t worry if you don’t have an oven!
This delicious chocolate hazelnut cheesecake is incredibly easy to make; it’s so creamy and chocolatey and just has a beautiful mouthfeel.
What ingredients do I need to make the chocolate and hazelnut cheesecake?
Because it’s a cheesecake, the most obvious ingredient is cream cheese. I used cream cheese from the brand D’Lecta. You can use any brand that’s available to you, or you can make your own cream cheese at home! I have a step-by-step tutorial on making cream cheese on my Instagram; you can click on this to watch it.
The other ingredients are sweetened heavy whipping cream, chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella, in this case), natural cocoa powder, and some instant coffee powder. For the crust, you’ll need some digestive biscuits and melted butter. That’s it.
I didn’t add any additional sugar; the cheesecake’s sweetness comes from the whipping cream and the Nutella. I find that doing this allows you to taste each component of the cheesecake without having overpowering sweetness. This way, you can really feel the tang from the cream cheese and the chocolate’s richness.
You can, however, taste the filling before adding it to the pan and see if you want it to be sweeter. Add about ½ a cup of powdered/icing sugar to the filling mixture if you’d like.
Also, I used non-dairy sweetened whipping cream for this cheesecake. Regular double cream or dairy-based whipping cream is unsweetened, so in that case, whip the cream along with the powdered sugar. I’ll put the exact measurements in the notes section below.
Lastly, as you can probably tell from the pictures, the cheesecake is very thin. I miscalculated how much filling I’d need for a 7-inch round cheesecake and ended up with this thin cheesecake. You can totally double the recipe if you want a thicker cheesecake.
What equipment do I need?
To make my no-bake chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, you need very minimal equipment. You will need a couple of mixing bowls, a wire whisk, a rubber spatula, and an electric mixer with the whisk attachment.
To set the cheesecake, you will need a 7-inch round springform pan and some parchment paper.
Recipe For No-Bake Chocolate Hazelnut (Nutella) Cheesecake
Yields: One 7-inch round cheesecake
Time: 30 minutes plus chilling
INGREDIENTS
100 grams (10-12) digestive biscuits
50 grams (¼ cup) melted butter
250 grams (1 cup) room temperature cream cheese
4 grams (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
100 grams (½ cup) chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella)
15 grams (2 tablespoons) natural cocoa powder
3 grams (1 teaspoon) instant coffee powder
1 gram (¼ teaspoon) salt
50 grams (¼ cup) sweetened whipping cream
METHOD
Crust:
Grease a 7-inch round springform pan, and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
Powder the digestive biscuits using a mixer grinder or put them in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
Combine the powdered biscuits and melted butter until you have a mixture that resembles wet sand.
Transfer the crust mixture to the prepared springform pan.
Press the mixture down evenly with your hands or with a spoon or spatula.
Chill the crust in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
Cheesecake filling:
Loosen the cream cheese by beating it with a wire whisk.
Add the vanilla to the cream cheese and whisk that in.
Next, add the chocolate hazelnut spread and whisk until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
Add the cocoa powder, coffee powder, and salt.
Whisk the cream cheese mixture once again until it’s cohesive, scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
In a separate mixing bowl, whip the sweetened whipping cream with an electric mixer until you achieve stiff peaks.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Stop folding once everything is fully incorporated.
Since there is no added sugar in this recipe, this stage is a good time to taste the mixture and add some powdered/icing sugar if you want to. Gently whisk in 60 grams (½ cup) of it if you wish.
Assembly:
Pour the filling over the chilled crust and use a rubber spatula or an offset spatula to spread it out evenly and smooth the top.
Chill the cheesecake in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours and ideally overnight.
Notes
If you’re using unsweetened cream to make the whipped cream, add 60 grams (½ cup) of powdered/icing sugar to it, and then start whipping.
If you liked this recipe or tried it, let me know in the comments below or post it to my Instagram and Facebook, I'd love to see your creations!
#chocolatecheesecake #dessertsandpastries #cheesecake #nutella #chocolatehazelnut