Vanilla Cheesecake With Chocolate Hazelnut Crust And Raspberries Recipes

Steps:

• Using a blender or a food processor, finely chop 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips. Place in a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla wafer crumbs, ground hazelnuts, 2 tablespoons white sugar, and melted butter or margarine. Mix until well combined. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in a preheated 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) oven for 15 minutes. Cool.
• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup white sugar; mix well. Add the eggs and 3 tablespoons liqueur. Mix until well blended. Coarsely chop 1 cup of the semisweet chocolate chips, and add to the cream cheese mixture. Stir. Pour batter into the cooled crust.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 1 hour. Let cake cool for 1 hour. Remove outer ring from pan. Then let cool completely.
• Melt 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips over hot (not boiling) water. Stir until smooth. Dip 13 hazelnuts into the chocolate, covering one-half of each nut. Shake off the excess chocolate. Place on a waxed-paper lined plate. Chill until set.
• To the remaining melted chocolate, add sour cream. Mix well. Stir in 1 tablespoon liqueur. Spread glaze on top of the cooled cheesecake. Garnish with chocolate dipped hazelnuts.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan, patting it into an even layer. Wrap the exterior of the pan (including the base) in a double layer of foil. Freeze the dough in the pan for 5 minutes.
• Place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake until the crust is firm to the touch, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Process raspberries and 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pass puree through a fine sieve into a small bowl; discarding solids; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining 2 1/4 cups sugar and flour. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add sugar mixture to cream cheese, mix until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined; do not overmix.
• Transfer reserved raspberry sauce to a small squeeze bottle; set aside. Pour cream-cheese filling into the prepared pan. Pipe reserved sauce evenly on top of cake in teaspoon-size amounts. With a wooden skewer or toothpick, swirl the sauce into filling.
• Set pan inside a large, shallow roasting pan. Carefully ladle boiling water into roasting pan to reach halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake 45 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Continue baking until cake is set but still slightly wobbly in the center, about 30 minutes more. Turn off oven; leave cake in oven with the door slightly ajar, 1 hour. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let cool completely. Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 6 hours or overnight. Before unmolding, run a knife around the edge of the cake.

Steps:

• To make the crust, place the wafers in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until finely crushed. Add a couple of drops of water. Press the mixture evenly and firmly onto the bottom of a springform pan (see note below), making a fist and using the back of your hand and fingers. Refrigerate the crust while you make the filling. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. On low speed, add the sour cream and vanilla and set aside. In a clean mixing bowl, using the whisk attachment, combine the eggs and 1 cup of the sugar. Whisk for 4 to 5 minutes until fluffy. Fold in the softened cream cheese mixture. Separate this mixture into two large glass bowls. To one of the bowls, add the raspberry puree, mix well. In another bowl, using an electric mixer with clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites. Start at low speed and increase the speed as the peaks form. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. When the whites are stiff but not dry, scrape them equally into the two bowls of filling and use a spatula to gently fold them in. Don't over mix the filling. Pour alternating plain mixture and raspberry mixture into the prepared pan until the pan is filled. Bake for approximately 1 hour, until the cake has risen and browned slightly and it just shimmies when you gently move the pan. It's a good idea to place the springform on a low, flat, pan, such as a pizza pan, to catch any batter that leaks. Turn the heat off and let the cake stand in the oven for 1 hour more. Remove the cake from the oven and cool before serving. You can make this cake a day ahead.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Lightly grease a 24cm springform tin and line its base with baking paper (cut to fit).
• Combine the filling ingredients in a medium bowl and press mixture over the base of the prepared tin ensuring you don't miss and gaps.
• Refrigerate for 20 minutes and then bake base in the oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 150°C (130°C fan-forced).
• For the filling, beat cream cheese, ricotta, vanilla extract, half the sugar and juice in a large bowl with an electric mixer until just combined (do not over-beat).
• Combine the remaining sugar and eggs in a separate bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 5 minutes on high speed or until thick and creamy.
• Gently fold egg mixture into cheese mixture. Scatter chocolate over the cheesecake base and then pour filling over.
• To make the raspberry swirl combine raspberries and icing sugar in a small bowl whilst crushing raspberries with a fork. Press raspberry mixture though a fine sieve and then discard seeds. Drizzle raspberry sauce over filling in circles starting from the centre and increasing in size so that the top of the cheesecake looks like a target.
• Using a skewer, start from the outside and drag lines across the top of the cheesecake to the centre. Repeat from various intervals along the outside circle of raspberry sauce until the top of the looks like a spider web.
• Bake in a the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Cool cheesecake in oven with door ajar for at least 2 hours and then refrigerate overnight.
• Serve with ice-cream if desired.

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Finely grind nuts, cracker crumbs and powdered sugar in processor.Add butter; blend using on/off turns until crumbs are moist. Press crumbs onto bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Chill while making filling.
• Make filling:
• Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Slowly add sugar; beat until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating 30 seconds after each. Mix in lemon juice and peel.
• Pour filling into crust. Bake cake until outer 2-inch portion of top is set and center looks slightly glossy and is barely set, about 45 minutes. Transfer to rack cool to room temperature. Cover; chill overnight.
• Run knife around sides of pan to loosen. Release pan sides. Place cake on plate. Top with lemon and mint, if desired.

Steps:

• Draining the Cheese.
• Set a strainer over a bowl and spoon the cottage cheese into it. Cover the set-up with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least all hour or until the excess moisture has drained out of the Cheese.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Making the Hazelnut Paste.
• While the cheese is draining, stir 3 tablespoons of - the sugar and the water together in a small saucepan. Cover the pan, set it over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Remove the cover, dip a pastry brush into cold water, and wash down any sugar crystals that may have formed on the sides of the pan. Keep the pan uncovered and continue to cook the sugar until it turns very pale yellow--drop a little on a white plate to test the color. Add the chopped hazelnuts to the pan and stir gently with a small wooden spoon or a chopstick just until the nuts are coated with syrup. Swirl the pan carefully and continue to cook until the syrup tests medium amber on a white plate. Immediately turn out the caramelized nuts onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Set the caramel aside to cool and harden. Break the caramel into pieces and process to a paste in a food processor. Scrape the paste into a small bowl, cover, and set aside.
• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF Line a 2-inch-high 8-inch round cake pan with a parchment paper circle and coat the sides of the pan lightly with vegetable oil spray. Put a kettle of water on to boil and set aside a roasting pan that will hold the cake pan and about an inch of boiling water.
• MAKING THE BATTER.
• Spoon the drained cottage cheese into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process for 2 to 3 minutes scraping down the sides as needed. Don't try to cut the processing time short-you need this time to make the cottage cheese silken. Leave the cheese in the processor while you prepare the rest of the batter's ingredients.
• Soften the Neufchatel cheese by either warming it gently in the top of a double boiler or heating it in a microwave oven for about 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Put the Neufchatel cheese into the work bowl along with the soft, pulpy seeds from the vanilla bean (just scrape them out of the pod with the point of a small knife) or the vanilla extract. Add the eggs, the remaining I cup sugar, and the salt and Pulse just Until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple times during the process. Don't overdo it, or you'll have a thin batter.
• Measure out 1 cup batter and gradually add it to the hazelnut paste, mixing well. Pour the remaining batter into the prepared pan. Drop 10 spoonfuls of the hazelnut batter randomly over the vanilla batter. Dip a table knife into tile pan and swirl the two batters to create a marbled pattern-take care not to overmix, or you'll end up blending, not marbleizing, the batters.
• Put the cake pan into the roasting pan, open the oven, slide out the lower rack, and place the pan on it. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about 1 inch up the sides of the cake pan and then very carefully slide the oven rack back into position, taking care not to let any water slosh onto the cake. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake has risen slightly and is just beginning to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove tile cake from its water bath and put it on a rack to cool to room temperature. or for as long as 2 days.
• When completely cool, cover and chill for at least 24 hours, Or for as long as 2 days.
• UNMOLDING THE CAKE.
• To unmold the cake, run a thin metal spatula around the edges. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, place a flat plate or a cardboard cake round against the plastic, and invert the cake and plate. Rap the pan lightly to release the cake-you'll feel it fall against the plate-then remove the pan and peel away the paper. Put a serving plate or cardboard cake circle on the cake and carefully turn the cake so that it is right side up on the circle. Remove the plastic wrap and press the crumbs around the sides of the cake. Cut the cake using a long sharp knife, dipping it into hot water and wiping it dry between cuts.
• STORING.
• The cake will keep for 2 days in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap.

Steps:

• PREPARE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST--------.
• Mix cracker crumbs, sugar& melted butter.
• Press mixture onto bottom and ½ inch up side of 9 inch springform pan.
• Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes.
• Cool.
• CHEESECAKE-------.
• Combine cream cheese, ¾ cup sugar, sour cream& 2 teaspoons vanilla in a large bowl; beat on med.
• speed until smooth.
• Add flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, blending well.
• Add eggs; beat well.
• COCOA MIXTURE------.
• Combine cocoa and ¼ cup sugar in small bowl.
• Add oil and ½ teaspoon vanilla.
• Add 1 ½ cups of the cream cheese mixture; mix until well blended.
• Spoon plain and chocolate mixtures alternately into prepared crust, ending with dollops of chocolate on top; gently swirl with knife for marbled effect.
• Bake at 450° for 10 minutes; do not open the oven door; decrease temp.
• to 250° and continue to bake for 30 minutes.
• Turn off oven.
• Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 30 minutes without opening the door.
• Remove from oven.
• Loosen cake from side of pan.
• Cool completely.
• Chill thoroughly.