Italian Style Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Recipes

ITALIAN CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT CHEESECAKE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in mascarpone cheese, sour cream, lime juice and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until blended. Pour into crust. Place on a baking sheet., Bake 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 1 hour on a wire rack., Meanwhile, for topping, place chocolate chips in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chips; stir with a whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature or until mixture thickens to a spreading consistency, stirring occasionally., Spread chocolate mixture over pie; refrigerate overnight. Just before serving, top with hazelnuts.

HAZELNUT AND CHIPPED CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

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.

ITALIAN-STYLE CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Crust:.
• Combine all ingredients, then press onto bottom of springform pan.
• Filling:.
• Preheat oven to 325°F with rack in middle.
• Melt chocolate with butter, then remove from heat and whisk in cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in sour cream and vanilla.
• Whisk together eggs and sugar in a large bowl until mixture has a mousse-like consistency, then stir in chocolate mixture and nuts.
• Pour filling into crust and bake 1 1/2 hours. (Top will be slightly cracked.)
• Cool to room temperature in pan on a rack, about 1 hour, then chill at least 1 hour. (Cake will sink slightly.).

FRANGELICO (HAZELNUT) CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Place oven rack in the middle of the oven.
• Toast the hazelnuts: Lay hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and toast at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and skins are beginning to crack. Wrap in a towl and let steam for 1 minute. Rub hazelnuts in the towel to remove some of the skins. Grind coarsely and let cool. Keep the oven at 350.
• Make the crust: Combine all crust ingredients except the butter in a food processor until well mixed. Cut the butter into cubes and incorporate into other ingredients for about 1 minute. Press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan (I use bottom of flat glass). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
• Make the cheesecake: Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and place a pan half-filled with water in the bottom rack. Melt the chocolate and set aside. (Tip: if melting in the microwave, heat in intervals of 30 seconds and stir. Should take no more than 1 minute on high). On low speed, beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly mix in the sugar, flour and frangelico. Keep scraping down the sides of the bowl. One at a time, beat in the eggs on low speed.
• Take 1/2 cup of the cheesecake batter and mix it with the chocolate.
• Pour cheesecake batter into pan. The chocolate mixture can either be placed in a bag for piping or dropped by spoonfuls into the batter and swirled for a marbled effect.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Decrease oven temperature and bake at 225 degrees for about 1 hour. Towards the end of the baking time, check for doneness. Move the cheesecake pan slightly -- if the edges are set and the center is still wobbly the cheesecake is done. Turn the oven off and prop the door open with an oven mitt. Let cool inside the oven for at least an hour. Let cool on a counter until the pan is cool. Place in the refrigerator uncovered to chill and set. The cheesecake must be chilled for at least 24 hours.