Hazelnut Strawberry Cheesecake

I know what's on your mind when you read the post title and then looked at my cheesecake. What strawberry? Where is the strawberry? 

The original recipe is Hazelnut Raspberry Cheesecake. And the cake in the cookbook was decorated with raspberries (a very costly commodity is Malaysia). Without the pretty raspberries, you would be asking the same questions above.

The raspberry part in the cake is raspberry conserve (jam). I had a small bottle, bought specially for the recipe quite some time ago. But when the time came to bake this cake, the darn bottle cap refused to come off. It was so tightly screwed on that I simply gave up after a few tries. My partner was not at home, or else I would have utilized his muscle power.

In my desperation, I used the strawberry conserve in the fridge. It was a very good strawberry jam and I reckon that it should be a good substitute. 

When preparing the batter, 3/4 is supposed to be poured into the pan and the remaining 1/4 is mixed with hazelnut spread (I used Nutella) and the jam. This 1/4 portion is then dropped onto the plain batter by the tablespoonfuls. 

I can never get my proportions right and ended up with more than 1/4 which resulted in too much brown batter which covered the entire plain batter. Bah! So, I simply poured all the Nutella portion onto the plain batter. Instead of  a dotted cake, I got a two-toned cake.

It turned out alright. And since I had extra ganache, I drizzled some onto the cake to decorate it. It looked quite nice to me. 

This cheesecake is good. I mean, how could it not be good with Nutella and lashings of melted chocolate? I couldn't taste the strawberry jam at all. Perhaps, the recommended amount (1/3 cup) is too little to make any difference. But I think the strawberry or raspberry for that matter is insignificant. 

Perhaps once I get my bottle of raspberry jam opened, I should re-attempt this recipe. In the meantime, I will just enjoy this version which I think is just as good as the original.

Hazelnut Strawberry Cheesecake

Recipe source : Adapted from Favourite Cupcakes and Cheesecakes (page 103)

Ingredients :

Cheesecake Base :

- 150g Digestive biscuits, finely crushed

- 50g melted butter

Cheesecake Filling :

- 500g creamcheese, at room temperature

- 200g caster sugar (can be reduced to 150g since Nutella is sweet)

- 3 large eggs

- 125ml sour cream

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 100g Nutella

- 1/3 cup strawberry jam (suggest 1/2 cup)

Method :
1. Grease an 8" springform pan and set asided.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the crushed Digestive biscuits with melted butter.
3. Pour the mixture into the springform pan and press onto the base of the pan.
4. Place the pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
5. In a mixing bowl, beat the creamcheese and sugar until well blended.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add vanilla extract and sour cream and continue to beat until well mixe.
8. Pour 3/4 of the batter into the prepared pan.
9. Add Nutella and jam into the remaining batter and beat until well mixed.
10. Using a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of the Nutella/jam batter onto the plain batter. Do not swirl.
11. Bake in a waterbath at 160C for 1 hour or until the cheesecake is set.
12. Once done, leave the cake to cool in the oven with the door ajar for 30 minutes.
13 Remove the pan from the oven a let cool completely before chilling overnight in the fridge.

This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #27 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.