Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake

Hello my lovelies I have one hell of a recipe for you all today. If you read my one year anniversary post you will know that I am started a degree in October in the hope of becoming a primary school teacher. After finishing my a-levels I took a year out where I have worked in retail for the past year to save up some money. It was mine and a friends last day so I thought I would bake a sweet treat to celebrate. When asked what would be preferred a cheesecake was requested. This suited me down to a tee as cheesecakes are my favourite dessert ever, ever. Now I have made many a cheesecake in my life but I love trying new recipes and I have had my eye on this one for a while now. At the time I was working my way through a rather large box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates so I thought bingo that would do. Personally I would be dead chuffed if someone made me this as who can resist that gorgeous combination of chocolate, hazelnuts, Nuttella and praline - Oh my absolute bliss. I found this recipe on What Jess baked next which is an amazing baking blog for any of you who are interested.

If you are a fellow chocolate lover out there then you will absolutely love this recipe. It was so easy to follow and it turned out to a tee. The hardest part of this recipe is the patience you need to wait for this baby to set. Once you indulge in this baby it will be like having mouthful after mouthful of Ferrero Rochers. It's creamy, chocolaty and highly indulgent. If you're on a diet I would stop reading now or through caution to the wind and sod the diet.

Ingredients 

Base
300g digestive biscuits
140g unsalted butter

Filling
300ml double cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
500g full-fat cream cheese
85g icing sugar
5 Ferrero Rocher Chocolates

Topping
4 heaped tbsp Nutella
handful of hazelnuts
12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates

Method

1) Greece the bottom of a 23cm cake tin, I used one where the base separates from the sides which allows you to easily remove the cheesecake from the tin when you are ready to indulge

2) For the base, crush the digestive biscuits to form biscuit crumbs. You can use a food processor for this or go for the old fashioned method like I did which involves placing the biscuits in a plastic bag and smashing them to pieces using a rolling pin - a great way to remove any tension or stress, I also find this method strangely satisfying

3) Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs

4) Pour the biscuit-butter mixture into the tin and distribute evenly in the tin. Press the biscuit crumbs down firmly and place in the fridge to chill and set whilst you create that luxurious cheesecake filling

5) For the filling, whisk the double cream and vanilla in a large bowl until soft peaks are formed. Careful not to over whisk it or you will create butter which wouldn't make the nicest of cheesecake fillings

6) Crush the five ferrero rocher chocolates which will be incorporated into the cheesecake filling for that heavenly chocolate flavour

7) Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar and the five crushed chocolates in a separate bowl

8) Gradually fold in the cream cheese mixture into the cream. I did this in stages to attempt to not over work the cream

9) Pour the cheesecake filling over the cheesecake base and chill over night or for at least 6 hours. Yes this requires a lot and I mean a lot of patience but it is well worth the wait my lovelies. I also covered the top of the tin with foil for that little bit added reassurance and peace of mind

10) Once the cheesecake has set you can decorate it which is my favourite part as it involved Nutella and Ferrero Rochers - what more could you ask for in life? Melt the Nutella in a saucepan over a low heat to form a runny chocolate sauce. Once melted, allow to cool and simply indulge in the remaining Nutella tub

11) Lightly toast a handful of hazelnuts. To do this, place the hazelnuts in a saucepan over a low heat and occasionally shake the pan to prevent the nuts from burning. Once a golden colour, remove the nuts from the heat and allow to cool. You don't have to toast the hazelnuts but I just find that it enhances the flavour

12) Once the nuts have cooled, crush them into pieces of the desired thickness of you want, they could be smashed to smithereens as a powder or left coarse. I left mine fairly coarse so you can taste them and it gives the cheesecake a bit of texture. Again you can use a food processor for this or turn to my old fashioned method of hazelnuts plus plastic bag plus rolling pin and crush

13) Pour the cooled Nutella over the cheesecake and sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts on top

14) Finally decorate with the Ferrero Rocher chocolates, you can use as many as you can for this but I used the maximum possible as they are one of my all time favourite chocolates and you just can't beat them.

15) The final stage is to curl up on a winters evening with a large slice of this cheesecake, a spoon, cosy pyjamas, candles and a film. Make sure you put a large sign on the door stating do not disturb as trust me you won't want to be when you tuck into this. This is a chocolate lovers ultimate heaven and a new staple recipe in my household.

This went down an absolute treat at work and definitely got the thumbs up and high praise. This meant a lot to me as if my bakes don't turn out well at home it doesn't matter but when it's for other people I feel more of a pressure as I wan't people to like and enjoy my bakes and I especially don't want to poison anyone. I was expecting the cheesecake to be divided into portions with one chocolate each but when I saw people diving in for slices with two chocolates this gave me huge satisfaction and who would say no to an extra large slice of cheesecake?

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and let me know in the comments if you give it a go. This is a great party pleaser or perfect for a chocolate fix for a cosy evening in on a cold and dreary night.

xxx