The Festive Showstopper: Chocolate, Hazelnut and Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Kat from The Baking Explorer crafts the perfect festive showstopper - Baking Heaven magazine's Chocolate, Hazelnut and Salted Caramel Cheesecake! 

December is the month of entertaining and also the month when I get inundated with requests to make desserts for various family and friend gatherings. So when I’m short on time and I need to get an impressive dessert ready, cheesecakes are my go to option. They are easy to put together and you can leave them in the fridge overnight to set.

This cheesecake caught my eye when I was looking through Baking Heaven’s Christmas issue. Salted caramel is always a hit, and I loved the use of Bourbons as the biscuit base. I knew it would make a fabulous dessert after a Sunday dinner.

Ingredients

For the biscuit base

• 300g chocolate bourbon biscuits
• 50g hazelnuts
• 110g butter
• For the filling
• 500g cream cheese
• 140g icing sugar
• 250ml double cream
• 300g white chocolate
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

For the decoration

• A jar of shop bought salted caramel sauce
• 1 bourbon biscuit
• 100ml double cream
• 6 pieces of dairy fudge

Serves 10-12

Preparation time 35 minutes (plus chilling time)

Method

1. To make the biscuit base, whizz up the chocolate bourbon biscuits and the hazelnuts in a food processor (if you don’t have a food processor, put the biscuits into a bag and bash them gently with a rolling pin and buy the hazelnuts ready chopped).
2. Melt the butter, mix it into the biscuit crumbs and pour the mixture into a 23” non-stick springform tin. Press it into a compact and even layer.
3. Put it in the fridge while you make the filling.
4. To make the filling, combine the cream cheese and sieved icing sugar, then add the double cream and vanilla extract and mix together until smooth.
5. Melt the white chocolate, then add it to the mixture and again whisk until the mixture is smooth.
6. Pour the filling into the tin over the biscuit base.
7. Put it in the fridge overnight to set, or for at least 4 hours.
8. Once you’ve removed the cheesecake from the tin and put it onto a serving stand or plate, it’s time to decorate! I used a jar of shop bought salted caramel sauce for convenience. Spoon it into a piping bag and pipe it over the cheesecake in a criss-cross pattern. You could also use a spoon and drizzle it in a more haphazard manner.
9. I then whipped up the double cream and again using a piping bag and a Wilton Number 6B Open Star Tip I piped blobs of the cream around the edges.
10. I cut pieces of dairy fudge in half and placed them against each blob of cream, then I crumbled up one bourbon biscuit and sprinkled it around the edges for a final touch.

My friends were so impressed with this cheesecake, it got completely demolished in no time. It was sweet and creamy with a crunchy chocolate base, and the salted caramel sauce and whipped cream set off the sweet filling perfectly.

Those with a sweet tooth will rejoice over this dessert which adds an indulgent touch to finish off any festive feast! Try a Baking Heaven magazine subscription for more delicious dessert ideas, or grab a gift subscription for the baker in your life.

This is a guest post via the magazine.co.uk blogger network.