Traditional cheesecake with Nutella swirls (and how to make chocolate truffles!)

Arrives on July 30th, World Cheesecake Day, and here is our proposal for this year: a cheesecake that is traditional and creamy, filled with cocoa-hazelnut spread. It's undoubtedly a winning combination! But also, this recipe brings a surprise! How about decorating it with some homemade chocolate truffles that are super easy to make?

I think this cheesecake brings together several qualities worth noting: it's a very easy recipe for beginners, with a cheesecake base that uses very standard ingredients (it turns out smooth, without strong cheeses, ideal for all palates—even those who are not big cheese fans), which achieves a deliciously creamy texture and also, with the chocolate swirls and the truffles, it gains a very pretty presentation.

Time to enjoy this creamy and smooth filling and these homemade chocolate truffles!.

Ingredients

For the cookie base:

200 g of Digestive-type cookies*
50 g of sugar
100 g of unsalted butter, melted

*Use chocolate Digestive if you want to give the base a chocolatey touch as well.

For the cheesecake filling:

1 kg of cream cheese (Philadelphia-style)
210 g of sugar
45 ml of cake flour
5 eggs L
125 ml of cooking cream
5 ml of vanilla extract
175 g of hazelnut cream like Nutella or Nocilla

For the Nutella truffles (for about 20 truffles):

200 g of chocolate cookies
75 g of Nutella
100 g (250 ml) of cocoa powder

Preparation

To make the cookie base:

1. Process the cookies and the sugar in the food processor until the mixture has a texture similar to fine crumbs.
2. Add the melted butter and mix until well combined.
3. Pour the mixture into the 24 cm Le Creuset removable cake tin. Using a spatula or spoon, press the bottom evenly, and up to half the height of the sides of the tin.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 120°C.

Prepare the filling:

1. In the KitchenAid bowl or in a large bowl for whipping, add the cream cheese, the white sugar and the flour. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed with the balloon whisk so the cheese softens and everything combines.
2. Scrape down what has risen on the sides with a silicone spatula, and add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
3. Add the cooking cream and vanilla extract and continue mixing for 5 minutes.
4. Remove the tin from the freezer and carefully pour the mixture into the cake tin lined with the cookie base (do it slowly and from the lowest possible height so the base does not come loose).
5. Place the Nutella in a piping bag and make a swirl over the filling (when baking, much or all of that chocolate cream will sink into the filling, but later you will add more chocolate to decorate... reserve part of that cream for a few more swirls later).
6. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 2 hours at 120 ºC. Turn off the oven, slightly open its door and allow it to cool slowly before removing it from the oven.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

Make the Nutella truffles:

1. Place and crush the cookies in a food processor until you obtain fine crumbs. Add the Nutella and mix well.
2. In a bowl, add the cocoa powder. Use a 5 ml measuring spoon to take some of the cookie mixture and form a ball in the palm of your hand (you can also use a small ice cream scoop). Once formed, leave it in the bowl and roll the ball in the cocoa powder.
3. Place the truffles on a not-too-large tray lined with baking paper and repeat the process with the rest of the mixture until the cookie mixture is used up.
4. Let them harden by placing the tray in the refrigerator.

To assemble and present the cake:

1. The next day, with the cake rested, carefully remove the cake from the removable tin.
2. Decorate the cheesecake with the remaining Nutella, making a few more swirls on the surface using the piping bag and place the truffles on top of the cake.

Notes:

• If you don't have a piping bag to make the swirl, heat the hazelnut cream in the microwave for a few seconds so it is fluid, and make the swirl using a spoon... You risk having thicker or irregular pieces, but it's a solution.
• We suggest baking the cake for 2 hours at only 120 ºC so the eggs set but the cake doesn't crack (if made quickly, it usually ends up with cracks on top, or the cake burns on the surface but remains raw inside). If you want to speed up the process, you can loosely cover the tin with aluminum foil and bake at 150 ºC. You'll gain some time without much risk of those surface cracks.
• It's important to serve cheesecakes rested and cold, do not skip those hours of refrigeration!