This cheesecake is what would happen if a Ferrero Rocher and Nutella had a baby. Ferrero Rochers are one of my favourite chocolates and every year, I look forward to Christmas time to eat as much as I can find. I know now a days you can find them pretty much all year round, but they do have a Christmassy feel to them.

The issue with me being obsessed with them and everyone knowing about this is that every year I end up with more than I can actually eat, so I’m always thinking about ways of utilising them. Last year I made some Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes, so this year I thought I’d try something different.

What is this cheesecake made with?

This cheesecake is actually really simple and, since it’s a not bake recipe, you can make it in advance, freeze it, and take it out on the day.

The base is made with a mix of digestive biscuits and hazelnuts, the filling is cream cheese, yoghurt, double cream and Nutella and the top is a lovely milk chocolate ganache and even more hazelnuts. I chose to top this cheesecake with milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate because I was worried I’d be a bit much, I tend to find dark chocolate overpowering, but if you like dark chocolate, you are very welcome to use it, just be mindful that this cheesecake is not particularly sweet, so you may want to add extra sugar. Also, equal the amount of double cream and dark chocolate (150 ml/gr), I used less double cream as milk chocolate makse the ganache runnier.

No Bake Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 150 gr of digestive biscuits
• 100 gr of chopped hazelnuts
• 70 gr of butter
• 280 gr of cream cheese
• 250 gr of double cream
• 150 gr of unsweetened plain greek yoghurt
• 200 gr of Nutella
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 20 gr of icing sugar

For the top:

• 150 gr of milk chocolate
• 75 ml of double cream 
• 30 gr of chopped hazelnuts (aprox. this si for topping)

Method:

1. In the microwave or in a pot, melt the butter and allow it to cool down for a few minutes.
2. In the meantime, crush the digestive biscuits using either a food processor or by putting them in a bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. Mix the hazelnuts into the crushed cookies.
3. Mix the butter and the biscuits/hazelnuts and press them on the bottom of a springform baking pan (mine was 18-20 cm/7-8 inch) and place it in the freezer so it firms up.
4. To make the filling, in a large bowl use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese, vanilla extract, greek yoghurt, icing sugar and Nutella.
5. In a separate smaller bowl, beat the double cream until soft peaks, then transfer it to the larger bowl with the cream cheese and Nutella mix and fold it with a spatula.
6. Take the biscuit base out of the freezer and top it with the cheesecake filling. Place in the freezer for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight.
7. A couple of hours before it’s time to eat, take it out of the freezer and allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour.
8. In the meantime, prepare the chocolate ganache. In a bowl, add the chocolate cut into pieces and top it with the double cream, heat up in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals stirring every time until the chocolate is melted. Allow the ganache to cool down completely before topping the cheesecake with it. I put cling film on top of my ganache, allowing the cling film to completely touch the surface of the ganache, to keep it from creating a film on the surface.
9. Once the ganache has cooled down, top your cheesecake with it, you’ll have to do it quickly as the ganache will slightly solidify as the cheesecake will still be cold.
10. Keep it in the fridge until it’s time to eat!