nutella cheese bars

January 23, 2007 at 6:12 pm | Posted in Cheese, Chocolate, Slices | 8 Comments

i didn’t have classes today, so i decided to balance out my plan of completing a couple of readings with some baking. the boy bought me this book called crave: cheese desserts to die for nearly four months ago but i haven’t had the chance to try out any recipes as yet. i decided to make a nutella cheesecake.

i baked the cake in a shallow square tin because personally, i think it’s more “eating-friendly” (you can just pick them up with your fingers) and there’s always an excuse to have more than one slice because they are smaller compared to their whole-slice counterpart. hence, the reason why i call them “nutella cheese bars.”

adapted from crave: cheese desserts to die for; mac woo and june lee

crust:

160g digestive biscuits, pounded
90g butter, melted

1. pound or blend biscuits and place in a large bowl. melt butter in microwave, pour over biscuits and mix well.

2. transfer mixture into a shallow 8 inch square tin lined with aluminium foil and press firmly into an even layer on the bottom of pan. refrigerate for at least one hour.

filling:

450g cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp light brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
2 ½ tbsp cornflour, sifted
150g nutella
2 eggs
75ml whipping cream
75ml milk

1. preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius. with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and light brown sugar at medium speed until creamy. beat in vanilla essence, sifted corn flour and nutella until smooth.

2. lower speed and add eggs, one at a time, mixing until just incorporated. gradually add whipping cream and milk until just well mixed.

3. pour filling onto prepared crust. bake in a water bath for 50 minutes to an hour, or until edge of filling is set and centre is slightly wobbly.

4. turn off oven and leave cheesecake inside for 30 minutes with oven door closed. prop oven door open and leave for another 30 minutes. remove cheesecake from oven and cool on a wire rack.

5. refrigerate for at least 6 hours before unmoulding. decorate as desired before serving.

the taste of the nutella didn’t quite come through, but it left a pleasant mild chocolate aftertaste. it wasn’t rich at all, so it’s quite easy to pop a few slices in one sitting. 🙂 if i make this again, i might consider using the whole jar of nutella. 😀