Servings
Font
Back
Hazelnut Praline Cheesecake
0 from 0 votes

Hazelnut Praline Cheesecake

A simple and flavorful recipe that's sure to be a favorite.

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 10 -12
Course: Dessert

Ingredients

Praline
  • 1 cup hazelnuts peeled, lightly toasted, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
Crust
  • 6 graham crackers broken into pieces, whole
  • 1/2 cup hazelnut about 2 ounces (peeled, lightly toasted
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/2 stick, melted
  • 2 tablespoons Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
Filling
  • 2 8- ounce cream cheese room temperature, packages quantity not specified
  • 3/4 cup superfine sugar
  • 3 egg
  • 3 egg yolk
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 3 tablespoons Frangelico
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional Garnishes
  • 3/4 cup whipping cream chilled
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • hazelnuts roasted
  • praline ground
  • cocoa powder

Instructions

For Praline:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Lightly butter cookie sheet (or use a silpat). Stir chopped hazelnuts, corn syrup and brown sugar in heavy small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil mixture until candy thermometer registers 300°F., tilting pan if necessary to submerge end of thermometer, about 10 minutes. Pour praline mixture onto prepared cookie sheet. Let cool.
  2. Break praline into 1-inch pieces. Grind finely in food processor. Separate 1/2 of the praline and set it aside for garnish. (NOTE: Praline can be prepared up to 1 week ahead. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerate.)
For Crust:
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. You'll need a 9-inch-diameter spring-form pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides.
  2. Finely grind graham crackers, hazelnuts and brown sugar in processor. Add butter and Frangelico and process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on rack. Leave the oven on.
For Filling:
  1. Line the outside of the spring-form pan containing the crumb base with a good wrapping of plastic wrap, so that the whole of the bottom and sides are enveloped in plastic. Do the same with aluminum foil, covering the layer of plastic wrap to make a very watertight casing. (NOTE: If you can find it, the LARGE size aluminum foil and is much more effective at keeping the pan water-tight. I recommend it.)
  2. Beat the cream cheese until smooth and add the sugar. Add the eggs and egg yolks, beating them in one by one until they are incorporated into the cream cheese and sugar. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl once in a while. Pour in the sour cream, vanilla extract and Frangelico, and beat again until smooth and creamy. Finally fold in the ground praline. Place the spring-form pan in a roasting pan and pour in the batter.
  3. Pour water from a recently boiled kettle into the roasting pan to come just over an inch up the side of the pan and place in the oven to cook for an hour.
  4. When the cheesecake is ready it should be just set on top with a hint of wobble underneath; it certainly carries on cooking as it cools. Take the cheesecake out of the roasting pan, take off the foil and plastic wrap and let the cheesecake cool on a rack.
  5. It will need to chill for at least 3 hours, though overnight it best. It can be made 2 days ahead.
For Garnish:
  1. Use the 2nd half of the ground praline to coat the sides of the cake and:
  2. Sprinkle a dusting of praline on top along with some powdered sugar. (Or: Dust top of cheesecake with cocoa powder / pipe rosettes of whipped cream decoratively around edge of cake. Arrange 1 hazelnut atop each rosette)