Caramel and Hazelnut Cheesecake

To prepare the caramel and hazelnut cheesecake, start by making the base: put the Digestive biscuits in a mixer along with the brown sugar 1, finely chop them and transfer them to a bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and gradually add it to the biscuits 2, mixing well to combine. Butter a cake pan, preferably a springform one, with a diameter of 9 inches and line it with parchment paper (to see how to do it, check here our Cooking School: how to line a cake pan with parchment paper). Pour the crumbled biscuits into the cake pan and use the back of a spoon to compact the biscuit base well 3. Let the base cool in the refrigerator for half an hour or in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Now focus on the filling starting with the caramel preparation: in a sufficiently large and thick-bottomed saucepan, heat 120 g of granulated sugar with 25 ml of water over low heat 4; the thick bottom helps to evenly distribute the heat, preventing the sugar from burning before it caramelizes. When the sugar has taken on a nice brown color 5, add another 50 ml of hot water 6 and stir quickly. Remove the caramel sauce from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

In a mixer equipped with a whisk, or in a bowl with the help of a hand whisk, or electric mixer, soften the Philadelphia 7 and slowly add the caramel sauce 8. Meanwhile, chop the hazelnuts in a mixer 9, leaving some whole for the final decoration.

Add 25 g of chopped hazelnuts to the Philadelphia and caramel cream 10 and finally the powdered sugar 11. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 10 minutes 12. If you want to know more about using gelatin, here is our Cooking School: how to use gelatin.

Once softened, squeeze the gelatin and melt it in 2 tablespoons of cream, taken from the total amount, which you have warmed 13. When the mixture has reached room temperature, add the melted gelatin in the cream to the mixture 14. Separately, whip the remaining cream until stiff (How to Whip Cream the Cooking School: how to whip cream) and incorporate it into the cream 15, gently mixing with a spatula from bottom to top.

The Philadelphia caramel and hazelnut cream is ready: retrieve the now cold biscuit base and pour the cream over it 16, taking care to set aside two tablespoons of mixture for the final garnish. Finally, level the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon and put the caramel and hazelnut cheesecake in the refrigerator 18 for at least 4 hours to set. Once the resting time has passed, unmold your cheesecake and decorate the surface with tufts of cream set aside and placed in a piping bag with a star tip, and chopped hazelnuts, and on the edges with the remaining chopped hazelnuts. Here is your caramel and hazelnut cheesecake!