Dessert Philosophy And A {Recipe} Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

In both Country Boys’ family and mine, dessert is taken very seriously. It’s not something we have every night, but when we do have it, it is an event on its own. I kind of think that if you are going to have dessert, it might as well be good. I want to enjoy eating foods that are blatently unhealthy, not just eat them because they are in front of me.

The first time I met Country Boy’s grandparents, we were invited to lunch in the house we are now living in. I was struggling to eat the most enormous lunch ever (to be polite – you know how it is when you are first meeting potential inlaws). I finally apologised that I could not eat it all. Then Grandpa said “but you will have dessert won’t you – its got dates in it!”. Since then we have had a running joke, that if a dessert is good, it must “have dates in it”. As it turns out, Grandpa loved any dessert with dates in it – his dessert philosophy was ‘dates make a good dessert better’.

FIL seems to believe that dessert should always have icecream with it. I served up the most amazing chocolate, raspberry pavlova at Christmas, and he was still looking for the icecream to have with it! Trifle with icecream was another ‘odd’ combination (in my opinion anyway).

My own father is a big fan of a pavlova. After he has finished dinner, he without fail leans back in his chair and asks “so where is the pavlova?”. He might love a good pav, but I haven’t ever seen him knock back any dessert, ever. He is well known in the family for his love of desserts, and for how quickly he can down them.

Country Boys’ dessert philosophy seems to be the more chocolate and dairy, the better the dessert. He loves a good cheesecake, but is particular about them – he won’t eat just any cheesecake. Like me, he would rather not have any dessert than have one he doesn’t really love.

Over the weekend, my sister and her family came for a visit. Country Boy saw this as the perfect opportunity to make a great dessert and I who am I to stop him (see we are a perfect match). We have a cookbook where we stick recipes we find in magazines or on line and would like to cook. Country Boy had a rifle through the book and found a recipe for chocolate hazelnut cheesecake.

So here is an amazing cheesecake recipe which I cut out of an old magazine years ago, and have never got around to making. If I knew which magazine I got it from I would happily credit it. The base is amazing – like a Ferrero Rocher, and the cheese cake is silky without being jelly like (which often happens with gelatin). Lets just say that the kids didn’t get to taste this one!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake
Base
200g dark chocolate – melted
1/4 c hazelnut spread (nutella)
1 1/3 c ricebubbles
1/2c chopped roasted hazelnuts*

Cheesecake
500g cream cheese
300ml thickened cream
1/2c caster sugar
1/4c hazelnut spread
100g dark chocolate – melted
2t gelatine disolved in 2T boiling water
2 egg whites
Melted dark chocolate to decorate

1. Combine base ingredients and press into a lined 24cm springform pan. Refrigerate until set.
2. Beat cream cheese, cream, sugar and hazelnut spread until smooth.
3. Pour int melted chocolate and dissolved gelatine, and mix thoroughly.
4. Beat eggwhites to stiff peaks in a clean bowl.
5. Slowly combine the eggwhites into the cream cheese mixture with a metal spoon.
6. Pour mixture over the base and refrigerate 2 hours or until set.
7. Melt the extra dark chocolate and put into a snap lock back.
8. Cut the corner off the snap lock bag and drizzle the chocolate over the cheese cake.

* You can roast hazelnuts in the oven by placing on a tray and putting in a hot oven for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Don’t get distracted because they can easily burn.

So tell me, what is your dessert philosophy? Do you have one or is my family just mad?